Bridgerton star reflects on what it means to be part of the show's East Asian representation: "It’s pretty monumental"
Katie Leung stars as Lady Araminta Gun in Bridgerton season 4 and chats to Pass the Mic about what the role means to her.
Known for her roles in the Harry Potter films, Annika and Nightsleeper, actress Katie Leung is making her Bridgerton debut in the anticipated fourth season of the hit Netflix series. Starring as Lady Araminta Gun, Leung's character is a complex one, and John's cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza) first meets her treating her stepdaughter Sophie (Yerin Ha) terribly. As we dig into their own back stories, we come to find out how the two women crossed paths and how Araminta went on to employ Sophie as her live-in maid. While their character dynamics aren't exactly close, the introduction of Leung's Araminta, Ha's Sophie and Araminta's daughters Rosamund (Michelle Mao) and Posy (Isabella Wei) all signal a shift for Bridgerton, as they all step into the spotlight as the show's first East Asian lead family. Ha is heading up the cast as Bridgerton's first ever East Asian romantic lead, a feat worth celebrating in any TV landscape but for such a major series, it just continues to show that people from all backgrounds can be in leading roles in period dramas. But what does it mean to Leung to also be part of such storytelling? Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com for Pass the Mic, Leung admitted: "It feels pretty monumental. I think especially because we’re looking at a family dynamic, it’s not just any role within Bridgerton, it’s the dynamic of the family that’s explored and that is why it’s important because people can watch it and resonate because it’s universal, relationships are what matters." She went on: "It’s quite a blessing to be a part of it and I hope that it’s just – I feel like we’re still not quite there yet, where we need to be. And that’s why Bridgerton is so successful because it has always been a diverse show and it’s successful because it’s so well written and it’s all about … it’s so that people can resonate with the relationship dynamics. "The more we see of that, the more we are going to be working towards something where we’re all going to be happier and more equal.” Leung has been spoken out previously about the racism she experienced after being cast as Cho Chang in the Harry Potter films back in 2005. Speaking to The Guardian, the actress said: “I don’t know if anything could have been done back then to make things better or easier,” she says. “At that age, you’re curious. I remember being very curious about what people were saying about me, and I was Googling myself. Nobody could have stopped me, because I was old enough to make up my own mind.” Leung has gone on to voice act in Arcane, as well as star in shows like The Peripheral, The Chemistry of Death and The Wheel of Time, but Bridgerton is a big step into the Regency era for the actress. Season 4 part 1 of Bridgerton sees Araminta trying to platform her daughters on the marriage mart, with a clear disdain for Sophie but with that cliffhanger at the end of the first batch of episodes, we'll just have to wait and see what's in store for Araminta. We can't wait! Bridgerton season 4 part 1 premieres on January 29th and Part 2 on February 26th, both on Netflix. Seasons 1-3 are available to watch on Netflix now. You can buy the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bridgerton-Collection-Inspiration-Netflix-Original/dp/0349430187?tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2381335" target="_blank" rel="noopener sponsored" data-geniuslink="https://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=114542&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FBridgerton-Collection-Inspiration-Netflix-Original%2Fdp%2F0349430187%3Ftag%3Dradtim0b-21%26ascsubtag%3Dradiotimes-1612614&dtb=1">Bridgerton book series on Amazon. Add Bridgerton 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 from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Bridgerton star defends Lady Araminta – and explains why fans should empathise with her
Lady Araminta is set to be Bridgerton's new antagonist but actress Katie Leung says that fans should "empathise" with her.
There's a brand new family on the block in Bridgerton season 4 and as fans get whisked up into Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie's (Yerin Ha) love story, we also get introduced to the fierce and often cruel matriarch of Lady Araminta Gun. Played by Harry Potter and Annika star Katie Leung, there's a lot that meets the eye to her new character. Having been married and widowed twice, Araminta is majorly concerned with making sure that her daughters Rosamund (Michelle Mao) and Posy (Isabella Wei) debut this season but she's also described as "fabulous, discerning, and blunt". So, it's safe to say that Araminta will be forging her own path in the Ton this season and isn't one to care too much about the opinions of others. Araminta will undoubtedly be a character that gets the Bridgerton fanbase talking, not least because she does fall into the 'antagonist' category. But what is it that she wants viewers to understand about her character? Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com, the actress revealed: "I think the main thing to understand is that she is a single mother who’s trying to juggle just surviving. Especially back then, in this Regency era, having two daughters is not ideal because the sons manage the household. So, she’s had to do everything herself, having been married twice and widowed twice. "So, she’s inevitably built up this wall of protection for herself, for her daughters and she’s on survival mode. She has to take on this ruthless, high-achieving stance attitude in order to achieve her goals." Read more: Bridgerton star teases "confronting" season 4 character dynamic between Francesca and Michaela Unforgotten season 7 releases major production update – and confirms Peaky Blinders and Coronation Street favourites for new cast Leung continues: "The thing to understand as well is that she loves her daughters, she just doesn’t really show it so much. She shows it through different ways but not in the affectionate way that we see in someone like Violet, for example. I think it’s down to finance, financial stability and not having that. "Yes, it’s easy to say that you should always approach your children, your loved ones with affection, gratitude and all of these things. But it’s actually a privilege because the Bridgertons have the financial stability to do those things, whereas Araminta does not. So yes, we should empathise with her a lot more." The new season focuses on Benedict and Sophie, who meet at Lady Violet's masquerade ball one evening and never cross paths again. Benedict's story is the focus of the third Bridgerton novel, An Offer from a Gentleman. The story of Sophie is uncovered the more we dig into the series as we learn about her work as a maid and the fact that she works for Lady Araminta. As for how that dynamic will play out in the rest of the season and what that could possibly spell for Sophie's future, we'll just have to wait and see. Bridgerton season 4 part 1 premieres on 29th January and Part 2 on 26th February, both on Netflix. Seasons 1-3 are available to watch on Netflix now. You can buy the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bridgerton-Collection-Inspiration-Netflix-Original/dp/0349430187?tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2381335" target="_blank" rel="noopener sponsored" data-geniuslink="https://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=114542&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FBridgerton-Collection-Inspiration-Netflix-Original%2Fdp%2F0349430187%3Ftag%3Dradtim0b-21%26ascsubtag%3Dradiotimes-1612614&dtb=1">Bridgerton book series on Amazon. Add Bridgerton 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 from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Shaun Evans reveals how ITV’s Betrayal most differs from other spy thrillers
Evans spoke exclusively with RadioTimes.com about the new four-part series.
Endeavour star Shaun Evans is back on ITV, this time starring in four-part spy thriller Betrayal, in which he plays a mid-career MI5 officer. The series follows Evans's character John, as he finds himself under investigation, while also struggling with problems in his personal life, and becoming increasingly convinced that a hardline faction of the Iranian regime are planning an attack. When speaking with RadioTimes.com exclusively about the series, Evans noted that when adding to a genre as well established as the spy thriller, you have to bring "a fresh, new voice" to it. Evans said that the way in for him and the team behind the programme was to make John an "everyman figure", and to look at "the daily life, the reality of what it's actually like to work for the security services". "The idea that you could be dealing with international terrorism at work and coming home and having to bath the kids or put a wash on, for me, seemed very fertile territory if we really wanted to dig into the idea of a midlife crisis," Evans said. He continued: "These are just everyday people doing an extraordinary job. And that is it really - we have a tendency to glamorise and mystify them, but actually…" "I think there needs to be an everyday quality to John," Evans added. "It needs to feel realistic and relatable, but still exciting. And so we tried to incorporate all of those aspects into the show, for it to feel exciting, fresh, current, but also completely real and relatable." As well as Evans, the series also stars Romola Garai as Claire, John's wife, and Zahra Ahmadi as Mehreen Askari-Evans, an intelligence operative who is tasked with taking over John’s duties while he is under investigation. They are joined in the cast by Gamba Cole (The Outlaws), Omid Djalili (His Dark Materials), Matthew Tennyson (Grantchester), Hayley Tamaddon (Unforgotten), Anthony Flanagan (House of the Dragon), Paddy Rowan (G’wed) and Waj Ali (Out There). Betrayal will premiere at 9pm on Sunday 8th February on ITV1 and ITVX in 2026. Add Betrayal 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.
Call the Midwife's Heidi Thomas reveals season 15 "brings era to an end" – and why it was "hard" to write
The creator of Call the Midwife has said the most recent chapter of the BBC period drama "very much brings an era to an end". Season 15 has seen Nonnatus House under immense pressure after Sister Julienne was told to ditch the habit or lose their funding, among other widespread changes being spearheaded by the NHS, and the public's changing attitude towards healthcare. Reflecting on how central change is to the drama, Heidi Thomas told us at the Radio Times Covers Party 2026 : "I've had a lot of these stories in mind for a long time, and change has generated so many of our stories over the past few years. "I'm not quite sure what I would do if things weren't changing. The whole point is, it's about change and challenge – and the series itself looks to the future, so it very much brings an era to an end." View Green Video on the source website But while Thomas noted that the challenge does feel "organic", she admitted it's also been deeply "emotional". "I think we've all cried our eyes out at different times because things never will be the same again," she added. "But the whole thing with Call the Midwife, like life itself... it's a process of constant evolution for our characters and also for the stories." Read more: Call the Midwife's Nonnatus House jeopardy storyline has lost its edge – and here's why Call the Midwife legend Judy Parfitt reveals the show’s upcoming hiatus "shakes" her a bit: "It'll be hard for all of us" Thomas also spoke specifically about the season 15 finale, which was "both hard to write and beautiful to write". "Many of the things that I depict in that episode I have experienced in life, so it felt strangely personal," she explained. "But I think that the driving thing was to do a really good job. We're only getting the chance to wrap up this iteration once, and it has to be done to the highest possible standard. "So it's hard and it's very emotional, not because it's sad, but because it's beautiful." Season 15 of Call the Midwife has seen the midwives and nuns confront a wide range of challenges, from cases involving rabies and slavery to embracing major societal shifts such as the Women's Liberation Movement. Their personal lives have also seen plenty of turbulence, from Rosalind distancing herself from her parents to protect her relationship with Cyril, to Sister Veronica voicing her desire to have a child of her own – throwing her future as a nun into question. And the challenges continue in Sunday night's episode, as Sister Catherine discovers that a baby has gone missing from the nursery, while Sister Julienne delivers news to the Turners and Sister Veronica about Christopher's gangster father in Hong Kong, known as The Cormorant. Elsewhere, Cyril tells Rosalind that his divorce will be officially finalised by the end of the month, inviting her away for a weekend to celebrate. Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. Call the Midwife season 15 continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday at 8pm. 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.
