Cooper & Fry release schedule: When will episode 3 air on 5?
The detective drama starring Robert James-Collier and Mandip Gill is now airing.
Detective drama Cooper & Fry may have only aired two episodes, but the short length of this first season means we're already halfway through the mysteries they will be solving this time around. The 5 drama, based on the novels by Stephen Booth about two police officers solving cases in the Derbyshire town of Edendale, stars Robert James-Collier as Ben Cooper and Mandip Gill as Diane Fry, and viewers are already loving their mismatched dynamic. Episode 3 will see the duo travelling to a small village, Withens, which is in a fight for survival against a water company with plans to buy, demolish and rebuild. There, a local man, Neil Goodwin, has been found brutally beaten to death in a disused quarry. The synopsis for the episode says: "As Fry begins to connect the case to the disappearance of Emma Runshaw from five years ago, she and Ben are pursued at every turn by ‘The Border Rats’ a mysterious group shrouded in secrecy. Led by the formidable Lucas Oxley, they’re sworn to protect Withens and ready for war. "As the strange behaviour of Emma’s parents, Howard and Sarah, raise suspicions for Fry, the detectives learn that Neil was involved in profiting from stolen goods. "But as Cooper and Fry get closer to the truth, the discovery of a body illegally buried in the local church graveyard, brings forth secrets once laid to rest long ago. To find the truth, Cooper and Fry will have to face the past and the present." But when will fans be able to watch that episode and how many episode will there be of this season in total? Read on for everything you need to know about the release schedule for Cooper & Fry. When will Cooper & Fry episode 3 air on 5? Unlike some 5 shows which air episodes daily across a week or more, Cooper & Fry – like another 5 drama The Forsytes – has gone for a traditional weekly release. This means that episode 3 will air on 5 at 8pm on Tuesday 2nd December 2025. How many episodes will there be of Cooper & Fry? There will be four episodes of Cooper & Fry in total, with each being based on a different book by Stephen Booth – Black Dog, Dying to Sin, Blind to the Bones and Dancing with the Virgins. There are 18 novels in the Cooper & Fry series in total, meaning there is still plenty of material ready to be adapted in potential future seasons. Cooper & Fry release schedule New episodes of Cooper & Fry will air every Tuesday on 5 at 8pm. You can find the full release schedule for Cooper & Fry below. Cooper & Fry episode 1 – Tuesday 18th November 2025, 8pm (out now) Cooper & Fry episode 2 – Tuesday 25th November 2025, 8pm (out now) Cooper & Fry episode 3 – Tuesday 2nd December 2025, 8pm Cooper & Fry episode 4 – Tuesday 9th December 2025, 8pm Cooper & Fry continues on Tuesday 2nd December at 8pm on 5. Add Cooper & Fry to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Forsytes season 2: Release date speculation and latest news
Will the lavish period drama be back for more?
It's been a drama-filled six weeks, but now The Forsytes, 5's lavish new adaptation of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga has come to an end – for now. Of course, for those who have seen the season finale, they will know that things don't end on a conclusive note, and there are still plenty more stories to be told surrounding the titular family. So will the series, and its all-star cast including Tuppence Middleton, Millie Gibson, Jack Davenport and Eleanor Tomlinson, be back for more? And if so, when will be the new episodes be released? Read on for everything you need to know about The Forsytes season 2 on 5. Will there be The Forsytes season 2? There will! In fact, it was announced back in June 2025 that the show would be returning for a second season, well before the first had even debuted. When the news was announced, Damien Timmer, CCO and founder of production company Mammoth Screen, said in a statement: "We can’t wait for the world to see series 1 of The Forsytes, and we’re so pleased to be getting ahead of ourselves and starting on this thrilling second series with Debbie Horsfield’s irresistible scripts and our glorious – and ever expanding – cast." Meanwhile, Susanne Simpson, head of scripted content and executive producer for the show's US broadcaster, Masterpiece, said: "We’re so pleased with the first season of The Forsytes that we’re thrilled to continue the story into season 2 with our stellar cast. "We’re confident that our MASTERPIECE audience will quickly come to love the intrigue, romance and drama that this series brilliantly brings to the screen." When will The Forsytes season 2 be released? We don't yet know when The Forsytes will be returning for season 2, but given that the team got a head start on it, thanks to the early renewal, we imagine fans shouldn't have to wait too long. It seems likely that the show will stick to an annual release, which would therefore mean the new episodes would start airing in late 2026 – however, at this point that's purely speculation. We will keep this page updated with any more concrete news as and when we get it. Who will be back to star in The Forsytes season 2? It has already been confirmed that the entire central cast from The Forsytes season 1 will be back for season 2, including the likes of Francesca Annis, Danny Griffin, Joshua Orpin, Tuppence Middleton, Millie Gibson, Stephen Moyer, Jack Davenport and Eleanor Tomlinson. Meanwhile, there are also at least three new stars joining, with the trio having been announced when season 2 was confirmed. Those joining the series for season 2 include Outlander's Richard Rankin, Art Detectives' Sarah Alexander and Bob Marley: One Love's Nia Ashi. Their characters have yet to be confirmed. You can find a full list of the currently announced cast for The Forsytes season 2 right here: Francesca Annis as Ann Forsyte Danny Griffin as Jolyon Forsyte Joshua Orpin as Soames Forsyte Tuppence Middleton as Frances Forsyte Millie Gibson as Irene Heron Stephen Moyer as Jolyon Senior Jack Davenport as James Forsyte Eleanor Tomlinson as Louisa Byrne Justine Moore as June Forsyte Tom Durant Prichard as Montague 'Monty' Dartie Naomi Frederick as Emily Forsyte Jamie Flatters as Philip Bosinney Owen Igiehon as Isaac Cole Eleanor Jackson as Winifred Dartie Susan Hampshire as Lady Carteret Richard Rankin as TBC Sarah Alexander as TBC Nia Ashi as TBC Is there a trailer for The Forsytes season 2? There isn't a trailer for The Forsytes season 2 just yet, as season 1 has only just finished airing. However, we will make sure to add one in here once it's available, and in the meantime you can rewatch the season 1 trailer below. View oEmbed on the source website The Forsytes will continue airing on 5 on Mondays at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
All Creatures Great and Small star teases "joyful carnage" for Christmas special with nativity twist and Helen's return
"We've got some lovely warm, cosy scenes between her and James, which we'd missed."
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Filming a Christmas special in the summer might not sound particularly festive, but for Nicholas Ralph, who plays James Herriot, and the rest of the All Creatures Great and Small cast, the Skeldale House set in July is “like an immersive experience”. “The set is decorated incredibly and everyone’s dressed up, so it really does get you in the festive spirit – and they’ve also got AC on in there, so even if it’s 30 degrees outside, it doesn’t feel it,” Ralph tells Radio Times. “Sometimes they’ll even do Christmas lunch for you, so you do get transported.” It’s 1945, the first peacetime Christmas after the war, which comes with its own challenges for everyone. “There’s a pressure to have the best Christmas ever, for everything to be perfect,” says Ralph. “But God, the enormity of it is not just going to go away overnight. It’s not all singing and dancing and everything’s merry all of a sudden. So, there is the joy of Christmas, but there’s also the pathos, people are still struggling. “It’s very truthful, it’s not twee. But it’s still steeped in those wonderful Christmassy themes, along with the fun and the capers.” One such caper is the Nativity. With Helen out of action after being struck down with a lurgy, it’s the vet’s responsibility to wrangle the children and get them performance ready. (James’s son Jimmy plays an angel who comes down from “Hebden”, as opposed to Heaven.) “It was joyful carnage,” Ralph says with a smile. “The director, Andy Hay, just let a camera roll while the kids improvised. Then we put the animals in, and that just added to the chaos. “James is on the back foot anyway because he’s said to Helen he’ll take over the writing and directing and producing – and when I walked into the room there was absolute chaos going on, so there was no acting required, really.” For Ralph, it brought to mind his own experience of the Nativity. “I was about five years old, and I was Joseph” – his leading-man status was clearly there from the beginning. “Proper tea towels on the head, a little plastic mallet and saw, and some very funny, bad but cute acting.” Read more: All Creatures Great and Small gets major update on its future - with special bonus for fans of "unforgettable" show All Creatures Great and Small season 6 finale finally answers Tristan mystery And despite Helen being confined to her bed, actor Rachel Shenton returned to set, after missing part of the last series due to pregnancy, with her newborn Orson in tow. “Her trailer had never been so busy,” said Ralph. “People were desperate to say hi to the little man. And it was great to have the character of Helen back. We’ve got some lovely warm, cosy scenes between her and James, which we’d missed.” “It’s about love and kindness across the board this year – for one another, for the animals, and for your little pocket of the world,” adds Ralph. “Those are universal themes... and this one’s not short of those.” The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. All Creatures Great and Small seasons 1-6 are available to watch on 5. You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon. Add All Creatures Great and Small to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Neighbours and Coronation Street legends' new 5 thriller series has release date confirmed
A family feud soon spirals into chaos in the upcoming thriller.
5 has unveiled the release date for upcoming drama The Imposter, which stars Neighbours legend Jackie Woodburne and Coronation Street favourite Kym Marsh. The four-part series, which revolves around a bitter family feud, will air from Monday 15th to Thursday 18th December at 9pm on 5. Set in Australia, the drama follows the family’s matriarch Helen, who refuses to sell her sprawling seaside hotel, despite pressure from her three adult children. Cue the arrival of Helen’s secret daughter (who may or may not be who she says she is), a huge betrayal and, ultimately, a murder. Alongside Woodburne and Marsh, the series also stars Dannii Minogue (Home and Away), Don Hany (The Survivors), Jane Harber (In Limbo), Charlie Clausen (Prosper), Chi Nguyen (Class of ’07), Kabir Singh (The Tourist), Jackson Gallagher (Wentworth) and newcomer Adeline Williams. The Imposter began production in Victoria, Australia back in August 2025. The series was announced last July as part of a slate of new 5 shows, including Number One Fan, Missed Call and The Family Secret, as well as returning shows The Hardacres and The Teacher. "This new slate of scripted commissions showcases the breadth and ambition of 5’s storytelling," said deputy chief content officer and head of scripted at Paramount UK, Sebastian Cardwell. He continued: "From brand new thrillers and character-driven mysteries to the much-anticipated return of audience favourites, we’re continuing to build a rich and distinctive drama offering. "These titles reflect our commitment to delivering compelling, accessible British drama that resonates with viewers across the UK. We look forward to announcing further titles in the coming months." Read more: Riot Women future finally confirmed by BBC as Sally Wainwright promises "rollercoaster" of stories David Tennant confirmed to join Downton Abbey favourite for third season of hit BBC anthology drama The Imposter will air from Monday 15th to Thursday 18th December on 5 at 9pm. Add The Imposter to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
All Creatures Great and Small gets major update on its future - with special bonus for fans of "unforgettable" show
Christmas has come early for fans of the beloved period drama.
All Creatures Great and Small fans have been given an early Christmas present by 5. The broadcaster has confirmed the beloved period drama, which is inspired by James Herriot's books detailing his life as a vet in rural Yorkshire, will be back for seasons 7 and 8, as well as two more Christmas specials. Greg Barnett, Commissioning Editor at 5, described the series as "the jewel in 5’s drama crown", teasing "many new stories " and "unforgettable adventures ahead for our Skeldale family". Similarly, Susanne Simpson, Executive Producer for Masterpiece, said that she was "thrilled to bring more seasons of the warmth, hope and humour that make this series so special". Melissa Gallant and Sharon Moran, joint Executive Producers for Playground, added that they "frequently receive letters from viewers about how the show has brought joy, comfort and relief in challenging times", such is the power of All Creatures Great and Small. "It's a show which people love to watch and love to make and we can't wait for more adventures in beautiful Yorkshire with our wonderful cast and crew," they continued. All Creatures remains 5's most successful drama series to date, drawing in over 14 million individuals across its first five seasons and driving more new users to 5's streaming platform than any other show. Details about what the new seasons will entail and who's returning will be announced in due course, but we'd expect Nicholas Ralph (James), Rachel Shenton (Helen), Samuel West (Siegfried), Callum Woodhouse (Tristan) and Anna Madeley (Mrs Audrey Hall) to all feature. The show also welcomes a raft of new guest stars each season, with the last instalment welcoming former Coronation Street stars Lucy-Jo Hudson and Chris Gascoyne, while Dame Emma Thompson's daughter Gaia Wise joined the cast as Charlotte Beauvoir, Tristan's new love interest. But in the meantime, there's the 2025 Christmas special to enjoy. Read more: All Creatures Great and Small season 6 finale finally answers Tristan mystery All Creatures Great and Small says goodbye (for now) to two long-running characters "It’s Christmas 1945, the first peacetime Christmas after the war," reads the official synopsis. "With Helen feeling under the weather, it’s fallen on James to take on the Darrowby Nativity play." Elsewhere, "Siegfried is back at Mrs Stokes’ Farm to see Hilda the goat, who’s been up to more mischief," while Mrs Hall is determined to win the Drovers' darts competition and take home the top prize: a turkey, which are in short supply due to the war. The Skeldale housekeeper "wants everyone to practise" to boost their chances, "but an old friend turns up surprising her and Siegfried" – with the vet making "a big decision about his future." Meanwhile, Tristan and Charlotte's relationship continues to go from strength to strength. And if that's not quite enough to keep you entertained, a special hour-long, behind-the-scenes documentary, All Creatures Great and Small: Behind the Magic, will also be airing this Christmas, featuring all of the regular cast. "As the cast look back over six years of making 5's most popular drama series, [Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly presenter and professional dog trainer] Graeme [Hall] enjoys becoming one of the family and appreciating all the detail that goes into the making of one of his favourite shows," reads the synopsis. "This joyful festive treat is the perfect way to find out how the All Creatures magic is really made." All Creatures Great and Small seasons 1-6 are available to watch on 5. You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon. All Creatures Great and Small Complete Series 1 – 6 Box Set arrives on DVD and digital 1 December from Acorn Media International. Add All Creatures Great and Small to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
There are plenty more of Stephen Booth's novels left to adapt.