Original Blake's 7 star reveals her biggest hopes and fears for reboot – from female representation to politics
"We were the Robin Hoods in space and we were fighting for the dispossessed."
Excitedly chatting a few days after the news hits that a Blake's 7 reboot is in development, original star Sally Knyvette declares: "It's about time!" The actress starred as Flight Officer Jenna Stannis in the iconic sci-fi that aired from 1978 to 1981 and followed Roj Blake (Gareth Thomas) and his group of rebels as they waged war on the totalitarian Terran Federation. While Knyvette stepped away after season 2, in part due to being disappointed with how her character had been written, the series has now been part of her life for almost 50 years. Over the years since it ended, she's heard whisperings of reboots various times - but she's hoping that this time, with director Peter Hoar, exec Matthew Bouch and producer Jason Haigh-Ellery at the helm, might be the one to make it all the way, But what exactly does the reboot need to do to succeed? Knyvette has a few key requirements... Keep it political - but "focused" In the wake of the reboot news, some fans expressed their fears that the series would become "too woke" - despite the fact that it has been overtly political since its inception. To that, Knyvette says: "Don't let it be too woke. I would agree on that. I couldn't agree more. Let it stick to what it's about - the evil forces of the Federation." However, she goes on to add: "You look at the governments around the world now and you think we've all got to stand up to what's going on a lot of the time. I'll only say that in a very generalised way. "But we were the Robin Hoods in space and we were fighting for the dispossessed, we were helping those that were being attacked by evil forces and long may it remain in that vein, because anything that can lighten the rather dark load of what's going on in the world at the moment would be fantastic." "Woke is such a big word. It covers so many things and I want to be careful, because I'm not against the way life is going at all, in many, many ways but what I want to see is people with backbone and resilience and not getting emotionally distressed by the slightest little thing. "I do feel at times, we have to have backbone as women, and if we get too distressed about what's going on, then we sort of make ourselves more vulnerable, rather than empowered. I want to see the empowerment of women in [the reboot] in a very healthy way. "But I wouldn't like it to become a soapbox for lots of different ideologies. I want it to be focused. I'd like it to be focused as it was – fighting the Federation, the evil Servalan and Travis." Give us better female representation – and even make the Blake figure a woman Knyvette has made no secret of the fact that she wasn't happy with how her character Jenna was portrayed by the end of her time on the show, describing her as a "space pirate" who was turned into a "dolly bird". Crucially, she doesn't want the same thing to happen to actresses who take on the reboot. Speaking about her own experiences, Knyvette recalls: "We had to fight a very different world in the '70s, which was very misogynistic and not at all like it is now. One of the reasons I left was veiled in that. "The way women are being treated now is infinitely better - it's not right still, but it's infinitely better - and it'd be great to see some strong, powerful women characters in there, young and old. The most dispossessed group of all is us older actresses from Hollywood down. Everywhere, it's the same. You reach 50 and suddenly you're invisible, and we're not actually, we've got a lot of great experience." Asked if the Blake figure in the reboot could be a woman this time around, Knyvette says: "Absolutely yes. Women are just as natural leaders as men - I would argue probably even better. "Also if you're given a role like I was, as an intergalactic space pirate, let her really be one - not just a dolly bird with sexy outfits. I'm not against that. I like to look good and all of that, but please let us actually do the real stuff, the action, make the decisions. "Don't say, 'Oh goodness, there's a storm coming, Blake, take over.' And that was the pattern, which was why I left so I could find a voice because I had no voice at the time. I didn't feel I could speak up. "I would like to see women having a voice, but I don't want it to be unbalanced. I don't want it to be an anti-men's sort of show at all. Let's see everyone working together, offering their different views and abilities and strengths." Keep a few key characters around - and honour the original cast For Knyvette, there are a few characters who were key to the tone of the show - including the sophisticated computers. She says: "I hope we'd keep the computers, Zen and ORAC, because I think they had amazing idiosyncrasies. And, you know, darling Peter Tuddenham, who was so sweet, did them both beautifully." Meanwhile, discussions have already began in the Blake's 7 fandom about who could possibly step into Jacqueline Pearce's shoes after her incredible performance as the evil Servalan, alongside Stephen Greif's Travis. Knyvette has those same thoughts, telling us: "She was a powerful woman. She was also sexy and dominatrix-y. She was a wonderful actress and friend - and darling Stephen, who recently died. I just adored him, and that was such a shock to us all. That was an incredible team going on with those two. "I would like it to mirror some of the originals, and hopefully they'll get a team like ours, which was sort of magical. We all got on very, very well, and we dealt with a lot of tough stuff with a lot of humour, because you had to keep going, because it was a very difficult way of working in those days." When we suggest that the reboot could honour the original cast in some way, Knyvette adds: "Hopefully the fans will ask for that. I think they will." Stay true to the original tone and keep it character-driven But perhaps one of the biggest reasons Blake's 7 succeeded originally was its unique tone. For Knyvette, it will be essential for the reboot to stay true to that. "I'd love to see the moral ethos of the show [continue]: stand by what you believe, stand up for what you do, don't run away from your your actions. be responsible," Knyvette sums up. "Keep it witty too. The dialogue was witty and funny. Keep that, because you don't want it all to be too intense and heavy." "There were three-dimensional characters," she adds. "It was character driven, so let's see that happening again... let's see it character driven with intention and force." Reflecting on what the reboot could do, she tells us: "Let's see something really original and exciting. It's a great time to do it. We've got the world in the most complex situation, with the most extraordinary people running the world. "Let's see this as a vehicle for our fighting back, to get some form of balance in the world." Check out more of our Sci-fi 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.
BTS of the Radio Times Covers Party 2026 – with stars from The Traitors and EastEnders to Call the Midwife and Strictly
The stars were out in force at this year's event.
The stars were out in force last night (Tuesday 27th January) at the 2026 Radio Times Covers Party - and now you can go behind the scenes with a set of stunning photos from the event. A whole array of celebs are featured in the images, from the stars of the most recent season of The Traitors through to the cast of EastEnders and last year's run of Strictly Come Dancing. Both David Mitchell and Victoria Coren-Mitchell were there, along with Slow Horses' Roddy Ho, Christopher Chung, and author Mick Herron. A trio of Gladiators stars were in attendance at the party, along with the cast of Call the Midwife, Riot Women, Death in Paradise and many other acclaimed and beloved series. You can check out the full gallery of images right here now. View Gallery on the source website Throughout the evening, the stars spoke with RadioTimes.com exclusively about their past and upcoming projects, including The Traitors winner Stephen, who broke down what he was thinking during that nail-biting final roundtable. "That final roundtable was very, very tense," he said. "I mean, they're all very tense, but that one, knowing there was so much on the line, first of all, was really scary. "And also, at that point, I'd started to question whether Rachel had my back or not and so there's so many things running through my mind." Meanwhile, Doctor Who's River Song star Alex Kingston, who was in attendance with the cast of Strictly, gave her thoughts on the latest season of the sci-fi show's cliffhanger, which saw Ncuti Gatwa regenerate into Billie Piper. And Alex Horne previewed the upcoming season of Taskmaster and one particular moment from Kumail Nanjiani that left a big impression on him. Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. 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.
Slow Horses star teases intriguing character change for season 6
There's about to be a personality shift for Roddy Ho.
It seems Slow Horses' Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) might have learnt a few lessons after being (checks notes) nearly run over, shot at, locked up, interrogated, hacked, and honey trapped in season 5. Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com at the Radio Times Covers Party about what's ahead for his expert hacker in season 6 of the beloved spy thriller, Chung teased a bit of a personality change... "Roddy is a little bit more spiritual," he revealed. "He might have learned a few things from season 5, from the love that he didn't get returned back to him. You might see him in a little bit more of a holistic place in season 6." He added: "Playing Roddy is so brilliant because you just get to say exactly the things that you are not allowed to say in real life and be completely unfiltered, uncensored, and as obnoxious as you like, but trying to imbue him with a sense of humanity. It's always really fun." View Green Video on the source website Asked if he has a bit more of that humanity in season 6 after his experiences in season 5, Chung responded: "I think he does. "Well, I don't know if that's necessarily something that he would show to anyone else. He always has the wall up, even though inside maybe he's a little bit more like a puppy dog than anyone would realise." Season 6, which is due to be released later this year, will adapt two of Mick Herron's novels at the same time. Reflecting on how that might change the feel of the show, Chung explained: "I think every season of Slow Horses has a slightly different feel to it. "So I think what we've managed to do this season is to combine the two books into one and give it a real propelling force forward, to really elevate the series from where we left off in season 5." And as for the future of the show? "I'd be happy to play Roddy until – well, not the day I die, because that could be a long time. But I think the day that I have to take my Roddy Ho hat off will be a very sad day, so hopefully it's not anytime soon." Slow Horses season 6 will arrive later this year. Seasons 1-5 are available to stream on Apple TV+ – sign up to Apple TV+ now. Add Slow Horses 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 from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Taskmaster's Alex Horne teases "never-before-seen" moment in season 21 involving movie star contestant
Taskmaster's Little Alex Horne has unsettled and excited us in equal measure with a cryptic tease about season 21, involving new contestant Kumail Nanjiani. The Eternals actor is one of the latest stars to take on the show, and has already filmed alongside fellow comedians Amy Gledhill, Armando Iannucci, Joanna Page and Joel Dommett. And, when asked by RadioTimes.com at the Radio Times Covers Party 2026 about which moment is most likely to go down in Taskmaster history, the Hollywood actor immediately came to mind for Horne. "There is a moment involving Kumail Nanjiani. I don't want to give much away, but he gives a lot away about what he does by himself in his hotel room. So that's what you've got to tune in for," he teased. "He surprised himself by what he revealed, and I was sat next to him, and it's a big moment. It's a never-before-seen Taskmaster moment." Consider us intrigued! View Green Video on the source website Meanwhile, it seems comedy legend Iannucci also has a tricky time ahead of him, with Horne giving his take on each of the season 21 contestants. Horne said: "Armando Iannucci's in it, which is a surprise to me, because he's a comedy legend and a very clever man, you'd think. Not on Taskmaster! "It turns out Armando is an idiot, which is so nice to [know]. I found him quite daunting to meet and work with, but within five minutes, you realise he's the same as everyone else. He crumbles under pressure. "And then we've got Kumail Nanjiani from the movies, Joel Dommett from The Masked Singer, Amy Gledhill, who's just fabulous at everything, and Joanna Page from Gavin & Stacey. So it's a high calibre line-up." View Green Video on the source website Meanwhile, Horne is fresh from a trip to the US with his Taskmaster Live on Stage USA tour. Chatting about any dream American contestants, he immediately listed off: "Ali Wong, Sarah Silverman, Conan O'Brien. "I'd get Seth Myers and John Oliver on because they just did our one in America, the live show, and they were very funny. So there's your five. Done!" Season 21 doesn't yet have a release date but, after the recent line-up announcement, we're expecting it back on our screens fairly soon – and we'll be waiting with bated breath for that Kumail Nanjiani moment! Taskmaster season 21 will air later this year on Channel 4 and on the official Taskmaster YouTube channel elsewhere globally. Add Taskmaster 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 Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who legend Alex Kingston "isn’t buying" Billie Piper regeneration twist
Doctor Who legend Alex Kingston has given her take on the latest regeneration twist, which saw Ncuti Gatwa's the Time Lord regenerate into returning star Billie Piper – and she's not having any of it! With the details of the twist still being left up in the air, the River Song actress, who starred alongside David Tennant and Matt Smith during their eras on the show, is insistent that Piper isn't playing the new Doctor. Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com at the Radio Times Covers Party 2026, Kingston said: "I didn't see the Billie Piper twist coming at all. To be perfectly honest, I still don't quite believe it because she's not a Gallifreyan, she's a human. "I think there's some playing going on here. But I don't buy that she's the next Doctor, and if she is, they're gonna have to work hard to convince me, because she's not a Gallifreyan!" Of course, Piper previously starred as companion Rose Tyler in Doctor Who and, with her recent return, does that mean we could see a comeback for River too? View Green Video on the source website "I haven't really stopped being River because I do so many audio recordings and boxsets of of her journeys with the Doctors, but also she has her own River Song Diaries," Kingston pointed out. "So I've never left that world. Would I like to come back? 100 per cent. It's nothing but sheer joy when you work on Doctor Who, and I've actually even said that I believe that, because she's been saved in a computer program, she could come back in a computer program. Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. "She could 3D print herself. She could hack into any computer in the universe and cause mayhem. I just feel like there's a lot of opportunity if they wanted to go down that route. "But maybe they feel like that's the end of that character. But never say never!" So, as for what the future holds for Kingston and River? That would be spoilers, sweetie. Add Doctor Who to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" class="x_OWAAutoLink" 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 Sci-fi 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.
Vernon Kay reveals he and Tess Daly will "miss" Strictly Come Dancing and shares whether they'll be tuning in
It was the news no one could expect or wanted to hear: Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman leaving Strictly Come Dancing. The news came on an ordinary Thursday morning early on in the show's 2025 run and before fans knew it, the presenting duo were hanging up their glitter for good and said the all important "Keep dancing" one last time. Their final episode was an emotional one as the pair were guided onto the ballroom on Christmas Day before saying their farewells. As the episode drew to a close, Tess said: "Thank you again for watching us over the years. It has meant the world to us." The pair then signed off the episode with one final "keep dancing" before the credits rolled. While details are scarce on who could be replacing the duo, it'll certainly be a different autumn and winter season that many are used to, including for the presenters themselves. Speaking at the Radio Times Covers Party 2026, Tess's husband Vernon Kay said that the couple have a holiday booked when the show rolls around – but reiterated that they continue to be firm fans of the series, even with Tess no longer on it. View Green Video on the source website Asked if they will still tune into the show, he told RadioTimes.com: "Yeah, of course! It's iconic, and it's in our family's DNA, it really is. So it holds a special place in both of our hearts and the kids as well. "Phoebe and Amber absolutely love it, and we're going to miss it. We're going to miss it, but it's still there. It's not gone, it's not vanished. We'll still be watching, we'll still be dialled in. We'll still be in the Star Bar after the show and enjoying it because it is the best show on UK TV." It hasn't yet been confirmed who will replace Tess and Claudia in the ballroom later this year, though there has been heavy speculation about who could fill their shoes. From the likes of Alex Jones and Bradley Walsh to Rylan Clark and Zoe Ball – the latter two having previously presented Strictly's companion series – there has been plenty of chatter. Read more: Nigella Lawson confirmed as new Great British Bake Off judge, as Prue Leith shares verdict on her replacement Celebrity Traitors season 2 tipped to have approached iconic British pop star to join line-up In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Ball said of taking over the helm: "Obviously, there's a part of me that would love to do it. But I will still be watching, whoever hosts. "This is the hilarious thing, it’s all anyone talks to me about. At the moment I am in mourning for Tess and Claud because I love those girls. I think everyone’s name is being thrown into the mix." Strictly Come Dancing returns later this year. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Directive 8020 boss promises "a huge leap forward for the series" with two major upgrades
"It's a big improvement on how scary the game is."
How does Directive 8020, the new sci-fi entry in Supermassive Games’s The Dark Pictures Anthology, change things up? That was the question on our mind when we sat down with its creative director, Will Doyle, at the Gamescom conference. On the Radio Times Gaming podcast this month, we’ve been previewing some of the big games of 2026 (the ones that aren’t GTA 6), which makes this the perfect time to drop our Directive 8020 interview in full. If podcasts aren’t your thing, you can also watch the interview in the player above (or over on the Radio Times Gaming YouTube channel). Or if the written word is your bag, keep reading for some choice quotes in article form! Directive 8020, if you’re unfamiliar, is the next horror in the anthology series The Dark Pictures. Lashana Lynch is the star this time, and the threat is a creepy alien species that can mimic its human victims (think Alien meets The Thing). As Will Doyle told us, there are two major additions for returning fans to look out for this time: the action overhaul of Real-Time Threats, and the choice-changing Turning Point system. In a hands-on demo of the game’s first chapter, we were able to try both of these out, and the Turning Point system made a particularly big impact. Imagine, if you can, a DVD menu where you can move back and forth from any moment and pick up there. Got it? Okay, you’re halfway to imagining this system that allows you to backtrack and alter your choices in the game without having to spam your saves or drag yourself back to the start of a chapter just to retake a Quick-Time Event that went wrong. So, what was thinking behind the Turning Point system? In Doyle’s words, "One of the many goals of it is to make the game more accessible for our fans, [allowing them] to get to the content they want to get to, as soon as possible. "We find that people play through the game once, and then, previously, they'd have to start from the beginning or go to a chapter and then play from that point on. Now, with the Turning Point system, you can get straight to the decision that you're wondering about. "Go right back to that exact moment or the branching Quick-Time event that created that, and just get right down in the moment." Doyle was quick to reassure their most hardcore players, however, adding "For our fans that do want to live and die by their decisions, and don't even wanna be tempted by the option to do it, there's Survival Mode which turns it off completely until you get to the end of the game." Continuing, he explained: "The system itself, though, is just fantastic. It just gives almost like a sort of a collector's aspect to it, as well, because the whole decision tree is shown to you as individual scenes or beats. And they fill in as you play through it. So, there's a kind of sticker book aspect to it as well, of like, 'I want to unlock absolutely everything.'" The other major upgrade for returning Dark Pictures fans is Real-Time Threats, with the developers adding free-roaming sequences where the central monster stalks you as you explore. Doyle told us, "It’s a huge leap forward for the series. For me, I always thought that in our previous games, when you enter what we call the discovery sections or the exploration sections, they're the times when you feel, in a way, the most tense. "But when you get to know the games, you're like, 'Actually, they're the times where you're almost the most safe'. It's during the kind of narrative cut scene moments that you're most at risk for a bad choice or a Quick-Time Event. Whereas there's almost an expectation that when you're walking around, you're in danger. "Something could be out there. So I really, really wanted to get that feeling of… I could turn a corner and see a monster. And that monster could see me, or it could hear me, hunt me down. So yeah, it's a big improvement on how scary the game is. "Like, there's something special and magic about holding onto the controller and knowing that this character's life is literally in your hands now." View Green Video on the source website Touching on the overarching aims of the game, Doyle added, "When you make a decision, one of our goals is — and it's a rather sick goal — but our goal is, whenever you make a choice, you should feel a sense of loss. "You should feel that. Did I make the right choice? Was that right? And yeah, now you can quite quickly go back and see, 'What would happen if I did that?' "And you'll see the branching that we put in. You'll see that your choices really do matter in these games." Unsurprisingly, after an hour or so playing the game, we had already killed some characters and were itching to go back in time and try to save them. We’ll just have to wait until the game comes out to see all the outcomes, though. Until then, you can check out the rest of this interview on our podcast feed! Directive 8020 is expected to launch in the first half of 2026 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. You can wishlist the game now. Read more on upcoming games: Resident Evil Requiem preview: Remixing the greatest hits Why High on Life 2 added skateboarding, explained by the developer Scott Pilgrim EX creators "wouldn't call it a traditional beat 'em up" – Here's why Check out more of our Gaming 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.