New 5 crime drama Cooper & Fry, which stars Doctor Who's Mandip Gill and Downton Abbey's Robert James-Collier, has only just started airing, but already viewers are loving the dynamic between the two mismatched detectives. The show is based on a long-running series of novels by Stephen Booth, and with only four having been adapted for the first season, there are plenty of opportunities for it to continue in future seasons. But will that be the case? Will Gill and James-Collier be back to solve further mysteries? And if so, when would any new episodes likely be released? Read on for everything you need to know about the potential for a Cooper & Fry season 2 on 5. Will there be a Cooper & Fry season 2? We don't yet know whether there will be a Cooper & Fry season 2, as season 1 has only just started airing on 5. It will likely be a few more weeks or months until we hear more regarding the future of the show. However, it certainly seems to be the case that the team behind the drama want to make more, and there are certainly more of Stephen Booth's novels to adapt – 14 of them, in fact. Speaking ahead of the series airing, Cooper star Robert James-Collier said: "Hopefully, if the audience laps up the series, we have more avenues to explore." Meanwhile, director Ryan Tohill said: "If the audience engages with Rob and Mandip as a partnership, and become invested in them, the show will have legs. We can then have even more fun with the plots and turn even darker in another series." We will keep this page updated with any new information regarding the future of Cooper & Fry as and when we get it. When would a potential Cooper & Fry season 2 be released? If Cooper & Fry were to be renewed, then we'd imagine a second season could be turned around fairly quickly. Procedural detective dramas such as this are usually able to air annually, meaning a late 2026 date certainly seems possible. However, at this point this is purely speculation, as without an official renewal, we of course also don't yet have an official release date. We will update this page with any further information as we get it. Who would return to star in a potential Cooper & Fry season 2? Depending on how the first season of Cooper & Fry shapes out, we'd imagine that all of the central cast would be back for a potential season 2, with Robert James-Collier and Mandip Gill almost certain to return as the titular duo. You can find a full list of the season 1 cast here, any of whom could potential be back for a second season. Robert James-Collier as DC Ben Cooper Mandip Gill as DC Diane Fry Charlotte Bradley as Isobel Cooper Lorcan Cranitch as DI Paul Hitchens Barry O'Connor as DS Todd Eland Niamh McCann as Tracey Garnett Clara Simpson as Dr Juliana Taylor Is there a trailer for Cooper & Fry season 2? There isn't a trailer for Cooper & Fry season 2 yet, as not only has it not yet started filming, it hasn't even been confirmed at this point. However, we will make sure to add one in here if and when it is released, and for now you can rewatch the season 1 trailer below. View oEmbed on the source website Cooper & Fry continues on Tuesday 25th November at 8pm on 5. Add Cooper & Fry to your watchlist when it arrives on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Cooper & Fry first look with Doctor Who, Downton Abbey stars sees a thrilling chase and a dark discovery
It's time for your first look at 5's new crime drama.
It's almost time for 5's latest detective series, Cooper & Fry, to land on our screens – with RadioTimes.com having an exclusive first look clip of the drama. The series is led by former Doctor Who companion Mandip Gill and Downton Abbey's Rob James-Collier, who play the show's leading mismatched detective duo DC Diane Fry and DC Ben Cooper respectively. Premiering tonight, the sneak peek of Cooper & Fry shows that there's plenty of drama set to come as an action-packed chase sequence unfolds. In the clip, we see the detectives wearing their protective gear as they start unearthing potential clues in an empty house. Or at least, so they think. As is quickly realised, the house is in fact not empty, as they start to look in cabinets and through discarded document folders. "That'll be just the wind," James-Collier's Cooper says but the small disturbances they've heard soon turn into full-on scraping. Just as they venture into a strange bedroom that's been adorned with bird feathers, they find an image that points to the fact that their person of interest clearly has a brother. But where is he? Just as Fry poses the question to Cooper, someone appears out of the shadows and bolts down the stairs. Fry runs off in pursuit and the mysterious girl starts sprinting through the building site of the home, tearing down a ladder to distract Fry. She manages to lose Fry after climbing over a big gate, with Fry having no choice but to stare after the unnamed girl. She takes one last glance at Fry, subtly smiling in the process before running off once more. You can watch the clip for yourself above. Read more: Doctor Foster season 3 with Suranne Jones 'in the works' after 8 years Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise reveal guest cast for Christmas specials – including Doctor Who and Ted Lasso stars Cooper & Fry is based on the bestselling novels by author Stephen Booth. The series will be made up of four two-hour episodes, each based on a different novel in the series: Black Dog, Dying to Sin, Blind to the Bones and Dancing with the Virgins. The official synopsis for the series reveals: "Set in the mystery-shrouded Peak District, DC Ben Cooper, an affable local, is thrown together with guarded newcomer DC Diane Fry, to investigate a string of mysterious deaths." It continues: "They must learn to work together to get results. As their personal lives begin to intertwine, a unique friendship begins to form... but it won't always be easy." Cooper & Fry begins on Tuesday 18th November at 8pm on 5. Add Cooper & Fry to your watchlist when it arrives on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The series sees a city police officer transferring to the countryside, and being teamed up with a local.
New 5 drama Cooper & Fry stars Robert James-Collier and Mandip Gill as the titular mismatched detectives – while Cooper is an affable local copper, Fry is guarded and aloof, having recently transferred from Leeds under somewhat mysterious circumstances. The series is based on the bestselling novels by Stephen Booth, and sees the characters form a unique friendship as their personal lives begin to intertwine and their past scars look to be healed. Beyond the characters and the mysteries they investigate each week, viewers will no doubt also be drawn to the show's remarkable scenery, showing off some beautiful countryside locations. But just where is the series actually set and where was it filmed? Read on for everything you need to know about the filming locations used for Cooper & Fry. Where is Cooper & Fry set? Cooper & Fry is set in the Peak District in Derbyshire, and specifically in the fictional town of Edendale. It follows Ben Cooper, a local police officer who is partnered up with Diane Fry, a new member of the team. She was a successful detective in Leeds, but has to adapt to countryside policing throughout the series. Of his fictional location, Stephen Booth, the author of the Cooper & Fry novels, told Shots Magazine: "My interest in using a strong sense of place in crime fiction goes back a long way. Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles made a deep impression on me as a child – a very dark story, with a wild, remote setting. "In another story, Holmes tells Dr Watson: 'The lowest and vilest alleys of London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.' So it was perhaps inevitable that I would choose a rural setting for the Cooper and Fry series. And the Peak District was the perfect choice. "The original inspiration for Edendale, my fictional Derbyshire town, came while I was admiring a wonderful panorama of the Hope Valley from a location called Surprise View, above the village of Hathersage. It was the spectacular picture I had in my mind when I began to write Black Dog, the first novel featuring young police detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry. "But that spot also marks the boundary between the Dark Peak and the White Peak, the geologically contrasting halves of the Peak District which provide perfect symbolism for a crime novel, representing the dark and light, good and evil. "Those sudden eruptions of black, twisted rock in the middle of a picturesque landscape constantly remind me of the darkness that lurks beneath the surface." Meanwhile, James-Collier said of the show's setting: "As beautiful as the Peak District is, it’s also foreboding and there are a lot of dark elements in the woods. If you're in a bleak corner of your life, which Diane is, that feeling is projected onto the landscape and fired back at you. "The landscape can be intimidating, too, especially if you’re there alone and realise how a fall or a quick turn of the weather could kill you." Director Ryan Tohill, who helmed episodes 1 and 2, added: "The darkness of the stories drew me in. When I read Black Dog I felt the haunting rural community of Edendale was the detail you could lean into and use to make a different type of detective series. I wanted to make the series as unsettling as I could." Where was Cooper & Fry filmed? Despite being set in the Peak District, the majority of Cooper & Fry actually appears to have been shot elsewhere – in Dublin. Production notes have recorded that the series was filmed in summer 2025 in Dublin, as well as the coastal town of Wicklow. Meanwhile, director Jesse Quinones, who helmed episodes 3 and 4, posted on Instagram after the series was announced: "Can finally let the cat out of the bag, Cooper and Fry will be hitting your screens on @channel5_tv very soon! Been a blast shooting this show in Dublin, the first time I’ve had the chance to work in my mother’s home town. "Big shout out to @clapperboard_st, @failsafefilms, and @channel5_tv, as well as the amazing cast and crew. And of course to the author of the Cooper and Fry books Stephen Booth! "Big shout out to my amazing team @dave_alexander333 at @gershagency @a.h.mills at @revolutiontalentlit and managers Industry Entertainment!!" It has also been reported that some additional filming did take place in the Peak District, although exactly where has not been confirmed. Cooper & Fry begins on Tuesday 18th November at 8pm on 5. Add Cooper & Fry to your watchlist when it arrives on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Cooper & Fry cast: Robert James-Collier and Mandip Gill star
The new 5 detective drama is based on the novels by Stephen Booth.
New crime drama Cooper & Fry is based on the hit novels by Stephen Booth, with Robert James-Collier and Mandip Gill taking on the title roles. The series follows DC Ben Cooper, a member of a rural police force in Derbyshire who is teamed up with DC Diane Fry, a successful detective from Leeds who transfer under mysterious circumstances. While the two initially butt heads, finding that they have very different approaches to policing, they slowly begin to come to an understanding as they work together on a case surrounding a body unearthed on a local farm. Each episode in the four-part series sees the duo take on a different case, but who else stars alongside James-Collier and Gill, who do they all play and where might you have seen them before? Read on for everything you need to know about the cast of Cooper & Fry. Cooper & Fry cast: Who stars in the 5 crime drama? Here are the main cast members and characters in Cooper & Fry. Read on below for more info about who they are and where you've seen the actors before. Robert James-Collier as DC Ben Cooper Mandip Gill as DC Diane Fry Charlotte Bradley as Isobel Cooper Lorcan Cranitch as DI Paul Hitchens Barry O'Connor as DS Todd Eland Niamh McCann as Tracey Garnett Clara Simpson as Dr Juliana Taylor Robert James-Collier as DC Ben Cooper Who is DC Ben Cooper? Ben is a local Derbyshire police officer who is partnered up with Diane Fry, and must show her the ropes of countryside policing. Where have I seen Robert James-Collier? James-Collier is known for his roles in series including Coronation Street, Downton Abbey, The Level, Ackley Bridge, Fate: The Winx Saga, The Inheritance, The Long Shadow and Generation Z, as well as films such as The Ritual. Mandip Gill as DC Diane Fry Who is DC Diane Fry? Diane is a police officer who transfers from Leeds to Derbyshire under mysterious circumstances. An accomplished detective, she must learn the ropes of a new way of working in a rural setting. Where have I seen Mandip Gill? Gill is best known for her role as Yasmin Khan in Doctor Who, while she has also appeared in series including Hollyoaks, Suspicion, Curfew and Big Lizard. Charlotte Bradley as Isobel Cooper Who is Isobel Cooper? Isobel is Ben's mother. Where have I seen Charlotte Bradley? Bradley has had roles in series including Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, Proof, Titanic: Blood and Steel, Darklands, The Dry, Borderline and Artic Circle, as well as films such as Love & Rage and The Gift. Lorcan Cranitch as DI Paul Hitchens Who is DI Paul Hitchens? Paul the Detective Inspector at the station and Cooper and Fry's boss. Where have I seen Lorcan Cranitch? Cranitch has had roles in series including Cracker, Ballykissangel, Spooks, The Bill, Rome, The Palace, Penny Dreadful, Fortitude, Atlantis, Death in Paradise, Magpie Murders, Bloodlands, The Crown, Bad Sisters, Silent Witness, Blue Lights, Leonard and Hungry Paul and Trespasses, as well as films such as Love, Rosie and The Dig. Barry O'Connor as DS Todd Eland Who is DS Todd Eland? Todd is a detective sergeant who works alongside Cooper and Fry. Where have I seen Barry O'Connor? O'Connor has had roles in series including Neighbours, Inspector George Gently, Game of Thrones, Red Rock, Dublin Murders, Shetland, Ellis and Outlander, as well as films such as Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves. Niamh McCann as Tracey Garnett Who is Tracey Garnett? Tracey is a member of the police team working alongside Cooper and Fry. Where have I seen Niamh McCann? McCann has had roles in series including River City, Little Roy, The House Across the Street, The Teacher, The Listeners and Sherlock & Daughter. Clara Simpson as Dr Juliana Taylor Who is Dr Juliana Taylor? Juliana works in forensics, and often aids Cooper and Fry in their investigations. Where have I seen Clara Simpson? Simpson has had roles in series including Research Unit, The Reunion and Parlement. Cooper & Fry begins on Tuesday 18th November at 8pm on 5. Add Cooper & Fry to your watchlist when it arrives on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Is Murder Before Evensong returning for season 2?
Reverend Richard Coles' novel Murder Before Evensong has been brought to life for 5 in a new series of the same name, starring Matthew Lewis. The Harry Potter star plays Canon Daniel Clement, a rector who is forced to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about the market town of Champton when a dead body turns up in his church. "To watch the adaptation is immensely flattering, very gratifying and very exciting, because the team has done such a great job and because it's been through other people's imaginations now, which is always good," said Coles of the end product. "Whenever you write a book, you say goodbye to it when it’s sent to the publisher, as after that the book lands with a reader and exists in their imagination. I've always loved how a book doesn’t just have one life, but lots of lives. "To see creative people, at the top of their game, come together and craft something you didn’t foresee from your work is fascinating." But are there plans to adapt the rest of his Canon Clement Mysteries series? Read more: Murder Before Evensong ending explained: Who killed Anthony Bowness? Murder Before Evensong star explains book changes and teases darker twist on best-selling novel Read on for everything we know so far about a potential Murder Before Evensong season 2. Is Murder Before Evensong returning for season 2? There’s currently no word on the show’s future, but with several more books in the series, a second season seems likely — especially if the ratings delivered. Watch this space for updates. When could a potential Murder Before Evensong season 2 be released? We wouldn’t expect a new series to arrive until at least mid-to-late 2026. Which cast members could return for a potential Murder Before Evensong season 2? Alongside Matthew Lewis as Canon Daniel Clement, we’d also expect to see the following main players: Amanda Redman as Audrey Clement Amit Shah as DS Neil Vanloo Plus, a host of new cast members will undoubtedly join the line-up for the next mystery alongside the odd returning character. What could happen in a potential Murder Before Evensong season 2? If the TV series continues to follow the books, here’s what could be in store (it is an adaptation, so you should expect some changes). The second book in Coles’ series, A Death in the Parish, takes place a few months after Murder Before Evensong. “As Daniel tries to steady his flock, the parish is joined with Upper and Lower Badsaddle, bringing a new tide of unwanted change,” reads the official synopsis. “But church politics soon become the least of Daniel's problems. "His mother – headstrong, fearless Audrey – is obviously up to something, something she is determined to keep from him. And she is not the only one.” Beyond that, the third novel, Murder at the Monastery, finds Daniel recovering from “a secret humiliation” by taking respite at the monastery where he was once a novice. But when he discovers a death there, any hope of peace is shattered. There’s also the potential for a future Christmas special based on Murder Under the Mistletoe, in which Daniel and his mother are “joined by the residents and guests of the big house to drink, eat and be merry” on Christmas Day. But when two people meet under the mistletoe and one of them falls down dead, it seems murder has returned to Champton… Finally, A Death on Location sees “a glamorous Hollywood movie take over Champton House as its set location.” But production grinds to a halt when another murder occurs. Murder Before Evensong is available to stream on 5. Add Murder Before Evensong to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Murder Before Evensong ending explained: Who killed Anthony Bowness?
Canon Daniel Clement confronted not one but two killers in the season 1 finale.
Six episodes and four dead bodies later, fans were introduced to not one but TWO killers in the Murder Before Evensong finale. After sticking to his guns, Canon Daniel Clement charged on with his bunker theory, believing that the abandoned World War II site held the key to Anthony Bowness and Ned Thwaites' murders – and of course, he was right. Having failed to convince DS Neil Vanloo of his suspicions, Daniel took the matter into his own hands, investigating the bunker in secret and discovering the skeletal remains of Philip Kerling, a double agent who was believed to have fled to France in 1944. After confiding in his mother, Audrey, the vicar realised he held all the cards, and embarked on a game of cat-and-mouse with the killer. His plan? To inform the members of his Parish that construction would commence on a church toilet, requiring the church font – also known as the entrance to the bunker – to be moved the following morning. Surmising that the killer would have to return to dispose of Kerling's remains, Daniel simply had to wait. That night, as he hid in the darkness of the bunker, our hero finally got his killer. "I had a feeling it would be you," he said, "Why don't we start at the beginning?" Here, we break down the Murder Before Evensong finale… Murder Before Evensong ending explained Who killed Anthony Bowness and Ned Thwaites? To Daniel's horror, Kath was unmasked as the killer. Knowing she'd been caught red-handed, the seemingly sweet pensioner confessed to killing Anthony Bowness and Ned Thwaites. Her motive? To cover up the murder of Philip Kerling, which took place 40 years prior, in 1944. Recalling her younger years in Champton, Kath tells Daniel that she fell for Hervé Gauchet, a soldier from the Free French Army, while attending a village dance. Noting that Hervé had escaped France after Dunkirk and joined the SOE, Kath explained that he would travel in and out of France, helping the Resistance. Read more: Murder Before Evensong star explains book changes and teases darker twist on best-selling novel Reverend Richard Coles reveals if Murder Before Evensong's crime-solving vicar is based on him As members of the Special Duties Signal Unit in Champton, Kath and Dora had both used the church bunker, and the only other person who knew of its existence was her beloved Hervé. Completely besotted with one another, the couple had promised to live together in Provence when the war was over, but their happiness was short-lived. A couple of months later, Kath and Hervé learned that there was a traitor in their midst after several SOE and Resistance members were rounded up and shot by the Germans. When Hervé heard from a friend that the traitor was living in Champton, he flew back to France to discuss the matter further. Awaiting his return, Kath, who had learned she was pregnant, watched his plane fly over the fields of Champton just moments before it exploded. Utterly heartbroken, Kath continued to work from the church bunker, where she learned of Kerling's suspicious activities. At the time, a young Bernard de Flouers had been a runner for the SOE, and after reporting that he had seen Kerling near Hervé's plane, Kath realised that he was the traitor and had likely sabotaged the aircraft. Determined to prove it, Kath had broken into the house where Kerling was billeted and searched for proof, but when he came back early and confronted her with a gun, a fight broke out, and Kerling was killed. Knowing that the church bunker was about to be decommissioned, Kath decided to cover up the murder by leaving Kerling's body in the crypt and putting his name in the flight log of a mission that flew out to France. Investigators surmised that Kerling was a traitor and had likely fled, allowing Kath to live a peaceful existence in Champton for the next 40 years – that is, until history buff Anthony Bowness came along. Interested in the village's role in the war and keen to locate the secret bunker, Kath had followed Anthony to the church on the night of his death, where she grabbed a pair of secateurs and stabbed him in the neck. Just when she thought she had covered her tracks, however, Ned Thwaites began digging into Kerling's story for the local paper. After finding the flight log and realising that it had been doctored, Kath became worried that it would lead back to her and requested a private meeting with the journalist. While he waited for her, Kath snuck up behind him and slit his throat before pushing him into the river. After making her full confession, Daniel insists on turning Kath in and informs her that he's left detailed notes pointing to her, should she attempt to kill him, too. Kath agrees, adding that she only murdered Anthony to protect her sister Dora, who has terminal cancer, from watching her be arrested and put on trial. Kath asks Daniel to take her to Dora one last time before she goes to the police, and he agrees. Who killed Philip Kerling? In the bunker, Kath had told Daniel that she'd killed Kerling by hitting him over the head with a lamp during their struggle, but the vicar wasn't convinced, and when he took her to see Dora, he realised what actually happened. As they sat down for tea, Daniel pointed out one discrepancy in Kath's story – she said she'd hit Kerling with the lamp, but moments before, she said she'd thrown it at him when they started to fight. Noting that Kath couldn't have grabbed the lamp off the floor, Daniel realises that it was Dora who killed Kerling. Dora had known that Kath was going to break into Kerling's house and followed her that night. After finding her sister in a struggle with Kerling, she had hit Kerling with the lamp, and Kath helped her cover up the murder. As it turns out, Kath had killed Anthony and Ned to protect Dora – it was never about protecting herself. What really happened to Stella Harper? As Daniel sat down with Kath and Dora, DS Neil Vanloo learned that Stella Harper had, in fact, been murdered as traces of oleander, a poisonous herb, had been found in her tea. After a call from a concerned Audrey, the police raced to Kath and Dora's house, where Kath confessed to Daniel that she killed Stella because she was planning to go to the police to report Edgy's threats. Kath had no intention of murdering her friend, but recognised that should Stella have done so, it would have ruined her alibi for the night Ned was killed. On the evening of Ned's murder, Stella had called Dora and Kath to tell them what happened, and Dora had gone to Stella's house to calm her down. But, as Kath had already told the police that they were both at home on the night of Ned's murder, they would have realised that she'd lied, and hadn't been with her sister, Dora, either. What happened to Kath and Dora? With their arrest imminent, Kath and Dora revealed to Daniel that during their conversation, they had been drinking poisoned tea. "Don't worry, I made yours separately," Kath explained, clarifying that she hadn't poisoned him. As the sisters sat, dying in their chairs, they reached out for one another and asked Daniel to pray for them, to which he reluctantly obliged. The pair passed away before DS Vanloo and the police could reach them. What's next for Daniel? Daniel has been through a lot this season, and after leaving the police at Kath and Dora's house, headed to the church for a moment of reflection. Joined by his mother, Audrey, the Canon admitted that initially, he didn't want to be merciful when Kath asked him to pray for her, and had simply wanted judgement and blame for her. Comforting her son, Audrey took his hand and led him out of the church, where they shared a moment of laughter. An open ending, Daniel was in a good place when we left him in the finale. The vicar's position at the church is safe, his relationship with his mother on the mend, and the murders in his village solved. Clearly, Daniel has a talent for investigating too, after identifying the killer (or killers) before DS Vanloo could. With multiple books in Reverend Richard Coles' book series, there's plenty of material for further adaptations, should Channel 5 and Acorn TV renew the show. Currently, its unknown if Murder Before Evensong has received the green light for a second season, but with a bit of luck, Canon Daniel Clement might just have a bright future ahead… Murder Before Evensong is available to stream on 5. Add Murder Before Evensong to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. 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The Forsytes release schedule: When will new episodes air on 5?
The new adaptation of John Galsworthy's novels has now started airing.