Netflix takes Bridgerton superfan to season 4 premiere to meet the cast – and fan has surprising connection to beloved star
We're well and truly in the swing of Bridgerton season and Netflix have thought of an incredible way to mark the occasion – and that's by treating one mega fan to an experience of a lifetime. The streamer held a competition to find the biggest Bridgerton fan out there and after sifting through countless applications and nominations from loved ones, they crowned one lucky winner. Well now, RadioTimes.com can reveal what went down when Sarah – who was none the wiser as to what surprises she had in store – found out that she was going to be whisked away to the Bridgerton premiere in Paris. Having been nominated by her best friend, we find out more about Sarah's personal life and how she spends a lot of her time caring for others but ultimately, always keeping Bridgerton close to her heart. So much so, in fact, that she identifies with Nicola Coughlan's Penelope, even revealing that she keeps dying her hair ginger to match the character's. "I do, I keep going 'Oh, I'm in my Penelope Bridgerton phase!'," she tells the camera, thinking she's applying to be on a quiz show. In the clip, we see how everything is pulled off on the day in question, with Sarah being told that she's going on a first aid course for work with her friend and travelling to a training centre. Once there, a series of random events occurs but once in the room with the other 'participants', the teacher asks Sarah to go up to the front and asks her about her favourite TV show. Regaling the room about how much she loves Bridgerton, she's then asked to write the show's name on a whiteboard. But as she does, the walls slowly come away from her, revealing an extravagant ballroom with Regency dancers circling the floor in gowns and suits – just like it's been pulled straight from the series. Sarah's then told to make her way to the throne, where she's told she's been nominated by her friend and is invited to attend the Paris premiere, a true dream come true for any fan. Speaking of her experience, Sarah said: "I am incredibly grateful to every single person we met along the way on our Bridgerton journey. There truly are no words to describe what an extraordinary adventure this has been, so thank you for giving us a once-in-a-lifetime experience. "Thank you to everyone for your incredible hard work, dedication, and kindness; none of this would have been possible without you. From the most magical surprise in Newark, to stepping onto the red carpet in Paris, to connecting with so many beautiful souls, every moment meant more to me than words could ever express.” You can watch the heartwarming moment for yourself above and enjoy the full-length video on the official Netflix and Bridgerton social channels, where you also get to see snippets of the premiere itself and the moment Sarah is treated to a video message from Coughlan herself, who couldn't attend the premiere in person. Read more: Bridgerton star teases "confronting" season 4 character dynamic between Francesca and Michaela Bridgerton star reveals how season 4 sets up her own leading story: "I’m buzzing to one day do it" The new season of Bridgerton kicks off tomorrow, with the first batch of season 4 episodes and the rest following in February. This time around, the show is focusing on the story of Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), who meet at Lady Violet's masquerade ball. Benedict simply only knows Sophie as the mysterious Lady in Silver and so, goes on a mission to track her down. As per the synopsis: "With the reluctant help of his sister Eloise (Claudia Jessie), Benedict sets out in society to uncover the young lady’s identity. But in fact, his heart’s desire is not in society at all — she is a resourceful maid called Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), working for the formidable Lady of the house, Araminta Gun (Katie Leung). "When fate brings Benedict and Sophie back together, Benedict wrestles between the reality of his affection for this intriguing maid and the fantasy of the Lady in Silver — unaware that they are the same person. Will Benedict’s inability to see these women as one in the same derail the undeniable spark between him and Sophie? And can love truly conquer anything — even a cross-class connection forbidden by society?" Bridgerton season 4 part 1 premieres on January 29th and Part 2 on February 26th, both on Netflix. Seasons 1-3 are available to watch on Netflix now. You can buy the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bridgerton-Collection-Inspiration-Netflix-Original/dp/0349430187?tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2381335" target="_blank" rel="noopener sponsored" data-geniuslink="https://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=114542&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FBridgerton-Collection-Inspiration-Netflix-Original%2Fdp%2F0349430187%3Ftag%3Dradtim0b-21%26ascsubtag%3Dradiotimes-1612614&dtb=1">Bridgerton book series on Amazon. Add Bridgerton 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 from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Traitors winner Stephen reveals why he didn't double cross Rachel in final roundtable
It hasn't even been a week since one of the greatest finals in The Traitors history, which saw Stephen and Rachel remain faithful to one another until the very end. At the start of the year, Claudia Winkleman opened the doors to Ardross Castle once more for an epic game of betrayal and trust and before we knew it, she had chosen her four Traitors. After weeks of high-octane missions, brutal banishments and treacherous murders, it came down to the final five and all they had to do was decide if there were still Traitors among them or if they were all Faithful. Thanks to a pact made by Stephen and Rachel at the start, they stayed true to their words and did not put the other's name down once, which led to them banishing Jade, Faraaz and then Jack – therefore winning the season and taking home £47,875 each! While the winning moment was extremely wholesome, it was a far cry from what many viewers thought was going to happen when Stephen spoke with Winkleman, considering how much better it would be to take home the full amount, an opportunity that presented itself as Jack was adamant that Rachel was indeed a Traitor. View Green Video on the source website Speaking exclusively at the Radio Times Covers Party 2026, Stephen explained his emotional state heading into the last roundtable of the series: "That final roundtable was very, very tense. "I mean, they're all very tense, but that one, knowing there was so much on the line, first of all, was really scary. "And also, at that point, I'd started to question whether Rachel had my back or not and so there's so many things running through my mind." Stephen noted that he didn't know if Rachel was going to double cross him or if he was going to double cross Rachel, but was "so pleased that we both took that leap of faith in each other at the end". As for why he decided to put his faith in Rachel, Stephen explained: "The main thing I wanted to do was leave there with my head held high, and I was considering putting Rachel's name down. I thought maybe if I didn't, I'd look like a fool if she had put my name down. "But at the end of the day, I just thought, 'Look, whatever happens, if I just stick to the promise I can leave with my head held high.' And what a turnout. I just can't believe how it turned out!" Read more: Jade from The Traitors reveals which video games she played to prepare – and it’s not the one you’d expect Siobhán McSweeney details what separates The Traitors Ireland from other international formats Now on cloud nine as the winner of The Traitors, what's next for Stephen? It certainly isn't still cyber security, as he confirmed he has taken a break following his win. "I would love to go into something that I'm more passionate about than cyber security," he told RadioTimes.com. "I mean, it's been very good to me over the years, which is great, but I'm taking a break from work at the moment, just going to put my feet up and see what happens. "And then if, in the future, an opportunity presents itself to me that's more exciting than cyber security, I'll grab it with both hands." The Traitors season 1-4 are available to watch on BBC iPlayer now. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
School Spirits stars reveal how they've influenced Maddie and Wally's fate in season 3
School is officially back in session in School Spirits season 3 - and, by this point, stars Peyton List and Milo Manheim know exactly where they want their characters to go. The supernatural drama is set to pick up after the massive cliffhanger that saw Maddie (List) return to her body, while Simon (Kristian Flores) is now the one trapped in the afterlife. Meanwhile, Wally's (Manheim) fate was left up the air. Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com about what's to come in season 3, List and Manheim revealed their requests and questions for the show's creative team. Manheim told us: "They want to hear about what we think makes sense for our characters. "I feel like Wally, in the past, has always been such a team player and down for anything, but I told them he's always sort of a step behind figuring things out, and this season, I'd love for him to be a step ahead. I'd love for him not only to go along with a plan, but maybe come up with a plan. "I think that they really took that note well, and I think we see that happen this season. It's a very adventurous season for Wally." Asked whether Maddie will be helping Simon this season like he helped her, List explained: "That was my first question for the creators and the directors as well! I just wanted to make sure that Maddie is fighting for Simon as hard as he fought for her. "But she has so many other concerns and worries with this new superintendent at the school and with her relationship with her mother... "[She has] so many things that Simon kind of ends up...she's so worried about him, but there's so many other things happening." As for what this all means for Maddie and Wally's relationship? "Wally's really going on his own individual journey this season," Manheim says. "He's done a lot of helping out for others, and I think it's time he starts thinking about himself and putting his needs first. We're definitely a new side of Wally this season." As List points out, Maddie has more than ever to deal with this season as she navigates darker mysteries, while the veil between the two realms grows even more thin, and more terrifying secrets begin to surface. School Spirits season 3 begins on Paramount Plus on 28th January – you can sign up for Paramount Plus now. Add School Spirits 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 Fantasy 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.