Sweeping period drama The Forsytes continues to air on 5, with new episodes being released from the lavish new adaptation of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga. Featuring a stacked cast, including the likes of Millie Gibson, Stephen Moyer, Jack Davenport, Eleanor Tomlinson and Tuppence Middleton, the series follows the titular stockbroking family as their generations are torn between tradition and personal happiness. The synopsis for the series says: "Family stability is threatened by two chance encounters for rival cousins, Jolyon and Soames, throwing their previously steady lives into disarray. Married Jolyon contends with the reappearance of his former lover, Louisa, a lady’s maid-turned-dressmaker, while daughter June falls for a penniless architect. "Soames, meanwhile, is enchanted by the beautiful and free-spirited dancer Irene. All must decide whether to be ruled by the head or the heart." But when will the remaining episodes of the series air on 5? Read on for everything you need to know about the release schedule for The Forsytes. The Forsytes release schedule – When are new episodes out? New episodes of The Forsytes will air every Monday on 5 at 9pm. Unlike some 5 shows which air episodes daily across a week or more, The Forsytes has gone for a traditional weekly release, with episodes only becoming available to stream after they have aired on TV. You can find the full release schedule for The Forsytes season 1 below. The Forsytes episode 1 – Monday 20th October 2025, 9pm The Forsytes episode 2 – Monday 27th October 2025, 9pm The Forsytes episode 3 – Monday 3rd November 2025, 9pm The Forsytes episode 4 – Monday 10th November 2025, 9pm The Forsytes episode 5 – Monday 17th November 2025, 9pm The Forsytes episode 6 – Monday 24th November 2025, 9pm How many episodes of The Forsytes will there be? There will be six episodes of The Forsytes season 1 in total. Thankfully, we already know that won't be the full run of the show, as it was renewed for a second season before the first even started airing. The Forsytes will continue airing on 5 on Mondays at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Forsytes cast - from Poldark to Doctor Who stars - reveal all about their dramatic new revamp of the iconic period drama
Stephen Moyer loves a collection, from guitars and typewriters to great roles – and his latest in The Forsytes is one to treasure.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. In the course of our 45-minute interview that lasts an hour and a half, Stephen Moyer, 56, shares that he collects guitars – which he has hung up on the walls of his new home in Suffolk, because he can’t actually play the guitar – and typewriters, of which he has 30. We establish that he looks good in a duffle coat – which not every grown man does – and what he has in his pockets. Namely a "quite rare" $1 coin and an acorn, "which is a long story". Further, he impresses upon me the virtues of good headphones and quality speakers, summer evening walks on Clifton Down in Bristol [he stays in the city while filming The Forsytes] and cooking for one in a Belfast kitchen. He confesses a love for Marmite and peanut butter, and details his favourite snack. "Anna [Paquin, his actress wife] calls them Stevie Snacks and they consist of some cheese, roasted almonds, some saucisson and chutney." His mum makes an amazing green tomato chutney, apparently. "I’ve got jars from 1994 in my cupboard and I’m not even joking." In his 20s, Moyer lived on a houseboat for seven years in London’s Little Venice, with no electricity – which is why he bought his first typewriter – and recently, in his 50s, he’s taken up sailing. "I really love that it’s an ancient skill and it doesn’t involve phones. I spend a lot of time in the digital world and I love it, but I’m actually quite analogue." Moyer is great company, as inquisitive as he is forthcoming. You might be tempted to say that his work is the least interesting thing about him. Except that isn’t true. For this Essex-born actor, who made it big in America, also collects great roles, recently adding two very different characters to his collection. First, there is patriarch Jolyon Forsyte Sr in Debbie Horsfield’s fantastic take on John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga. "What Debbie has done is empower the female characters in the story to be having the conversations that they weren’t having in the novel,” he says. “While the men are worrying about stupid financial stuff, the women are dealing with real-life problems." A radical reimagining, to be sure. But Moyer hastens to add that Galsworthy’s novel isn’t without a boldness of its own. "Yes, we all love the frocks, the big old houses and the horses and carriages, but he was the first person to talk about marital rape in a novel – which was a scandalous thing to do at the time – and he also examines the social structures and norms. "Debbie has taken inspiration from the book and created something extraordinary that it’s a joy to be part of." Part of the joy that Moyer derives from The Forsytes, which has filmed for the last two summers in Bristol (there is one more series to air next year, with at least one more commissioned) is working with Jack Davenport, who plays his toxic, competitive younger brother, James. The pair first worked together on Ultraviolet, Channel 4’s 1998 vampire drama. "Back then, we were the young men about town and now we’re the old geezers. We’re like an old married couple, it’s hilarious. "When we did the first season of The Forsytes, we lived next door to each other and spent all our time together. Meanwhile, back in New York where we lived at the time, Anna and Michelle [Gomez, Davenport’s wife] were close, too. So it was kind of lovely." Moyer’s other recent role made for an altogether more solitary existence as he upped sticks for Northern Ireland, where Art Detectives is filmed. In it, he plays DI Mick Palmer, lead sleuth for the Heritage Crime Unit. The series does what it says on the tin with murders linked to Viking gold and artefacts from the Titanic. "I’d never thought of myself doing cosy crime, but there was a warmth to Mick and to Shazia [Mick’s detective constable sidekick] and an understanding that I was drawn to. Mick’s quite eccentric – from the duffle coat to his obsession with comic books – and I enjoyed working him out and getting to know him." As indeed do audiences. Made for Acorn TV, Art Detectives became the platform’s most watched new series, with another series in the works. It’s far from his usual grittier roles. "I’m quite happy doing a show that is a gentler version of the world than the one we live in right now. There’s a lot to be said for seeking a life more analogue." View oEmbed on the source website Interviews with the cast James Forsyte, played by Jack Davenport What appealed to you about The Forsytes ? One of Debbie Horsfield’s great skills is that she’s able to wrestle these giant, creaky old galleons of novels into more modern shapes and reframe what the focus is. She and Damien [Timmer, The Forsytes’ executive producer] said they were interested in exploring patriarchy and its structures, such as primogeniture [the right of succession belonging to the first-born son] and how that system eats people alive. Because even though they’re rich and privileged, the likes of Jolyon Sr and James, and Jolyon Jr and Soames have no real agency because their paths are preordained. That intrigued me. Also, they wanted to focus on the women who, because they don’t have power, have a self-awareness that the men do not. So the men are powerful but clueless — and that tension seemed like an interesting thing to play with. Isn’t The Forsytes about Britain and its relationship with money and power? Don’t forget that the Forsytes are not aristocrats. They are upper-middle-class, and they have made their money by taking advantage of other people. When I’m in central London and I look up at the limestone buildings, I think to myself: this is a small island that can fit into the state of Texas seven times and yet look at this place! It’s a lot of blood and treasure that made this. We had our foot on a lot of people’s throats to achieve what we achieved. My character is a ghastly human, and I welcome Debbie’s subtle critique of the system that has made him extremely wealthy. Jolyon Forsyte, played by Danny Griffin The last leading man in a Debbie Horsfield adaptation was Aidan Turner in Poldark. No pressure on you then… Yeah, it is a big deal. I was very nervous when I started on the show. I wanted to prepare — overprepare, really — as it’s all you can do. I had a lot of questions for Debbie when we first met. Questions about the stuff that the audience wouldn’t know that I would be aware of, so I could have it in the back of my mind. Some actors say they connect with a character through their costume. What did it for you? His jacket. It shows that he really wants to be a Forsyte — because all the Forsyte men wear jackets — but because his is a bit different, it shows that he’s not conforming exactly to the Forsyte way. My “hero jacket”, was customised so it seemed more casual, and a combination of the jacket and the hair really helped me find him. Let’s talk about the hair… We had long discussions about it. At one point, it was going to be a wig, but the one we got looked like a discount Thor. So it evolved into what you see on the telly because we wanted to show that he had a lot of hair. Then the question was, “How would you smarten that up?” To which the answer was “curling it endlessly”. We ended up doing that and I love the result. Louisa Byrne, played by Eleanor Tomlinson How aware were you of The Forsyte Saga before you got the part? I’d heard of the adaptations and I knew the novels, but because my character was created by Debbie, I didn’t watch or read anything as there wasn’t an awful lot of point. Normally, if my character had been in the books, that’s absolutely what I would have done — that’s what I did with Poldark. Having said that, Debbie’s scripts are so rich that everything you need to know about your character is on the page. So, what is everything we need to know about Louisa? She’s a dressmaker who had a love affair with Jolyon 10 years prior to the events of The Forsytes, long before he married Frances. As she was a lady’s maid and he was the scion of a family like the Forsytes, the affair was doomed. But now she’s back in London, in the Forsytes’ orbit, which she realises is problematic — not least because she has two children and he’s the father. Isn’t that a good thing? No matter how long a woman had her children, if a man knew they were his, he could take them away. Initially, she lives in fear of that but once she realises that he’s still in love with her, and he’s trapped in a world where he doesn’t belong, that gives her more agency, power and strength. Frances Forsyte, played by Tuppence Middleton Had you read Galsworthy before you got the part? When I got the part, I started reading the books. Then I realised that Debbie’s version was so different that I stopped. Because Frances didn’t feature in the books, I decided I wanted to focus on the scripts and get my information from them. As you say, Frances isn’t in the novels but she’s a formidable presence in the drama… Ann [Francesca Annis] is obviously the queen of the family but she’s at the stage where she’s handing over more of the responsibility, so Jolyon Sr [Stephen Moyer] is running the house and Frances is his right-hand woman. They are the ambitious ones with big ideas for the company and she has more of a business head than her husband Jolyon. Do you think previous adaptations cast a long shadow? When you’re making a version of something that already exists, the most important thing is to accept that there will be people who have their definitive version of it, and know that you’re making it for a modern audience. So, then you ask yourself: how can you make it feel alive and relevant for that audience? What does The Forsytes says about us now? A period drama is always of the time it’s made, and this is a feminist take on The Forsyte Saga. But I think it also taps into a contemporary fascination with powerful families like the Murdochs and the Trumps, especially after Succession. Soames Forsyte, played by Joshua Orpin Let’s be clear — Soames is pretty awful, isn’t he? He can be, though I don’t think he thinks he is. When I’m playing him, I don’t judge him. I do try to understand him, though. He’s a guy born into this family of enormous wealth and privilege with ambition and drive to succeed and dominate. Those traits have been fostered by his parents, particularly his father, and he’s power-hungry. He thinks he’s the best man to run the family stockbrokers, not his cousin Jolyon. And he’s probably right. But while he’s very comfortable in the business world, he’s a man who doesn’t know how to express his feelings in a positive way. Again, thanks to his parents. He’s a product of his environment. The last man to play Soames — Damian Lewis — went on to great things, not least Homeland and Billions. As an Australian, is moving to the USA the big draw? There’s never really been a big draw to live in the United States. As nice as it is, I’ve only been a handful of times, and I’ve never worked there. The American stuff I’ve done has either been shot in Australia or in Canada. My mother’s actually British, so I’m a dual citizen. Is Soames a tragic figure? He thinks Irene is amazing. He falls in love but doesn’t know how to express that love. And then the thing that he loves about her — her free spirit — he ends up suppressing by trying to fit her into this box of what he perceives a wife should be. That sounds pretty tragic to me. How have your good looks factored in your career? I think that at a certain point in your acting journey, you have to reconcile yourself with the way you look and use that to your advantage. I’d say that my looks have helped me more than they’ve hindered me, but sometimes there have been roles that I’ve really wanted to play and the feedback I’ve had is that I’m too good-looking to play the character. That’s a shame, but what can I do? I can’t really change how I look. True, but do you feel under pressure to stay buff? In my life, I don’t feel that pressure. But if the role calls for it, it’s there. I played Superboy on Titans and he was a superhero, so there’s an expectation there for him to have a certain physique. For a role like that, I felt pressured to transform my body. But when it comes to other roles, not so much. Irene Herron, played by Millie Gibson How aware were you of the Galsworthy novels and previous adaptations? I wasn’t. However, as soon as I got the audition, I started doing my research and reading the book. But the book is very much from the male perspective. Then Debbie explained that this was going to be a new, fresh version, more about the female characters, so I stopped reading the book. Which was pretty hard-going anyway, if I’m honest. And along with so many brilliant, strong female characters, we had two female directors, and Debbie obviously, so it’s an amazing thing to be a part of. How does your Irene compare to other iterations? She’s completely transformed, and it helps getting into character that I am completely transformed, too — I don’t think people will know it’s me and I love that. So compared to the noughties version, Irene is a lot younger. She’s 19 in this version and has such a youthful zest and energy — she just wants to be a ballerina and live life — which I think makes it more heartbreaking when these terrible things start to happen to her. And by “terrible things”, you mean Soames Forsyte? It’s not as simple as that. Debbie has written the characters with such nuance and in such a complex way. The audience gets to see them fall in love, which previous versions didn’t show, so when it starts to go bad, it connects with you more. Irene falls in love with Soames for a reason, he’s not a baddie from the off, so there are different dynamics going on between the characters that audiences haven’t seen before. Coronation Street, Doctor Who and now The Forsytes… It’s funny because I’ve broken my streak of only being in shows that are more than 60 years old — by being in a show that’s a version of a 58-year old show. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. The Forsytes will continue airing on 5 on Monday 10th November at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Where was The Sunshine Murders filmed? Location guide for 5 crime drama
If you're looking for a new cosy crime series to get stuck into, The Sunshine Murders might be one for you. The drama, now available to stream on My5, follows an unlikely crime fighting duo made up of two sisters who have never met before. The series kicks off with Shirley (Emily Corcoran), a farmer from New Zealand, travelling to Athens and meeting her half-sister, detective Helen (Dora Chrysikou). The pair soon develop and unlikely way of solving crime, aided by Peter Andre's pathologist, Dr George Constantinos. The series is set amidst the backdrop of the Mediterranean, offering a sunny escape as audiences enter the winter months. "We needed to find a location that gave that really great level of escapism and the variety and diversity for the audience at home who may be sitting in the living room while it's raining outside," creator Emily Corcoran told RadioTimes.com and other press. So, where was The Sunshine Murders filmed? Scroll on to find out more. Where was The Sunshine Murders filmed? The Sunshine Murders was filmed across several locations in the Mediterranean and in the UK. The sun-soaked mystery was set in New Zealand, Greece and Cyprus, with filming taking place in the latter two countries and in the United Kingdom. Read on for a breakdown of some of the filming locations in The Sunshine Murders. Paphos, Cyprus The final two episodes of The Sunshine Murders were filmed in Paphos in Cyprus, specifically Asimina Suites Hotel, a luxury five star-property part of the Constantinou Bros Hotels. "It was an honour to welcome the production of The Sunshine Murders to our hotel," said Aristos Diomedous, general manager, on behalf of Constantinou Bros Hotels. "Partnerships like this not only showcase this superb property but also highlight Cyprus as a world-class filming and holiday destination." In addition to the three key cast members, Stephanie Beacham, Camilla Rutherford, Nina Wadia, Marina Sirtis, Alexander Vlahos and Nick Moran all featured in the episodes filmed in Cyprus. View oEmbed on the source website Larnaca, Cyprus When not filmed in the hotel, the production explored Cyprus further, especially when a "murder" took place. Corcoran explained that as part of the agreement to film in Asimina Suites Hotel, no one was allowed to be fictionally killed, and so the crew filmed near a cliffside in Larnaca. She told RadioTimes.com and other press of choosing Cyprus as a filming location: "Initially, I gravitated towards Cyprus for more practical reasons, which is becoming much more common now in television. Like many TV shows, well more and more, we are independently financed, so we're an independent production, and so we have to kind of find ways to piece the financing together. And it was fairly modestly budgeted as well. "And we found the Cypriots in general to be extremely enthusiastic, and all of the local businesses as well were." The Sunshine Murders is available to watch on My5. Add The Sunshine Murders to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Madame Blanc Mysteries bumper Christmas special guest cast confirmed – with Coronation Street and EastEnders stars
Several exciting faces are guest starring in this year's festive special.