Bridgerton star reveals how season 4 sets up her own leading story: "I’m buzzing to one day do it"
How exactly does Bridgerton season 4 set up Eloise for her own love story?
It's now been confirmed that the next seasons of Bridgerton will see Eloise (Claudia Jessie) and Francesca (Hannah Dodd) taking the lead in their respective instalments. While we don't exactly know who will be first up, it's exciting news nonetheless for fans of the novels who have waited patiently for the Bridgerton sisters to get their own turns in the limelight. While this upcoming fourth season of the show focuses on their unserious brother Benedict (Luke Thompson), the series will surely set up his siblings for their own stories as the show has previously done in subtle ways. But how does season 4 set the stage for Eloise's own season, if at all? When chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com – which you can watch in the video above – the actress revealed: "In terms of setting her up, I think Eloise is desperately trying to find her way of doing it, right? "That’s what I’ve always been excited to be able to one day do, is to show love or romance or whatever her journey is in the most Eloise way possible. "I think she’s just trying to find out her way of doing it." Jessie continued: "That’s what I think the set-up is until ultimately we see what her way of doing it is, her version of it. I’m buzzing to one day do it. I love this show with my whole heart, I love my colleagues, I love Eloise so I’ll be buzzing to do it.” As fans of the Regency drama will know, Eloise hasn't been concerned with matters of the heart and has been more preoccupied with tracking down Lady Whistledown. Finally learning the truth of her identity and coming to blows with best friend Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) over it, Eloise's story has gone through its own various twists but the Bridgerton daughter has never been interested in making her social debut. Read more: Bridgerton star teases "confronting" season 4 character dynamic between Francesca and Michaela The Night Manager season 2 airs major death of [spoiler] in shocking twist ahead of the finale However, last season did see Eloise take a liking to Theo Sharpe (Calam Lynch) but fearing the worst about social optics due to being from different classes, Eloise put an end to their budding chemistry and kept it professional as they endeavoured to find out about Whistledown. Now, Eloise is set to help her brother find his mysterious Lady in Silver, further going against the grain of societal expectations and paving her own path. Speaking about how happy the role makes her, Jessie said: “When I got the part, I was like ‘I can’t believe I get to do this’. She’s my ideal character to play, I’ll never ever play anything like this again. Nothing this fantastic will ever happen to me again. When I got the job, I was like ‘I’m going to get hit by a bus, this is crazy, I can’t get this’. "First and foremost, I’m a clown and a comedian, that is where I started. So to play someone whose really the human, she brings so much laughter, it’s a real pleasure for me. She just represents another type of person but I think it’s ultimately just as refreshing to see someone who’s really committed to the idea of marriage and really committed to the idea of love and partnership. But that’s the great thing about Bridgerton, everyone gets to see themselves in the show.” Bridgerton season 4 part 1 premieres on January 29th and Part 2 on February 26th, both on Netflix. Seasons 1-3 are available to watch on Netflix now. You can buy the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bridgerton-Collection-Inspiration-Netflix-Original/dp/0349430187?tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2381335" target="_blank" rel="noopener sponsored" data-geniuslink="https://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=114542&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FBridgerton-Collection-Inspiration-Netflix-Original%2Fdp%2F0349430187%3Ftag%3Dradtim0b-21%26ascsubtag%3Dradiotimes-1612614&dtb=1">Bridgerton book series on Amazon. Add Bridgerton 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.
Jade from The Traitors reveals which video games she played to prepare – and it’s not the one you’d expect
Jade Scott made it to the final of The Traitors season 4, and she made no secret of her video game experience in the show’s candid pieces to camera. So, here at Radio Times Gaming, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to get on the phone with Jade and find out which games she played in preparation. Surprisingly, Jade didn’t name Among Us — for many, the definitive game like The Traitors — on her list of favourites, noting that she finds it “a bit childish”. What did she play, then? As Jade told us: “I was playing a lot of social deception games. So I played a lot of Project Winter, [which is] a bit different.” Project Winter, if you were wondering, is an 8-player survival game where players have to handle traitorous social situations as well as the deadly weather. Jade continued: “I've never really played Among Us. I just find it a bit childish. That said, I was playing a lot of Dale & Dawson, which was so unserious.” Dale & Dawson: Stationary Supplies can support anywhere from four to 21 players, and it tasks managers and specialists with spotting the slackers in their workforce (and firing them). And did Jade find that her gaming experience really helped in the castle? In Jade’s words: “I think gaming, there's a level of communication needed, especially in teamwork games, right? And you're always talking, whether to your friends, or you are always speaking to teammates that you get allocated with. “I think that helped a lot, especially when I was speaking at the roundtables. Like, I didn't quite realise... it's one thing to speak and it's another thing to watch yourself back when you speak, so that was actually really, really nice to see. “And also, I managed to hit one of the vases with the rocks, so I think that was where my hand eye coordination came in.” Since returning from The Traitors castle, however, Jade’s gaming habits have changed a little. As she puts it: "After coming back, I was kind of like, 'I need a break from social deception games'. So, at the moment, I'm really into my indie games. “I just finished Outer Wilds, so I'm enjoying big story puzzle games. I like Chants of Sennaar, as well.” Outer Wilds is a sci-fi game with a time loop, where the player must solve a mystery in between frequent deaths. Chants of Sennaar, meanwhile, is all about language, with the player tasked with piecing together a linguistic puzzle. So, there you have it, a bunch of video game recommendations from Jade herself! And if they can help her get to The Traitors final, perhaps you should give them a go too? Read more: The Traitors finalist reveals what shocked her most about 2026 series - and what her strategy was all along Add The Traitors 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 Gaming 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.
Things You Should Have Done star admits she sometimes goes too far with dark comedy about "awful things”
"I just think the best, most awful things in life are the best to get through with laughing and taking the piss out of them."
Lucia Keskin is not your average 24-year-old. By 23, the YouTube sensation had already amassed an impressive online following, landed her first BBC Three series, Things You Should Have Done, and went onto win a BAFTA for Best Rising Star for her performance. All from her childhood bedroom. Keskin is now back demonstrating her signature deadpan humour as her alter-ego, Lucia (or Chi) in season 2, as a recently bereaved stay-at-home-daughter who is an adult-in-progress as she works through a list of tasks her dead parents have left her to accomplish. The premise is desperately sad: both of Chi’s parents die in a car crash in the first episode, leaving her the sole owner (and grown up) of the house. But she has no life skills whatsoever, every task from finding a job to learning to drive leads to woefully inappropriate scenarios, all while her vulture of an aunty, Karen (played tremendously by Selin Hizli), circles around her to try and inherit the house. With a “face like depression” (as noted in the series), the multi-hyphenate talent admits that it’s often hard to strike the balance between the tragedy and comedy, as she has a tendency to take the dark humour to extremes. “That's where I have to have people tell me because I will just go as dark as possible and I see no issue, and they're like, ‘no, not that, you can’t do that,” Keskin tells RadioTimes.com. “But I just think the best, most awful things in life are the best to get through with laughing and taking the piss out of them. I’ve always viewed it that way.” “I’ll just say ‘Yeah, let’s joke about that’ and they’re like ‘No, actually, we can’t.’ I did get away with quite a lot, but I was trying to push it.” <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2026/01/BBC-comedy-96ee4bd.jpg" width="4241" height="2827" alt="A young woman stands outdoors beside a black-and-white horse, which is close to the camera and slightly out of focus in the foreground. She wears a colourful padded jacket and a scarf, with a mildly unimpressed expression, while trees and greenery fill the background." title="Things You Should Have Done Series 2" /> Season 2 opens with a sense of deja vu as the same two police officers turn up to break the news that there has been another untimely death. This time Chi’s aunty has died, after tripping over a hoover cord and falling down a flight of 86 stairs. “I just thought it would be so ridiculous if it happened to her again,” Keskin says, “Even though she doesn't grieve in a normal – well, not that there is a normal way – but in a stereotypical way, I thought it was like, now she has to at least address the fact that she's grieving after the second death because it's so unrealistic that that would happen again. “I definitely found grieving is just – there’s no right or wrong way to grieve. I felt it was fun to get to explore what we didn’t do much of in series one, which is talking much about [grief].” Across the six episodes, Chi starts counselling with the most unprofessional therapist, Ruth (Bridget Christie), who capitalises and thrives on her grief, believes Karen is reincarnated as a cordless hoover at a local Bingo, and grapples with the growing anxiety that someone else in her life will die too. Alongside Christie, there’s a whole host of new roster of guest stars this season from Marc Wootton to Juliet Cowen and Sarah Kendall. “I love working with new people and adding funny people that I love watching,” she says, “Bridget was one of them, just being so hilarious. It was lovely and an amazing, incredible, hysterical time working with her and getting to see what she does and even in real life. They're all so funny.” Keskin admits it was a “treat to come back” and she was “so grateful” to return for a second season, especially as it was a chance to take the biggest lessons from last season and lean into what resonated with audiences. “I think it's more just what I thought worked in series one, what didn't as much,” she says about this season’s scripts, “There were some green screen things we've changed focusing on tiny celebrities and TV stuff for the surreal bits.” Read more: The Office icon's new comedy series finally gets BBC release window confirmed Riz Ahmed auditions for James Bond 007 role in first look at new comedy - as release date confirmed Keskin’s signature-style sketches which she found fame with on YouTube – with parodies of the likes of Friends and Gemma Collins – are also woven into the show, including a meta version of Chi watching herself in the show she’s in on Gogglebox. “I was eager to do Charli xcx,” she says, “That was definitely my favourite one, saving the day at the end, but all of them were so fun.” Keskin was keen to include more of this style of surrealism as it seemed to translate with the style of comedy her audience had already grown to expect. She continues: “I think focusing on that more and trying to make it more what I did on more online, which was the TV parodies and things like that, which I think works better than just random cut offs of me on someone's balls.” Working on the series has been the most she’s “ever learnt, more than school” as she moved from being a one-woman-production – scripting, filming, lighting, costumes and editing all of her own videos – to having a full team on set to collaborate with. “You learn as you go, and it's so fun doing it,” Keskin says, “I've really enjoyed doing it with, obviously, on a larger scale because you get to not have to worry about doing everything from lighting to catering yourself. “So, even though you have that lack of control a little bit, you get so much help and It's lovely working as a team and trusting people, learning to take other people's opinions and things like that. I love it.” Though Chi shares her name, Keskin is playing an exaggerated version of an amalgamation of her childhood and teenage self, but admits there’s “probably more of [her] than [she’d] like to admit” in the character. “It’s very much based on just how I felt and I suppose not really growing up,” she says, “It’s based on myself, but in a very wide, extravagant sense, because I feel like, luckily, I know how to cook something now and things like that.” Writing and starring in two seasons has also changed how Keskin approaches her short-form content too, as she used to “make it up” as she went along, but now she’s much more structured (and efficient) about the process. “It's so much easier now knowing how to plan, even just doing green screen videos and stuff, because I've had a team and I've worked with a director and make up and costume,” she continues. “It's a much easier ways of planning things and writing.” Did she ever think writing sketches in her bedroom would lead to her own TV show? “I was always a bit delusional and had big dreams, but for them to actually happen is crazy and unbelievable,” Keskin replies. “But it's just such a dream come true to get to write your own show.” In contrast to her character, Keskin is a self-starter having created her own path into the industry by writing and shooting her own sketches online, all of which demonstrated the breadth of her acting and comedic abilities. “I think [doing social media] is showing what you can do, whereas it's really hard to do that I know traditionally,” she says, “obviously people had to do it with the stand-up route or go to drama school or finding an agent. So, I think it's just a way of showing, here's what I can do and it's an easy presentation.” If the series does come back for a third outing, Keskin is conscious she doesn’t want to “overkill, quite literally” with the gag of someone dying in the first episode again. And we’re honestly not sure whether Chi could take much more. “I'd love to do a series 3,” she continues, “There’s more to explore within the world, but also just looking to see what else I can come up with... I always want to make it unexpected, whether or not you do it. "I don't want to overkill, quite literally, but also don't want to just be basic and boring. Who knows? Maybe it'll be Chi [who dies]." Things You Should Have Done is now streaming on BBC iPlayer. 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.
Resident Evil Requiem preview: Remixing the greatest hits
Did you enjoy piecing together a whole police station's worth of puzzles in Resident Evil 2? Did you enjoy the unsettling shift to first-person in Resident Evil 7? Did you enjoy Leon’s big kicks in Resident Evil 4? Did you enjoy being chased by a giant creature in Resident Evil 8? Did you enjoy protecting a weaker ally as you made your way through hordes of enemies in Resi 4? Did you enjoy seeing a tall woman in a white dress in Resi 8? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions — or all of those questions — boy does Resident Evil Requiem have something in store that will play to your tastes! In fact, the game is starting to feel like a greatest hits album that’s determined to replay your favourite bits from the last few entries in the franchise. Indeed, RE9 has no shortage of baggage, and it’s got no problem with letting you rummage through said baggage and pull out whatever you like. At a preview event for the game, I got to spend three hours playing it, and by the end, my right arm was sore from all the [insert meme here of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the TV because he spotted something he recognised]. Our demo began with Leon S Kennedy, the beloved backflipping hero of Resi 2 and 4, arriving at a medical facility. Of course, it didn’t take long for the alarms to go off and for zombies to burst in. We soon got to see how action-oriented Leon’s chunk of the game will be, with the combat’s over-the-top nature even going so far as to let Leon parry a chainsaw attack with a small knife. Yep, you read that right — there are zombies wielding chainsaws in this game! And in a neat bit of coding, if one zombie drops the chainsaw, someone else can pick it up (either Leon himself or another enemy). All of this was feeling very RE4, which made for a jarring change when Leon’s segment ended and the player’s viewpoint switched to Grace (the other major playable character that we saw in this demo). As Capcom’s PR person explained, Leon’s sections are designed to be played in third-person, while Grace’s are made with first-person in mind. You can switch perspective if you wish, and you’ll see some extra animations if you do play the whole thing in third-person, but we opted to stick to the script and play Grace’s bits in first-person. The transition from Leon to Grace was handled in a cut-scene, and it wasn’t possible to swap back once that hand-off had taken place. (So if you were expecting to swap between characters at your will, think again! This seemed to be a very 'one character per chapter' situation). In Grace’s section of the demo, she was alone in the medical facility. She has one small gun, but much less ammo and fewer skills than Leon. Unluckily for her, there are plenty of zombies loitering about. In classic RE2 police station fashion, Grace will have to use her wits — and your hopefully-endless supplies of patience — to explore the facility, find clues, solve puzzles, and gradually work out how to escape. There were two security doors to open, three wristbands to locate (each with a different level of access assigned to it), a number of blocked doors to reckon with, a selection of symbol-based puzzles to unravel, and ultimately three glass quartz to find. These quartz, at long last, would open the last door and let the story switch back to Leon. Although this Grace segment did feel very familiar, it did also pack some surprises. For one thing, a number of the zombies in this segment seem to be stuck in little loops of human behaviour. For example, a zombie might be obsessed with turning the lights off, meaning you can lure him into a specific spot if you flick a light switch. View Green Video on the source website This sort of trickery makes up for the fact that Grace’s sections are very light on ammo. One important tip is that the giant baby, glimpsed in a recent RE showcase, cannot fit through normal-sized doors. So, if you think carefully, you can lure the baby away from the path you’re trying to follow at any given point. Another fun addition in Grace’s gameplay is the fact that she can — checks notes — collect blood from fallen zombies and use it to craft items. This is a bit of an arduous process, which will see you sticking a device into zombie corpses, putting crafting recipes in a 3D printer, and ultimately putting the pieces together to make ammo and other helpful gubbins. If Leon’s gameplay is all about swashbuckling action, Grace’s is all about using your brain to solve the overarching puzzles. Often, solving one thing will have a knock-on effect on something else, and once you’re rolling in the right direction, it can feel very satisfying. (There may well be frustrating sections along the way, though, especially if you get the wrong end of the stick and can’t find your path to progression.) Eventually, we were switched back to Leon, and the difference was again quite jarring. We were thrust into a boss battle and found grenades, shotgun ammo and lots of other things that would’ve been quite helpful five minutes ago when Grace was running for her life. One thing that did get on my nerves was this: in an odd piece of game design, during Grace’s segments, she comes across a number of warped wardrobes that she simply can’t open; when Leon visits the same locations later, he can use an axe to open these wardrobes and plunder the powerful weaponry and heavy ammo within. This makes it feel a little like Grace is being shortchanged, and players are being forced to play differently with each character (rather than having our own agency to approach things in our own way). Despite that little qualm, however, I had fun in these three hours with Resident Evil Requiem. It does feel like the game is trying to do a lot, attempting to appeal to all sorts of different players at the same time, and for the most part it all hangs together, despite some jarring transitions here and there. Certainly, we’ve seen enough to be very hyped for Resident Evil Requiem's full launch… well, except for the fact we’ll have to face the giant baby again. Resident Evil Requiem launches 27th February for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2. You can order your copy now. Read more on upcoming games: Romeo is a Dead Man preview: Brilliantly baffling James Bond: 007 First Light is "like a hand fitting into a glove" Why High on Life 2 added skateboarding, explained by the developer Check out more of our Gaming 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.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood star teases "much more epic" season 2 after acclaimed first run
Jeremy Irvine teases what's to come in the second run of the prequel series – and talks about the "dream" response to the first season.
Given how famously passionate the fanbase for Outlander is, prequel series Blood of My Blood had a lot to live up to ahead of its debut season airing last summer – but the response from both critics and long-term fans was almost universally positive. And it looks like things are about to get a whole lot more dramatic in the next run – with Henry Beauchamp star Jeremy Irvine teasing what fans have to look forward to in a recent exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com. “Well we finished filming before Christmas," he said, while promoting his lead role in new video game adaptation Return to Silent Hill. "So it's all in the can, ready to go. "And it's much more epic. I think because the first season went down so well, they sort of really gave us the reins, I think. And yeah, the showrunner, Matt Roberts, has produced something that is... it's just huge, the scale is massive and it's really gone up a level – so I hope people like it." Speaking about how well the first run had been received, he explained that the "reaction has been better than any of us could have dreamed really". He continued: "You're not sure when you're on the first season or something. You're not rolling the dice – you try and choose things based on the scripts and the people involved – but so much goes in after you finish filming. View Green Video on the source website "As the actor, you're such a tiny part of that process. And then there's months and months, sometimes even years of post production and lots of different cooks getting involved. So for it to work out is really nice. It doesn't happen with every project!" Fans will no doubt be eager for the next season to arrive as soon as possible, given the previous run ended with both a pretty jaw-dropping cliffhanger and a shocking death – with the cast previously explaining to RadioTimes.com that "nobody saw that coming." But of course before that cliffhanger is resolved, fans have the closing run of the main Outlander series to look forward to, with the final batch of episodes set to begin airing on MGM+ in the UK on Saturday 7th March 2026, one day after it debuts across the Atlantic. Outlander: Blood of My Blood is available to stream on MGM+ in the UK. You can buy Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books on Amazon. Add Outlander: Blood of My Blood 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.