It simply wouldn't be Christmas without a Madame Blanc Mysteries festive special to enjoy with your cheese and port – and this year's is the longest yet, running at a hefty 120 minutes. Jean (Sally Lindsay) and Dom (Steve Edge) once again lead the charge alongside Judith (Sue Holderness) and Jeremy (Robin Askwith), as they "attend an exclusive Christmas Eve event at the Musée de Sainte Victoire," where Jean is invited to authenticate a box once owned by Marie Antoinette. But the festive cheer quickly evaporates when she discovers a ticking bomb concealed inside. "With just 90 minutes until detonation, the museum is sealed shut, the security guard is dead, and the race is on," reads the synopsis. "Jean and the gang must crack the code and defuse the bomb before time runs out. This is Jean’s most perilous challenge yet – can she save the day?" Returning cast members include Alex Gaumond as Chief of Police André Caron, Sue Vincent as Gloria Beaushaw, and Tony Robinson as Uncle Patrick. And in further exciting news, joining the main ensemble are John Thomson (Cold Feet, Coronation Street), Kacey Ainsworth (Grantchester, EastEnders), Raji James (Hollyoaks, The Man Who Fell to Earth), and Manjinder Virk (Trigger Point, Midsomer Murders) – who are all guaranteed to shake up proceedings. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/11/John-667e5a4.jpg" width="4800" height="3200" alt="A smiling man wearing a light grey suit and patterned tie sits indoors, engaged in conversation with another person whose back is to the camera. The background is softly blurred, suggesting a warmly lit and elegant setting." title="The Madame Blanc Mysteries: Christmas Special (2025)" /> "This is our homage to the classic Christmas film," said Lindsay, who is also the creator, co-writer and executive producer. "It stands alone as a plot, but has all your favourite characters in a very extraordinary situation. It is a very ambitious concept, but we are beyond thrilled with how it has come out. "In fact, I actually cannot wait for all our wonderful fans to watch it. A very Merry Christmas from all of us in Sainte Victoire." <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/11/Madame-cd7c22f.jpg" width="4800" height="3200" alt="A woman wearing a white blazer and green top smiles warmly while greeting another person in a light-colored outfit. They appear to be in conversation in a brightly lit, elegant room with ornate wall art. Several other people are visible in the background, engaged in their own interactions." title="The Madame Blanc Mysteries: Christmas Special (2025)" /> The release date for the Christmas special will be announced in due course, but there's currently no word on whether the show is returning for a fifth outing – although Lindsay previously said she'd love to continuing making it. "I'm not under any, 'Yes, I'll quit when I'm on a high.' No, I won’t," she laughed. "I love it so much. I will do it until they want me to not do it, to be honest, because it's such a special thing in my life. And it's such a part of our lives now. "And it's great for us because Steve [White, Lindsay's husband] does the music as well, so it's something we share. And the boys [they share two sons, Victor and Louie] come out on our holidays there, and it's just brilliant. "It's just really special, so I'll drag it out as long as they want me to." The Madame Blanc Mysteries will air on 5 this December. Add shows to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who star's new detective series Cooper & Fry confirms start date – and it's soon
The 5 drama will be coming to our screens later this month.
It's the perfect time of year to get caught up in a brand new drama, so it couldn't be better timing that Cooper & Fry is landing on our screens sooner than we initially thought. The series is now been confirmed to be launching on 5 on Tuesday 18th November at 8pm, with episodes airing weekly. Leading the cast are two fan-favourite TV stars – former Doctor Who companion Mandip Gill and Downton Abbey's Rob James-Collier, who play the show's leading mismatched detective duo. The official synopsis for the series reveals: "Set in the mystery-shrouded Peak District, DC Ben Cooper, an affable local, is thrown together with guarded newcomer DC Diane Fry, to investigate a string of mysterious deaths." Based on the bestselling novels by author Stephen Booth, Cooper & Fry will be made up of four two-hour episodes, each based on a different novel in the series: Black Dog, Dying to Sin, Blind to the Bones and Dancing with the Virgins. Scroll through a collection of first-look images of Cooper & Fry below: View Gallery on the source website The series was announced alongside a number of new commissions for 5, which also included psychological drama The Family Secret and France-set thriller Missed Call. At the time of the shows' commissions, deputy chief content officer and head of scripted at Paramount UK Sebastian Cardwell said: “We’re incredibly proud to unveil this new slate of scripted commissions, which showcases the breadth and ambition of 5’s storytelling. "From brand new thrillers and character-driven mysteries to the much-anticipated return of audience favourites, we’re continuing to build a rich and distinctive drama offering." Read more: How Sean Bean reinvented classic villain Sheriff of Nottingham for all-new Robin Hood series Riot Women future at BBC revealed after acclaimed first run – will it return? The Cooper & Fry synopsis also teases of their unlikely dynamic: "They must learn to work together to get results. As their personal lives begin to intertwine, a unique friendship begins to form... but it won't always be easy." As for just how things will unfold for the two detectives, we'll have to wait and see! Cooper & Fry begins on Tuesday 18th November at 8pm on 5. Add Cooper & Fry to your watchlist when it arrives on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who and Downton Abbey legends star in exciting first look at all-new detective series
Rob James-Collier and Mandip Gill star as the detective duo Cooper & Fry.
We finally have our first look at a new mismatched detective duo in the all-new series Cooper & Fry, which was confirmed earlier this year. The upcoming Channel 5 crime drama features favourites from two of Radio Times' most beloved franchises: Downton Abbey star Rob James-Collier and former Doctor Who companion Mandip Gill, who feature as the titular detective duo. The shadowy trailer shows the first meeting of DC Ben Cooper (James-Collier) and DC Diane Fry (Gill) and their fractious dynamic as they bring two very different mindsets to some ghoulish cases in the Peak District. What awaits looks positively gothic, unsettling, but also full of heart - with James-Collier and Gill's characters' personalities shining. The official synopsis for the series reveals: "Set in the mystery-shrouded Peak District, DC Ben Cooper, an affable local, is thrown together with guarded newcomer DC Diane Fry, to investigate a string of mysterious deaths." View Gallery on the source website The pair will come together to tackle some strange cases, but Fry is much more sceptical than Cooper of local folklore and "shadowy beliefs". Naturally, the pair's personal lives will intertwine with the cases, and a new and unique friendship will be formed. The synopsis concludes: "While Cooper and Fry unearth old rituals and beliefs, they must rely on each other to not only bring justice, but to survive." The series is based on the beloved and bestselling novels by author Stephen Booth. Cooper & Fry will consist of four two-hour episodes, each based on a novel from the run of books. The first season will adapt the first four novels in the series: Black Dog, Dying to Sin, Blind To the Bones, and Dancing with the Virgins. We may just have a new crime obsession! Read More: Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea has release window confirmed with new-look images Brassic future teased by star Ryan Sampson as series comes to a close Cooper & Fry is coming soon to Channel 5. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast. Add Cooper & Fry to your watchlist when it arrives on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.
Is All Creatures Great and Small returning for season 7?
And just like that, another season of All Creatures Great and Small has been and gone. The theme of season 6 was undoubtedly change, as we reunited with the characters after a time jump — with the war declared over in the opening episode. James and Helen, now settled in Heston, were adapting to life as parents of two, while Siegfried was struggling in Mrs Hall's absence. Thankfully, she returned to Skeldale after living with her son for the past few years — a period that had clearly affected both the running of the practice and Siegfried's dynamic with James. Meanwhile, romance was on the cards for Tristan, though he was also burdened by the trauma of what he'd witnessed during his service, which had manifested as PTSD. And little Jenny Alderson — not so little anymore — set off to London to study at nursing college, with Helen joining her at the start of her new adventure to help her sister find her feet. But what's next? Are there plans to head back to Skeldale? And when might new episodes arrive? Read more: All Creatures Great and Small's Anna Madeley on Mrs Hall's secret talent – and *that* Siegfried speculation All Creatures Great and Small spin-off show confirmed with beloved special guest Read on for everything we know so far about a potential All Creatures Great and Small season 7. Is All Creatures Great and Small returning for season 7? There's currently no official word on the show's future. Watch this space for updates. "There are definitely more stories to tell," Nicholas Ralph said on the show's future during an interview with RadioTimes.com. "And I can speak for myself when I say I'd love to do more." Callum Woodhouse is equally keen to return, though he believes "there is an end in sight". "You never want to outstay your welcome," he said. "You never want to keep going until it starts to feel a bit stale or overworked." But he's confident that point is still far off. "At the same time, I don't think we're done yet at all," Woodhouse continued. "There are absolutely more stories to tell. I don't think we’re going anywhere soon, but I also don't think we’ll be a forever type thing." But in the meantime, there's the annual All Creatures Christmas special to look forward to. And All Creatures Great and Small: Behind the Magic, an hour-long show that will take viewers behind-the-scenes, will also be broadcast later this year. When could a potential All Creatures Great and Small season 7 air? There’s been a new season of All Creatures every year since 2020 – five arriving in September and one in October – so if season 7 gets the green light, we’d expect it to land in September or October 2026. Who could return for a potential All Creatures Great and Small season 7? We'd expect to see the following back on our screens: Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot Rachel Shenton as Helen Herriot Callum Woodhouse as Tristan Farnon Samuel West as Siegfried Farnon Anna Madeley as Mrs Hall There's also Tony Pitts as Richard Alderson, Patricia Hodge as Mrs Pumphrey (alongside Derek the dog, who plays Tricki Woo), and Mollie Winnard as Maggie. It also feels likely that Gaia Wise, who plays Charlotte Beauvoir, will return now that Tristan is staying put, and their relationship was going from strength to strength. However, it remains to be seen when we'll see Imogen Clawson as Jenny Alderson, who is now at nursing college in London. And, as ever, there will be plenty of new guest stars. What could happen in a potential All Creatures Great and Small season 7? <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/09/All-Creatures-Great-and-Small-Rachel-Shenton-Nicholas-Ralph-a94e60c.jpg" width="3240" height="2160" alt="Rachel Shenton as Helen and Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small, standing next to each other in front of rolling fields in the background." title="Rachel Shenton as Helen and Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small" /> In typical All Creatures fashion, we expect plenty more “heartwarming human and animal tales” if season 7 gets the thumbs up. As for what else could happen, Tristan suffered a significant PTSD episode in the season 6 finale, which could well shape his storyline moving forward. And while he bonded with Siegfried during that particularly testing moment, we’re anticipating plenty more bickering in the coming epispdes. On a lighter note, his relationship with Charlotte suggests the pair could be in it for the long haul. Elsewhere, we’d expect Helen to return from helping Jenny settle down in London, but it remains to be seen whether she, James and the children will move back to Skeldale. Meanwhile, Mrs Hall and Siegfried are likely to continue… whatever it is they’re doing. When could the trailer for a potential All Creatures Great and Small season 7 arrive? Trailers usually arrive in the month leading up to the premiere. All Creatures Great and Small seasons 1-6 are available to watch on 5. You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon. Add All Creatures Great and Small to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
All Creatures Great and Small season 6 finale finally answers Tristan mystery
The period drama's latest outing wrapped up on an emotional note.