Bridgerton star teases "confronting" season 4 character dynamic between Francesca and Michaela
What does Bridgerton season 4 hold for Francesca and Michaela?
In among the romantic story of Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) at the end of Bridgerton season 3, fans of the period drama were also left on a bit of a cliffhanger as it related to Francesca (Hannah Dodd). She may have had an intimate marriage ceremony and wed Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli), but there was a clear spark between Francesca and John's cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza) once they met. Their season 3 meeting only led fans into overdrive about what the future could hold and seeing as we now know that Francesca is set to be one of the leads of an upcoming season, many will be waiting to see what becomes of her connection with Michaela. Teasing what's to come between them in season 4, series star Hannah Dodd teased: “What can I say? I think Michaela is a character that challenges Francesca whereas John is a character that makes space for Francesca. They’re both really important for Francesca to move forward." Dodd continues: "I think Francesca is very inhibited by rules of society and rules she puts on herself and expectations she puts on herself. Michaela throws that away and even in life, in modern day, when you meet that person and you’re like ‘Why don’t you feel like this?’ I think that’s the dynamic between the two of them. "It’s quite a confronting feeling for Francesca and a new feeling, a challenging one. I just think there’s an exploration of those feelings.” As fans of the original Julia Quinn novels will know, the role of Michaela has been gender-flipped for the series. The original novels also see Lord Stirling die and Francesca fall in love with Michaela, but as for how that will play out in the series, we'll have to wait and see. Read more: Legally Blonde prequel series finally gets release date confirmed – with added good news for Elle Woods fans Steal's Sophie Turner reveals *that* twist made her want to sign onto the show In terms of what's been happening with Francesca since we last saw her on our screens, Dodd also said: "Where do we start? She’s just got back from Scotland with Eloise and we’re getting the vibes that something’s gone down in Scotland, not really sure what. "She’s in her marriage bubble with John but there’s still a lot of work to go, they’ve only just met really, they’ve not known each other for that long. There’s still a lot of growth and evolution in there to happen between themselves, to get out of their introverted spaces a bit so that they can grow together.” This season, the main focus is of course on Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie (Yerin Ha), with their love story also set to open up the world of Bridgerton by going downstairs in the lavish homes we often see in the series. Enraptured by a mysterious Lady in Silver at his mother's masquerade ball, "Benedict sets out in society to uncover the young lady’s identity. But in fact, his heart’s desire is not in society at all — she is a resourceful maid named Sophie, working for the formidable Lady of the house, Araminta Gun (Katie Leung)," according to the show's description. Bridgerton season 4 part 1 premieres on January 29th and Part 2 on February 26th, both on Netflix. Seasons 1-3 are available to watch on Netflix now. You can buy the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bridgerton-Collection-Inspiration-Netflix-Original/dp/0349430187?tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2381335" target="_blank" rel="noopener sponsored" data-geniuslink="https://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=114542&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FBridgerton-Collection-Inspiration-Netflix-Original%2Fdp%2F0349430187%3Ftag%3Dradtim0b-21%26ascsubtag%3Dradiotimes-1612614&dtb=1">Bridgerton book series on Amazon. Add Bridgerton 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 from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Traitors finalist reveals what shocked her most about 2026 series - and what her strategy was all along
Warning: spoilers ahead for The Traitors finale.
It's been an epic run of The Traitors and no one had more of a rollercoaster journey on it than Jade Scott. Throughout pretty much every episode of the thrilling fourth season, Jade had heat on her from various contestants - despite being a Faithful the whole time, unlike the victorious Traitors Rachel and Stephen. In an exclusive chat with RadioTimes.com following the explosive finale, Jade confirmed that it was her plan to have suspicion on her the whole time. "My strategy was always to go in and get some suspicion on me because I think that keeps you in the game," the student explained. "If you're too faithful, you get murdered. And you don't really get a say [in front of the cast] if you get murdered, but you can have a say before you get banished to try and convince people not to... "But I think with the way the game played out, there was too much suspicion!" Jade continued, speaking of particularly getting so much heat on her: "I wanted to stay in to do the missions because they're so much fun, and I didn't want to leave because it's so cool. I was trying to strategise and figure out, 'OK, how can I use this to my advantage?' But that just meant all my focus was on that and I had no capacity left to catch Traitors." Now she's had the chance to watch it back, Jade explained she was completely surprised by the Secret Traitor twist. She added: "I was screaming at the TV for me to get it together when I watched it back from the first episode. I was very shy at the start and it took me a while to feel comfortable and get out of my shell. I did so much growth while I was away which was really nice to see. "Watching different conversations that were taking place was really cool, as were the missions. It's so much fun." Jade was happy with her game in the end, and confirmed she wouldn't have changed anything - and even if she had the chance again she would have chosen to be a Faithful. "I love trying to solve puzzles, it's my favourite thing, and that's what Faithfuls do. It's not easy by any means because you go in with a bunch of strangers who are so different and wonderful. I'm happy with my decisions." Read more: The Traitors season 4 fashion: Where can you buy all the iconic outfits? Add The Traitors 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 Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
LEGO Smart Brick preview: These next-gen blocks rock
We go hands-on with the first genuinely new LEGO upgrade in decades.
There have been a few major innovations in LEGO's history: LEGO Technic in 1977, and the minifigure a year later, but those are nearly 50 years ago now. In the interim, the LEGO brand has kept its place as the world's favourite toy mainly by pairing up with kids' favourite intellectual property, including Star Wars, Marvel, Minecraft and Super Mario. Enter the Smart Play system, out this year, which incorporates modern digital technology such as sensors, speakers and lights to offer the first new way to play with LEGO in decades. We went hands on at the CES conference in Las Vegas to find out more! So, what actually is this new range? The Smart Play system incorporates the Smart Brick itself, which is the hub of the whole experience thanks to the built-in sensors, speakers, lights and custom chips it houses. Check out LEGO Smart Play at LEGO These allow it to be aware of data such as movement, as well as proximity to other Smart products. Those include the Smart tags and Smart minifigures, both of which tell the Smart Brick how to behave — for example, make duck noises if the tag is attached to a duck, or mimic Darth Vader's breathing and vocals if it's a Smart minifigure of the Sith Lord. The real genius, though, is how LEGO's engineers have programmed the Smart Brick to enhance LEGO play and make it more fun and interactive. Maarten Simons, the Design Manager on the project for the last few years, started our CES session with a relatively simple demonstration, attaching a Smart Tag to the Smart Brick to play simple musical notes and flashing lights when you tilt and move the brick around. Another Smart Tag tells the brick to be a car, making engine noises as you move, tyre screeching noises as you go round a corner, and a crashing noise when you hit something. There were similar demos with a helicopter, a duck and a dinosaur. However, things get a lot more fun when you combine multiple LEGO items that feature Smart Bricks, as they interact with each other in both predictable and surprising ways. For example, we watched Simons surprise the aforementioned dinosaur with a birthday cake covered in candles, upon which the dinosaur's brick flashed green with excitement, made the sound of streamers. When you then blow the candles out on the cake, the Smart Brick on it emits a "Happy Birthday" song, upon which the dinosaur flashes with excitement once again. It's simple, but super fun, and just five minutes into our demo we can already tell kids are going to love it. And that's way before we've even seen the Star Wars packs that are coming out. We're getting ahead of ourselves, however. There are other Smart features, such as a tag that allows the Smart Brick to sense colour: if it sees blue, it will make underwater sounds; or if it sees yellow, it will make beach noises; green will make it assume it's on grass; while red will cause a fire alarm. You can also link multiple bricks by shaking them to pair, upon which a second brick will match whatever the first brick is sensing, up to five meters away, using its own low latency BrickNet wireless technology. Next up, we got to see how LEGO minifigures interact with the Smart Brick. Smart-enabled minifigures feature a symbol on their back to denote their Smart status — it's a circle encapsulating speaker, sparkle and mystery symbols signalling what they can make a Smart Brick do. When they're placed near a Smart Brick, the brick will react differently to which side they're placed. This allows for interesting play possibilities, which was demonstrated with a police car featuring a Smart tag, and cop and robber minifigures. If the robber approaches the police car, the car alarm goes off, but if the cop is driving towards the robber, his siren will start wailing. The Smart Bricks can also measure distances away from each other, using colours to denote how far apart they are. This allows LEGO builders to do things like create a defensive bubble around certain objects, and set an alarm if anything breaks that perimeter. Similarly, the bricks can tell if they're facing each other, and light up accordingly. A fun demo we played that took advantage of these features was a mother duck and her four ducklings — the ducklings would talk among each other, but when the mother turned around to face them, they'd behave and stay quiet. When the dinosaur from earlier comes in, the ducklings then sing him a birthday song. We then played a game of duck curling with the ducklings (on skateboards). Standard! A gold trophy with a Smart tag was the target to get closest to, and each player would shake a duck to activate it, and then push it towards the trophy. The player with the closest duck is then recognised at the end with lights and sounds (in our case, the green duck) and then fireworks once the duck is placed in the cup of the trophy. With those cute demos over with, it was time for Star Wars, and one of the first Smart-enabled sets to go on sale. We saw Darth Vader's TIE Fighter (£60), Luke Skywalker’s Red Five X-wing (£80), and the Throne Room Duel sets (£140), and saw how they can all interact together. The X-wing houses Luke and R2-D2 minifigures, and as you fly the X-wing around by hand, the Smart Brick will make engine noises, and if you perform a barrel roll (that's a neat trick), there'll be a loud wooshing sound followed by a cute wail from R2-D2. There's also a button at the rear of the ship to fire the lasers, which is where the TIE fighter comes in, as you can fire back and forth between the two ships. If one ship "hits" the other using its lasers, the opposing ship will flash red, sound alarms, and finally mimic an explosion once you hit critical damage. The throne room allows you to put Luke and Vader down opposite each other and have an interactive lightsaber battle in front of the Emperor sat on his throne. You can hear lightsaber sounds as their laser swords clash, which is pretty cool, it has to be said. On a technical level, each pack will come with a couple of Smart Bricks, and a charger which can charge up two bricks at once. Each brick should offer about 45 minutes of play time, and take about 2 hours to fully recharge. The bricks will go to sleep when they're not being used, however, which will help kids who might not be the best at remembering to recharge every time they finish playing. LEGO's new Smart system is great fun, and you could see how much it delighted a room full of middle-aged, probably somewhat tired and jaded journalists having to contend with a packed Las Vegas. It's a safe bet, then, that it will be mightily popular with children, who will no doubt love doing things with this tech that its designers haven't even dreamt of. LEGO's debut Smart Play kits are available for pre-order now, and will be released on 1st March 2026. Read more on LEGO: Best LEGO deals for January 2026 New LEGO sets for 2026 revealed How to get the new LEGO Zelda Ocarina of Time set Check out more of our Gaming 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.