It wouldn't be an All Creatures Great and Small season finale if you weren't reaching for the Kleenex (other brands are available) – this time prompted by what happened with Tristan. Following his return to Darrowby from the front line, he hadn't quite been himself, however hard he tried to convince those around him that all was just dandy. Mrs Hall was quick to pick up on it, while Siegfried — wrapped up in his own crisis, brought on by the beloved housekeeper's absence — remained oblivious. But it all came to a head in the final episode of season 6, when Tristan's mask didn't so much slip as disintegrate entirely, as the horrors of what he'd witnessed were laid bare and his emotions rushed to the surface. Just as he had on numerous other occasions since returning, Tristan accompanied his brother to examine a shire horse that was having a problem with one of its hooves. But the visit proved anything but routine. Shortly after entering the stable, Tristan faltered. When Siegfried instructed him to "go to its head," he hesitated before slowly approaching the horse. After a few steps, he froze, a look of sheer terror spreading across his face, which had turned ghostly pale. Tears welled in his eyes as Siegfried asked him once more to attend to the horse, unaware of what was happening to his brother. But Tristan's feet were rooted to the spot, and moments later he bolted from the stable, jumped into the car, and drove off. Read more: All Creatures Great and Small's Anna Madeley on Mrs Hall's secret talent – and *that* Siegfried speculation All Creatures Great and Small spin-off show confirmed with beloved special guest Ahead of season 6, Callum Woodhouse teased trouble for his character, discussing how Tristan spends the series "trying to push a lot of things down and make everyone think that he's absolutely fine". "He's the usual Tristan that we all know and expect, but we're sort of drip-fed… that things aren't all OK," he added. "There's stuff he's probably not fully talked about, not fully expressed yet, which he was masking throughout this series with drink and with jokes — which is obviously always Tristan's way — but I'm sure more of that will get unpacked over time." And in the finale, we finally learned the extent of what he’d experienced — and why he had been awarded the Military Cross, something he hadn’t wanted to discuss when Siegfried and Mrs Hall first asked, excitedly. During a heartfelt conversation with Siegfried in the church, where he'd been since the early hours, Tristan spoke of his friend Billy, with whom he'd been inseparable since training. They were moving camp when they came under fire. "Suddenly there was this noise," he said, unable to fight back his tears. Billy had been hit. "He was in a bad way." "I didn't fully grasp what had happened, so I went to help him — and he screamed at me not to move an inch." The whole field they were standing on was covered in land mines. "Someone moved over there — another bang; someone here — another," he recalled, which is when the horse pulling their equipment began to panic. "You weren't afraid of the horse. What you couldn't bear was his fear," noted Siegfried astutely of his brother's panic in the stable the previous day. With no medic on the scene, Tristan did what he could to help, but he was unable to save his friend. "There was a mine right next to me, and if Billy hadn't screamed, I would have been killed," he said. "I got a medal because I managed to save a few chaps, but Billy wasn't one of them. He saved me, but I couldn't save him. The Cross should be his, not mine." Tristan added that he had tried to push the thoughts out of his head, "but then you see something or you hear something," as was the case with the horse. "No one wants it to be over more than me, but if all it takes is some scared horse to wrench me back, then maybe it never will — in here." Tristan then thumped his chest before breaking down, as Siegfried held him. In the aftermath of Japan’s surrender, the "last of Britain's enemies to be "laid low," a new dawn is heralded once again. But for Tristan, and the other fortunate ones who survived, a different kind of war has begun. Coming to terms with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder — a term that wouldn't be coined until 1980 — and learning to live with its daily demands, as we see with both Tristan and Tom, another Darrowby resident recently returned from front-line service, will be an ongoing battle that touches every part of their lives — and one that may have no end in sight. All Creatures Great and Small seasons 1-6 are available to watch on 5. You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon. Add All Creatures Great and Small to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
All Creatures Great and Small's Anna Madeley on Mrs Hall's secret talent – and *that* Siegfried speculation
"They do get on and they do have a lot of affection for each other. Where that will lead...?"
Anna Madeley visibly bristles when I suggest that Mrs Hall, her much beloved housekeeper from All Creatures Great and Small, might be repressed. “It’s funny,” she begins in a tone that does not indicate amusement, "putting labels on characters when one of the things I love about this show, one of the things we’ve set out to do from the get-go, is avoid tropes and archetypes". Mrs Hall, Madeley is adamant, is not your typical busybody, buttoned-up housekeeper. “We could have very easily come out with the old trope of the bossy woman telling everyone what to do, which a lot of people expect, and instead what’s really refreshing is having a character who has proper story behind her, history that informs who she is.” And who is she? “She is a woman of her time with expectations of her life that fit where she’s from. She had a difficult time with her husband and she’s come through something there. She’s had a difficult time with her son and she’s come through something there. Her life’s been tough.” Madeley is, of course, quite right to challenge my broad brush strokes’ characterisation of her character. Younger than she is in the novels and altogether warmer a character, Madeley’s Mrs Hall is a woman with hinterland, and hidden talents. Just tonight, we discovered her heretofore unknown adeptness at darts. Played with delicacy and nuance by Madeley, Mrs Hall isn’t just Skeldale House’s beacon of decency, stoicism and quiet resilience – without whom the house could not function, on a very practical level – she is also its moral centre and beating heart. Yes, there is a fortitude befitting the period and Mrs Hall’s class and position, but there is also extraordinary tenderness. As the vets of All Creatures deal with wounded animals, Mrs Hall, in her own way, heals wounded souls – including her own. “She's someone who speaks her mind, gently,” Madeley says. “She’s the person in the house who does say there's an elephant in the room and we need to talk about it.” Read more: All Creatures Great and Small spin-off show confirmed with beloved special guest All Creatures Great and Small says goodbye (for now) to two long-running characters So far, it has just been metaphorical elephants that Mrs Hall’s had to deal with but anything is possible where Siegfried is concerned. Given the chemistry between the curmudgeonly eccentric vet played by Samuel West and Mrs Hall, might that include romance? "Oh my God, no," Madeley exclaims, half-laughing, half-aghast. “A real friendship has blossomed between the two of them and they are of a generation so there’s lots of things they can share and understand about one another from their lived experiences. But we just have a lot of fun with these two characters who butt heads a bit.” Seeming to put paid to any Sieg-drey entanglement, Madeley concedes that "They do get on and they do have a lot of affection for each other," before adding, somewhat tantalisingly, "Where that will lead, you don’t know." Certainly, in the post-war years, the times they were a-changing. And now that Mrs Hall has settled matters with her ex-husband and with her son… "It will be interesting to see where freedom from those concerns will now take her as a person," Madeley muses. "And whether it will allow her to be a little bit… freer." All Creatures Great and Small continues on Thursday at 9pm on 5. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast. Add All Creatures Great and Small to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.
All Creatures Great and Small welcomes ex-Coronation Street star in first-look clip
Chris Gascoyne appears in the drama's latest episode.
One former Coronation Street star has already popped up in season 6 of All Creatures Great and Small – and now we have another. Following Lucy-Jo Hudson, who guest-starred in the premiere, Chris Gascoyne – best known for playing Peter Barlow in the ITV soap – appears in this week's episode, the penultimate instalment of the season, as Harry Coker, who needs an attending vet for his dog racetrack. With James "worried about the practice finances... [he] decides to take on the role... to earn extra money". "James arrives at Hensfield Racetrack and is put to work straight away, checking over the whippets," reads the official synopsis. "However, he soon wonders if there is something else afoot." You can enjoy the clip at the top of this page. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/10/exclusive-1-d170ed6.jpg" width="4800" height="3200" alt="A scene set in the countryside featuring two men dressed in mid-20th-century attire. One wears a dark pinstripe suit, red tie, and fedora, standing with his hands in his pockets, while the other, in a tan coat labeled “VET” and a black hat, leans against a green structure. Behind them, a group of people in period clothing stand in a grassy field, facing away. The image includes an “RT Exclusive” watermark in the corner." title="All Creatures Great and Small: - Series 6" /> Elsewhere, Tristan has his hands full with "an aggressive parrot called George". Read more: All Creatures Great and Small's Siegfried masks his panic as Mrs Hall asks for leave All Creatures Great and Small says goodbye (for now) to two long-running characters Fearing the bird might have a contagious disease, he "takes it back to Skeldale for observation, but the parrot starts to have an impact on his personal life". Meanwhile, "Maggie uncovers one of Mrs Hall's hidden talents, and Siegfried enjoys spending time with Jimmy – until Jimmy inadvertently tells him some home truths". All Creatures Great and Small continues Thursdays at 9pm on 5. You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon. If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
There are so many reasons that viewers flock to watch period dramas like new 5 series The Forsytes, but one big one always has to be the incredible costuming, sets and locations. In The Forsytes, viewers are transported back to Victorian England, where they meet the titular wealthy family, who own and run a stockbroking firm. The series features an all-star cast, including Francesca Annis, Stephen Moyer, Jack Davenport, Tuppence Middleton, Millie Gibson and Eleanor Tomlinson. If you're watching the series and think you recognise some of the locations, or simply want to know where all the magnificent sets were found or built, then look no further - we've got a full breakdown right here. Read on for everything you need to know about the filming locations used for The Forsytes. Where is The Forsytes set? The Forsytes is set in 1880s London, and follows the family behind a prominent stockbroking firm, Forsyte & Co. It is based on John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga novels, which were previously adapted as an ITV series called The Forsyte Saga in 2002. Where was The Forsytes filmed? Despite being set in London, The Forsytes was filmed predominantly at The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol, and on location in the surrounding area between May and August of 2024. Set interiors were built at The Bottle Yard Studios for rooms in Jolyon Forsyte’s Richmond Park house, Robin Hill, as well as Soames Forsyte’s Knightsbridge house on Montpelier Square, the solicitors offices of Forsyte & Co, Louisa Byrne's cottage and Philip Bosinney’s office. Meanwhile, locations in and around Bristol that were used included Christmas Steps, which was transformed into the Parisian setting of 1880’s Montmartre, as well as St Mary Redcliffe Church, which was used as the church in episode 1. Soho street scenes are filmed on All Saints Lane, Denmark Street, Hobbs Lane, Orchard Lane, Frog Lane and Frogmore Street, and Tailor's Court was used filming for cafe scenes. The Mahogany Parlour in The University of Bristol’s Goldney House was used as the setting for a Gentleman’s Club, and Dowry Square in Hotwells also features as a prominent setting. Additionally, properties on Vyvyan Terrace and Christchurch Road were used as exteriors for main character residences and walking and talking scenes were filmed at Blaise Castle Estate, while Ashton Court Estate was used for scenes set in a park and a polo field. The boxing ring that is seen in episode 1 was filmed at Arnos Vale Cemetery, a grade II* listed Anglican Chapel. Ronnie Castillo, head of production at Mammoth Screen, said in a statement: "The Bottle Yard Studios are a home from home for Mammoth Screen, many of our productions filming and returning for more over the last decade. Katherine, Emma and the entire team go above and beyond, ensuring we feel welcome and our teams are fully supported for the duration. "The studios are versatile, affordable and sustainable within easy reach of some remarkable locations and a very talented crew. We can’t wait to return to Bristol and The Bottle Yard Studios." The Forsytes will start airing on 5 from Monday 20th October at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Forsytes cast: Millie Gibson and Eleanor Tomlinson star in new adaptation
The new 5 drama adapts John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga novels.
Period drama fans, your next TV obsession is arriving this week, as The Forsytes starts airing on 5. The series, which is a new adaptation of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga novels, comes from Poldark writer Debbie Horsfield, and stars the likes of Millie Gibson, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jack Davenport and Tuppence Middleton. It follows the titular late Victorian stockbroking family, whose generations are torn between tradition, personal happiness and the pursuit of love. "Family stability is threatened by two chance encounters for rival cousins, Jolyon and Soames, throwing their previously steady lives into disarray," the synopsis for the series says. "Married Jolyon contends with the reappearance of his former lover, Louisa, a lady’s maid-turned-dressmaker, while daughter June falls for a penniless architect. Soames, meanwhile, is enchanted by the beautiful and free-spirited dancer Irene. All must decide whether to be ruled by the head or the heart." But who else stars in the series and who do they all play? Read on for our guide to the cast and characters of The Forsytes. The Forsytes cast: Who stars in the 5 series? Here are the main cast members and characters in The Forsytes. Read on below for more info about who they are and where you've seen the actors before. Francesca Annis as Ann Forsyte Danny Griffin as Jolyon Forsyte Joshua Orpin as Soames Forsyte Tuppence Middleton as Frances Forsyte Millie Gibson as Irene Heron Stephen Moyer as Jolyon Senior Jack Davenport as James Forsyte Eleanor Tomlinson as Louisa Byrne Justine Moore as June Forsyte Francesca Annis plays Ann Forsyte Who is Ann Forsyte? Ann is the matriarch of the Forsyte family, and mother to Jolyon Senior and James. Where have I seen Francesca Annis? Annis has had roles in series including Great Expectations, Madame Bovary, Partners in Crime, Home Fires, Cranford, Bancroft and Showtrial, as well as films such as 1984's Dune and King of Thieves. Danny Griffin plays Jolyon Forsyte Who is Jolyon Forsyte? Jolyon is the son of Jolyon Senior, who has a love of art and is uninterested in the business world his family inhabits. Where have I seen Danny Griffin? Griffin has had roles in series including So Awkward, Get Even and Fate: The Winx Saga, plus films such as The Gentlemen. Joshua Orpin plays Soames Forsyte Who is Soames Forsyte? Soames is the son of James, who is scheming and desperate to move up the career ladder. Where have I seen Joshua Orpin? Orpin has had roles in series including Preacher, Titans and Home and Away, as well as the film I Know What You Did Last Summer. Tuppence Middleton plays Frances Forsyte Who is Frances Forsyte? Frances is the ambitious, status-driven wife of Jolyon Junior. Where have I seen Tuppence Middleton? Middleton has had roles in series including Friday Night Dinner, Black Mirror, War & Peace, Dickensian, Sense8, Our House and CAUGHT, as well as films such as Trance, A Long Way Down, The Imitation Game, Jupiter Ascending, Spooks: The Greater Good, The Current War, Fisherman's Friends, Downton Abbey and Mank. Millie Gibson plays Irene Heron Who is Irene Heron? Irene is a dancer who catches the eye of Soames Forsyte. Where have I seen Millie Gibson? Gibson is best-known for her roles as Kelly Neelan in Coronation Street and Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who. Stephen Moyer plays Jolyon Senior Who is Jolyon Senior? Jolyon Senior is Ann’s eldest son, and the head of the family, who runs the stockbroking firm Forsyte & Co. Where have I seen Stephen Moyer? Moyer has had roles in series including Waking the Dead, Lilies, True Blood, The Bastard Executioner, Shots Fired, Safe House, The Gifted, Sexy Beast, Elsbeth and Art Detectives, as well as films such as Concussion, The Hatton Garden Job and After We Fell. Jack Davenport plays James Forsyte Who is James Forsyte? James is Ann’s younger son and Jolyon Senior's brother, who he has been in a life-long feud with about who should run the family company. Where have I seen Jack Davenport? Davenport is known for his roles in films including the Pirates of the Caribbean series, The Talented Mr Ripley, The Boat That Rocked and Kingsman: The Secret Service, as well as series such as This Life, Coupling, Flashforward, Smash, The Morning Show, Why Women Kill, Ten Percent, Dr Death and The Assassin. Eleanor Tomlinson plays Louisa Byrne Who is Louisa Byrne? Louisa is a dressmaker and Jolyon's first love, who she met a long time ago. Where have I seen Eleanor Tomlinson? Tomlinson has had roles in series including The Sarah Jane Adventures, The White Queen, Ordeal by Innocence, Poldark, The War of the Worlds, Intergalactic, The Nevers, A Small Light, The Couple Next Door, One Day and The Outlaws, as well as films such as Alice in Wonderland, Jack the Giant Slayer, Loving Vincent and Colette. Justine Moore plays June Forsyte Who is June Forsyte? June is Frances’s daughter from a previous marriage, and Joylon Junior's step-daughter. Where have I seen Justine Moore? Moore has had roles in series including Without Sin and Call the Midwife. The Forsytes will start airing on 5 from Monday 20th October at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Forsytes first-look clip with Poldark's Eleanor Tomlinson sees an awkward encounter between love rivals
The new take on John Galsworthy's novels starts airing on 5 next week.
John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga novels are getting a brand-new adaptation on 5, simply titled The Forsytes – and RadioTimes.com has got an exclusive first-look clip from the first episode. The clip introduces us to Poldark star Eleanor Tomlinson as Louisa, a dressmaker and the first love of Danny Griffin's Jo Forsyte. She is visited in her shop by Tuppence Middleton's character Frances Forsyte, Jo’s status-driven wife, and their daughter June, played by Justine Moore. As Louisa realises who Frances is, she becomes flustered and awkward. As Frances leaves to make other calls, she leaves June in the shop, while Louisa enters another room to catch her breath. You can watch the clip at the top of this article now. The Forsytes also stars Millie Gibson, Joshua Orpin, Francesca Annis, Jack Davenport, Tom Durant Pritchard and Stephen Moyer, amongst others, and chronicles the lives of the titular late Victorian stockbroking family. The synopsis for the series says: "Family stability is threatened by two chance encounters for rival cousins, Jolyon and Soames, throwing their previously steady lives into disarray. "Married Jolyon contends with the reappearance of his former lover, Louisa, a lady’s maid-turned-dressmaker, while daughter June falls for a penniless architect. Soames, meanwhile, is enchanted by the beautiful and free-spirited dancer Irene. All must decide whether to be ruled by the head or the heart." The series is a reunion for Tomlinson and Poldark writer Debbie Horsfield, who has also been behind this adaptation. Speaking with Radio Times magazine, Horsfield has teased that this won't be a "straight adaptation" of the "male-centric novels". "What we wanted to do was redress the balance by fleshing out the women – but not at the expense of the men," she said. Meanwhile, Tomlinson said of being approached to play Louisa: "They sent me the scripts and I immediately started getting excitement flutters. We spoke about the character and who she was and what her journey was. And that was it. I was hooked." The Forsytes will start airing on 5 from Monday 20th October at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
All Creatures Great and Small says goodbye (for now) to two long-running characters
"That separation was felt both on-screen and off."
The theme of All Creatures Great and Small season 6 has undoubtedly been transition. From adjusting to life in the aftermath of the war – which has been particularly challenging for Tristan – to a Skeldale House in turmoil following Mrs Hall's multi-year absence, from Helen and James becoming parents for the second time to embracing game-changing veterinary advancements, all of the characters have been forced to stay nimble over the past few years. And now, Jenny Alderson is officially flying the nest – an especially emotional development for her dad Richard and for Helen, who essentially became her surrogate mum after theirs died. In the latest episode, Jenny received the letter she’d been waiting for: a place at nursing college in London – news met with elation by Helen, who gave her a big hug while their dad looked on. Of course, Richard was proud of his daughter, but he was also worried about his youngest heading off into the world for the first time – and to the Big Smoke, of all places. His panic then rose further when he learned that Jenny's registration date was in just three weeks' time. But again, Helen remained positive and level-headed as she set about making a list to ensure Jenny would have everything she needed. That composure didn't last long, though. Helen's demeanour soon shifted when she was confronted with the possibility that Jenny might not return to Yorkshire after completing her time at college, instead choosing to stay in London or move elsewhere. And before long, doubts crept in, with Helen arriving at the conclusion that her sister wasn't at all prepared. "She's not ready, not one bit of it," she confided in James, a solemn expression splashed across her face. But after another conversation with her husband – in which he made the very astute point that no one can ever be truly ready to leave home, but that it can lead to the greatest adventure of one's life – Helen gradually came around to the idea. And after watching a very impressive display from Jenny with the horses, it was soon Helen convincing her sister, who had started to fret herself, that she had to take this opportunity. "I don't know anything about London, I don't know where anything is, I don't know anyone," she said. "Well, that's what adventures are for, isn't it? Discovering all them things," replied Helen. Speaking ahead of the season premiere, Rachel Shenton described Helen and Jenny's arc in the show's sixth chapter as "another wave of change". "We've seen the signs – Jenny wondering what else is out there, talking about cities and new experiences," she added. "With Doris arriving last season, her head was turned a bit, and she started thinking about what else is out there. So Helen's always quietly known that moment might come. "But I don't think she copes as well as she thought she would. It makes Helen look at her own life – the things she didn't do, the opportunities she maybe didn't have. "That time's passed for her now, with two children. So it's a bittersweet moment, but also a lovely evolution in their relationship." Read more: All Creatures Great and Small guest star has a very famous mum All Creatures Great and Small's Siegfried masks his panic as Mrs Hall asks for leave And in a lovely turn of events, Helen will also get to enjoy a new experience of her own when accompanying Jenny to London to help her settle in – a Richard Alderson suggestion. After initially thinking she couldn't, Helen agreed to join her sister for a few weeks, following some gentle encouragement from James, who must now step up in his wife's absence. "There was definitely a little Rachel-shaped hole on set during this series," said Nicholas Ralph of working without Shenton, who had gone on maternity leave. "We all really missed her – but of course, she had far more important things going on than we did "And it was the same for James, really. Helen is his other half, his missing piece. She supports him, guides him, pushes him when he needs it. She's a real rock for James, just as he is for her. "So that separation was felt both onscreen and off. James really feels it, and we, as a company of actors, felt it too. We missed her hugely." All Creatures Great and Small season 6 airs on Thursdays on 5. You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon. If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
All Creatures Great and Small's Siegfried masks his panic as Mrs Hall asks for leave
Siegfried has only just secured Mrs Hall's return after racing to the train station to stop her from leaving for good in the All Creatures Great and Small season 6 premiere — but the Skeldale housekeeper will soon be off again, news which goes down like a lead balloon with the vet. In a clip shared exclusively with RadioTimes.com, Mrs Hall asks if she can take leave to join the celebrations for her granddaughter's first birthday. "I see," he replies, before falling silent. "Will that be alright?" she asks, picking up on the change in his mood. He assures her that it is, but it’s painfully obvious he's masking how he really feels. To soften the blow, she offers to make him a couple of pies to tide him over. "I cooked perfectly well before when you weren’t here. I won't need your pies," he insists – peddling a lie so big, we're amazed either of them managed to keep a straight face. Read more: All Creatures Great and Small guest star has a very famous mum All Creatures Great and Small star predicts show's future and whether it will end any time soon Meanwhile, Tristan is getting ready to go riding with Charlotte, his new beau, and is also preparing for a croquet lunch with her father, General Beauvoir. "Do either of you have the foggiest idea about playing croquet?" he enquires. "You'll excel at half of that," says Siegfried, never one to miss an opportunity to rib his brother. "I'd like him to think I'm not a complete Neanderthal," responds Tristan, who appears uncharacteristically taxed. You can enjoy the clip at the top of this page. Elsewhere, "Helen's as proud as punch when Jenny gets some exciting news and sets about preparing her sister for a big move, but soon realises that neither of them is ready for it," reads the episode guide. And: "Mrs Stokes brings in her troublesome goat, Hilda, who gives Siegfried the run-around." She "insists that Hilda is lame, but Siegfried doesn't believe there's anything wrong with her — that is, until he's forced to apologise… and learns a thing or two about himself in the process". All Creatures Great and Small continues Thursdays at 9pm on 5. You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon. If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
John Hannah confirmed for all-new "witty and charming" detective series Death in Benidorm
Hannah will star in the new six-part series for 5.
After new murder mystery series Death in Benidorm was announced earlier this year, 5 has now confirmed the central cast, which will be led by none other than John Hannah. Hannah, known for his roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Black Mirror and The Last of Us, will play Dennis in the six-part series, a detective who swaps the chaos of the UK for a quieter life running a bar in Benidorm, as he runs from his past. However, when tourists start turning up dead, he’s reluctantly drawn back into detective work, and is egged on by his barmaid Rosa, a crime drama superfan who becomes an unlikely partner in the investigations. The synopsis for the series says: "With Dennis’s real-world experience and Rosa’s encyclopaedic TV knowledge, each episode sees the duo tackling a new murder in paradise, whilst trying to remain on the right side of the local Spanish cops." Additional cast members who have been announced for the series include Carolina Bécquer in the crucial role of Rosa, as well as Ariadna Cabrol as Maria and Damian Schedler Cruz as Jesús. The series has been created by Ian Jarvis, known for his work on The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin and Beyond Paradise, while Simon Delaney (Death in Paradise) has come on board as director. Other writers working on the series include Yasmine Akram (Flack), Claire Downes (The Outlaws) and Tom Parry (Your Christmas or Mine). Greg Barnett, commissioning editor for 5, said in a statement: "I am thrilled to have John Hannah on board. He’s absolutely perfect for the role of Dennis – a character with sharp intellect, dry wit, and life experience – and from what I’ve seen already, viewers will fall in love with him." Death in Benidorm was first announced in July, along with the commission of other new shows such as Cooper and Fry and Imposter, and the renewal of series such as The Teacher and The Madame Blanc Mysteries and The Hardacres. Death in Benidorm will air on 5. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The new Forsyte Saga is not a straight adaptation of "male-centric novels", says Poldark creator
Have Poldark’s Debbie Horsfield and Damien Timmer struck gold again with their reimagining of TV's greatest saga?
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. It began, as epic journeys often do, with a single step. It was the summer of 2021 and on Hampstead Heath – 800 acres of greenery and wild woodland in north London – writer Debbie Horsfield and producer Damien Timmer went on a walk to discuss what they might do next. Their last collaboration, Poldark, had ended two years earlier after five series and, as Timmer puts it, “Having had a rest after Poldark, we were trying to find a slab of story that Debbie could really enjoy getting her teeth into.” “I think it was Damien who first mentioned The Forsyte Saga,” says Horsfield. “I mean, I’m all for anything with ‘saga’ in the title.” Horsfield and Timmer were of course familiar with the previous dramatisations of John Galworthy’s novels, from 1967 and 2002. The former was a sprawling 26 parts from the BBC and is widely regarded as a TV classic. “It’s spoken about with hushed reverence,” Timmer notes. “And then there’s the Granada version for ITV at the turn of this century.” As Tuppence Middleton, who plays Frances Forsyte, says, “It hasn’t been done as often as some of the other big classics, but there’s still a reputation to live up to.” What Timmer intended to do was to “make a version for now. In our ever more divided society, there is a real parallel with that late Victorian era. We wanted to take a magnifying glass to this extremely wealthy family who are the one per cent.” Prior to Poldark, adapted from Winston Graham’s novels, Horsfield was known for big, messy family dramas like Making Out, The Riff Raff Element and Cutting It. “I’m from a big family and family dynamics have always fascinated me. I’ve written a lot about inter-generational conflict, and I don’t necessarily mean in a grim, serious way, but only ever my own original ideas, all contemporary and pretty much all set in Manchester, where I’m from. Then Poldark came along and it was very much new territory.” New to adaptation, Horsfield says, “Initially, I was nervous about taking on someone else’s characters, but I quickly realised I had to imagine they were my characters, to get inside their heads and understand what made them tick. So I did that and Poldark seemed to go OK.” Clearly, Horsfield has an aptitude for adaptation. “She’s so good at distilling a saga, keeping lots of different characters in play and knowing what each character’s story is,” says Timmer. “Which are exactly the skills you need to wrangle Galsworthy’s stories about the rich, troubled and often awful Forsytes.” From the shrewd, ruthless and controlling Soames and his oppressed but defiant wife Irene, to the bohemian Young Jolyon (who, despite being the first-born male heir, has little interest in the family firm and prefers making art to making money), the Forsytes are A Lot. “We’re synthesising Galsworthy, a bit of The Age of Innocence and a lot of Dallas,” Timmer says. “I want Oil Barons’ Ball vibes going on.” And that’s not even the half of it. “If you go back to the books,” he says, “a lot of the real meaty drama is actually hidden and the female characters aren’t well drawn at all. Irene, for example, is a shadowy figure who is really difficult to engage with because you never really understand her motivations.” To excavate the hidden drama from the novels and to illuminate their female characters would take Horsfield and Timmer another two years of walks on the Heath, he explains, “thinking about the timeline and talking about the family – who was and wasn’t there”. “We were clear from the word go that we weren’t going to do a straight adaptation of these male-centric novels,” says Horsfield. “What we wanted to do was redress the balance by fleshing out the women – but not at the expense of the men.” With their vision clear and Horsfield’s teeth well and truly stuck in – not to mention source material that was out of copyright so there was no need to buy the rights – Timmer had to find someone to commission it and foot the bill. He eschewed UK broadcasters “because we didn’t think they’d have a huge amount of interest”. Besides, “PBS really wanted it.” The American Public Broadcasting Service has had a long relationship with British costume drama, usually topping up budgets in return for the rights to show dramas such as Pride and Prejudice as part of its Masterpiece strand in the US. “It became clear early on that if they wanted it, they’d have to pay much more than they are used to,” says Timmer. “But they did want it, so they stepped up.” Timmer won’t be drawn on the The Forsytes’ budget, beyond saying that “it is substantially higher than our previous shows for PBS – Poldark, Victoria and Endeavour – and ten years ago, would have seemed eye-wateringly expensive. But drama costs have gone up a lot and now we’re competing with Apple and Netflix shows, there’s this kind of arms race inflation.” So is The Forsytes made for an American audience? “We’re making it with a sense of what we thought would work for a kind of broad audience around the world who enjoy a British costume drama,” he says, carefully. “And we’re making it for ourselves.” Horsfield has been true to her word. The 2025 version of The Forsyte Saga – just called The Forsytes as Timmer thought “saga” felt “a bit fusty” – is definitely not a straight adaptation. Moving the rival families of brothers James and Jolyon Senior into houses next door to each other and creating a family stockbroking business qualify as minor changes to Galsworthy’s world, given that with this first series Horsfield has, in effect, written a prequel to his novels – one in which Young Jolyon’s first wife Frances is not yet dead and, in fact, finds herself in a love triangle with her husband and a woman with whom he was in love prior to marrying her. (In the novels, Young Jolyon has had an affair with the nanny.) Where previous adaptations have focused on Soames and Irene’s toxic marriage, they’ve only just met in the first episode of Horsfield’s version. In doing what Stephen Moyer, who plays Jolyon Senior, calls “rewinding so we can see the origins of the stories that will propel the drama for three or four or five seasons”, Horsfield has broadened The Forsytes’ horizons by extending their timeline beyond the three novels and two interludes that constitute The Forsyte Saga in print. The result is an original, compelling and thoroughly modern period drama. Jack Davenport, who plays James Forsyte, was especially struck by Horsfield’s exploration of who wields power. “Because power isn’t handed to women on a plate in the way that it is for the men, the women have a self-awareness that the men absolutely do not. The men are powerful but clueless, and that makes for a fantastic tension.” With the financing in place and Horsfield thinking of the characters as her own – some of them were her own, after all – it was soon time to put faces to them all. “I love casting an ensemble,” says Timmer. “It is such fun and terrifying because you’re never quite sure how it’s going to work. It was easier with the older characters because we generally got our first choice – and it’s not like that all the time”. The challenge came in casting the leading men Young Jolyon and Soames. “We saw what felt like 300 actors for Soames and Jolyon. Every British actor with a pulse under 30 who was vaguely handsome, and about 80 Australian actors.” Among the throng were Danny Griffin and Joshua Orpin. “I initially auditioned for Young Jolyon,” says Orpin, who plays Soames. “That classic romantic leading man character is, more often than not, the sort of part I’m given to audition for. After that, I was asked to read for Soames and immediately I thought, ‘Wow!’ Morally ambiguous and darker than Jolyon, I’d much rather play him.” Griffin, who also auditioned for both roles, couldn’t be happier playing Young Jolyon – not least because he gets lots of scenes with Tuppence Middleton as his wife Frances. Hot from the success of The Motive and the Cue, the National Theatre play by Jack Thorne and directed by Sam Mendes, Middleton was Timmer and Horsfield’s first choice for Frances. “She is another level, so professional and her acting is just really… still,” Griffin says. “And if I decide to take a line one way and try it that way, Tuppence always follows so she’ll never do the same scene the exact same way. I love that!” With the female characters moved centre-stage, Irene is imbued with actual character by Horsfield, where previously she was remembered for something done to her. Audiences in 1967 were shocked by the rape of Irene (Nyree Dawn Porter) by her husband Soames (Eric Porter) – to demonstrate that she is his property – though you have to wonder if it was the brutality itself that shocked or the fact that it was being depicted on television. Marital rape wasn’t criminalised in Scotland until 1989 and 1991 in England so would have been part of many viewers lived experience, even as discussing it remained taboo. (That scene will take place in the second series of The Forsytes.) Doctor Who and Coronation Street alumna Millie Gibson takes on the mantle of Irene and is grateful for the opportunity, despite the gruelling nature of the part. “I don’t think a lot of casting directors see me as a heroine yet so it was nice to step into those shoes,” she says. Not that she thought she’d got the part. “I auditioned on Zoom and it was really hard. I had no sense of how I was coming across and afterwards I thought, ‘Well, that was awful.’ Literally a week later, I got a call asking if I’d be Irene.” For the key role of Louisa, the seamstress who has history – and perhaps a future – with Young Jolyon, Horsfield knew they’d need someone who would bring “nuance and vulnerability but also humour and strength”. The writer says, “It’s very different to the character she played previously for me, but I knew she’d be brilliant.” Step forward, Poldark’s Demelza herself, Eleanor Tomlinson. “I got a call from Damien asking me to lunch and thought, ‘Oh hello!’ ” says Tomlinson. “They sent me the scripts and I immediately started getting excitement flutters. We spoke about the character and who she was and what her journey was. And that was it. I was hooked.” The first series of The Forsytes was filmed last summer and the cast have just finished filming the second. There is at least a third to come. Fired and inspired by Galsworthy’s novels, Horsfield’s imagination could run to several more series. The books conclude with the next generation of the family (who are a long way off being born yet) reaching adulthood. And even that needn’t be the end of the story – though they might have to reattach the “Saga” to the title. After all, Horsfield’s The Forsytes is about intergenerational conflict, the weight of expectation passed down through families, and just how present the past is. The future, meanwhile, is full of possibility. Just as long journeys start with single steps, paths are made by walking them. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. The Forsytes will launch on 5 on Monday 20th October at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
All Creatures Great and Small guest star has a very famous mum
There's been plenty of change to speak of in season 6 of All Creatures Great and Small. The latest instalment opens with Mrs Hall's absence from Skeldale House; Helen and James, who have since welcomed another child, are now living at Heston; and the war has officially been declared over. But one thing that never changes is Siegfried and Tristan's inability to go more than a few minutes without squabbling. In the latest episode, the pair both race to offer their equine insight to the daughter of General Beauvoir, "society beauty" Charlotte Beauvoir, who Anna Madeley described as "exuberant and proactive". Charlotte is expecting "Captain Farnon", but her dad failed to specify which one, hence both of them turning up. "Impressive," she says, on greeting the siblings. "You ask for one and they provide a spare." What then ensues is a battle of wills as they seek to prove that they are the "marvel with horses" that the general was thinking of, before the next competition inevitably arrives, whatever that will be. But in the midst of all of that, Tristan and Charlotte discover that it's not just horses that they're passionate about. "Charlotte Beauvoir is a great addition," said Callum Woodhouse. "Tristan is maturing, becoming more independent, and taking on more responsibility. I think he's past that stage now where he’s jumping from girl to girl. "So, is he ready for something more serious? It's been really fun to play." Eagle-eyed viewers might remember Gaia Wise, the actor who plays Charlotte, from crime dramas The Chelsea Detective and Silent Witness, in which she had guest roles. Her other credits include the films A Walk in the Woods – based on Bill Bryson's book of the same name – and the suspense thriller Dead of Winter, both of which also star her mum, none other than Dame Emma Thompson. Her father is actor Greg Wise (Sense and Sensibility, The Crown). Read more: All Creatures Great and Small star predicts show's future and whether it will end any time soon All Creatures Great and Small welcomes new addition to Skeldale House – but it's not smooth sailing "Gaia Wise... is terrific," said Samuel West. "There was one scene where I was walking alongside her, talking, and she looked so like her mum. I did two films with Emma in the early '90s [Howards End and Carrington], so that was really weird. It was like suddenly being 30 or 35 years younger. "And because Gaia's really terrific – her mannerisms, or something she did, or some look she gave the ground – just took me back. It was very odd indeed. She's terrific, and I hope we stick with her." Tristan will no doubt be hoping for just that... All Creatures Great and Small continues on Thursdays at 9pm. You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon. If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who star's new adaptation of beloved novel series gets confirmed release date
5 has announced the release date for new period drama The Forsytes, which features the likes of Doctor Who's Millie Gibson among the cast. The series, which is an adaptation of John Galsworthy’s Forsyte Saga novels, will launch on Monday 20th October at 9pm, with each episode airing weekly. Penned by Poldark screenwriter Debbie Horsfield, The Forsytes follows an upper-class family of stockbrokers across multiple generations, set against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving late-Victorian world. The show focuses on the battle between Soames Forsyte (Home and Away’s Joshua Orpin) and his cousin Jolyon (Fate: The Winx Saga’s Danny Griffin) as they clash over who will take over the family firm. A trailer was previously unveiled, giving fans a first look at this clash between the cousins, as well as a glimpse at Gibson as Soames's wife, Irene Heron, and Eleanor Tomlinson (The Couple Next Door) as Louisa Byrne, Jo's first love. The cast also features Tuppence Middleton (Downton Abbey: A New Era) as Frances Forsyte and Stephen Moyer (True Blood) as Jolyon Forsyte Sr. A second instalment was confirmed back in June, despite the first series not having aired yet. Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, Drama, 5, said at the time: “We are excited to announce that production has begun on the second series of The Forsytes. "With the first series set to air soon, this early commitment to a second chapter is a testament to the strength of the stories and characters that we know our audience will embrace. "We look forward to sharing even more of this rich and compelling series.” Damien Timmer, CCO & Founder of Mammoth Screen, added: “We can’t wait for the world to see series 1 of The Forsytes, and we’re so pleased to be getting ahead of ourselves and starting on this thrilling second series with Debbie Horsfield’s irresistible scripts and our glorious – and ever expanding – cast.” The Forsytes will launch on 5 on Monday 20th October at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.