Siobhán McSweeney details what separates The Traitors Ireland from other international formats
"They're not backward at coming forward, shall we say?"
It's been a long time coming but The Traitors Ireland is finally making its way to BBC One, and fans of the juicy and deceptive format are in for a treat. Hosted by comedy great Siobhán McSweeney, viewers will be transported to Slane Castle in County Meath, Ireland, as a group of strangers play the ultimate murder mystery game. Kicking off at 12:10am on Saturday 24th January, it has been teased that the players make a decision that ripples through the castle as the Traitors are chosen and the lies begin. But are the rumours of this series' cutthroat nature true? Well, speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, McSweeney was sure not to give away any spoilers but teased there is something slightly different about the Irish cast to other international formats that audiences may pick up on. She explained: "One of the franchise, who goes around the whole world setting up the show, a lovely man. He was with us as we helped set up the show, as it was our first series, and of course, everybody was asking him, 'Oh, are we different to everybody else?' Every country wants to be somewhat exceptional in their own sort of way. "[There are] particular characteristics that make them all this more special. And he quite brilliantly, and I [was] delighted to hear, he was like, 'Nah, everyone is sort of the same, it's a global village out there, everybody is sort of behaving the exact same, Traitors, Faithfuls, etc.'" But there was one difference that McSweeney noted, and it was the immediate chatty nature of the cast before they'd really got to know one another, which spawned moments that perhaps show producers weren't expecting to happen until much later down the line. She added: "Before people even had their first cup of tea, they were chatting away. "Usually it takes a while for the contestants to loosen up and to have a chat and to 'Oh, hello, what's your name?' and they're polite, whereas people were going up the stairs to the front door of the castle, they were already [chatting away]." As the first moments progressed in the castle, McSweeney told RadioTimes.com that the cast "bypassed the getting to know each other stage", having already done that on the way top the castle. "So it's incredible," she added before teasing: "They're not backward at coming forward, shall we say?" The Traitors Ireland begins on Saturday 24th January at 12:10am on BBC One and iPlayer. Add The Traitors Ireland 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 Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Return to Silent Hill star reveals why the film is not a perfect Silent Hill 2 recreation – and why he avoided game inspiration for performance
Jeremy Irvine spoke exclusively to RadioTimes.com about the new video game adaptation.
While video game adaptations have been enjoying a great moment on the small screen of late – thanks to TV hits such as The Last of Us and Fallout – we're perhaps still awaiting the first truly great film based on a popular game. Certainly, the previous movies in the Silent Hill franchise have failed to win much acclaim – with both 2006's Silent Hill and 2012's Silent Hill: Revelation faring negatively with critics. Now, almost 15 years on from the previous attempt, a new entry in the series is here, with Return to Silent Hill taking its cues from Silent Hill 2 and starring Outlander: Blood of My Blood star Jeremy Irvine in the lead role. Unfortunately, early signs suggest this is set to be another critical dud – it sits on just 9 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes at time of writing – and speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com ahead of release, Irvine explained the difficulties of adapting such a well-loved property in a different medium. "I mean, you're walking a tightrope," he said, "I think whenever you do something that means a lot to a lot of people, I don't think you're ever going to please everyone – especially with fans as passionate as they are for this." He added that while it is based on Silent Hill 2, writer/director Christophe Gans had taken bits from various different games to create something a little different, explaining that a movie version of a play-by-play of the game simply "wouldn't work as a film". "I mean, how many hours is the quickest speed run to get through all of Silent Hill 2?" Irvine said. "So it needed some sort of story, and it needed to work in a movie. They are vastly different art forms, you've got to do a completely different thing, rather than someone being completely interactive, just sitting back and expecting you to just put it on to them." He added that it was "exciting to see how it all came together", and noted that while Gans's vision always remained the same, the final version of the film "was almost completely different" to the first script he had read. In playing lead character James Sutherland, Irvine is following on from actors Guy Cihi and Luke Roberts, who played him in the original and remake of the game respectively, but he explained that he didn't look to those game performances while deciding how to approach the role for the movie. "The way I saw it was that the character is very much a blank slate for the player to go through the emotions the character is," he said. "And I think when you're playing a video game, you're the one inputting the controller, deciding what happens. So having that sort of two dimensional character works very well in a video game, because you then put that on to you. "So I was sort of aware that when we're doing the movie, I couldn't just get away with doing that. I think it'd be a quite boring performance. All of those emotions that hopefully the player feels when they play the game, I needed to do through James in the movie to make it work for the film." Of course, throughout the film, James encounters all sorts of terrifying creatures and antagonists that fans will now extremely well from the games, most of which were brought to life using real actors and prosthetics rather than through CGI. View Green Video on the source website One of the most iconic of those is Pyramid Head, who Irvine noted was "just someone in a great suit with a big helmet on" in the film, and there were several other aspects of the various villains that impressed him on set. "I was very impressed by the choreography with all The Nurses in tandem, all sort of synced up," he revealed. "That was very cool to watch. I noticed there was a lot of work to get this entire troupe into that very unnatural way of moving, that on set was genuinely terrifying – until they called cut and then all these lovely Serbian ballet dancers all start giggling!" And the nurses weren't the only frightening characters played by actors who in reality were anything but. "The Armless, which is a really sort of horrific, disgusting creature, is played by the most beautiful Italian dancer," he recalled. "There's a very glamorous, beautiful Italian dancer inside there! So they use a lot of performing artists, lot of dancers." He added that by not relying on CGI it also made his own job a little easier. "I didn't have to do too much of the sort of imagining what was in front of me," he said. "There were obviously some bits. But it was something I know Christophe was very adamant about – where possible doing it for real and not doing CGI. And I think however good [CGI] is, I think you still can tell. So it's really nice to have a real thing!" Return to Silent Hill is now showing in UK cinemas. Check out more of our Film 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.
Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun reveals what his role in No Other Choice has in common with Netflix hit
The star has the lead role in Park Chan-wook's latest acclaimed film.
Acclaimed South Korean actor Lee Byung-hun is best known to Western audiences for his role as Hwang In-ho in the second and third seasons of Squid Game – and the star has revealed that there are some interesting similarities between the hit Netflix show and his new feature No Other Choice. The film – which was surprisingly left off the shortlist for Best International Film in yesterday's Oscar nominations – reunites Lee with iconic writer/director Park Chan-wook, a quarter of a century after they last worked together on the latter's directorial debut Joint Security Area. Lee plays the role of Yoo Man-su, a man who is unceremoniously made redundant from his long-time job and goes to very extreme measures to get back into employment: by finding and killing every one he considers to be competition in the job market. Man-su is far from a trained killer, leading to some darkly comedic moments as he repeatedly struggles to go through with the murders – with the film satirising the desperate measures so many have been reduced to by the forces of 21st century capitalism. Speaking to RadioTimes.com about the film during an exclusive interview at last year's London Film Festival, Lee explained: "One of the messages that it wants to convey and perhaps the biggest theme of the film, is that we create these systems in order to improve many people's lives. But the question posed is, do they really make people happier and make them lead better lives? "Listening to your question reminds me of the time when I was doing Squid Game promotion," he continued. "And that also had a very similar theme that was the major theme for Squid Game as well. That's similar to this. So even though I hadn't directly connected the two, I can see the case for the [similarities.]" View Green Video on the source website Meanwhile, Park – whose previous acclaimed works include Oldboy, The Handmaiden and Decision to Leave – also noticed a few thematic details the film had in common with Squid Game, which tied in to something that had first drawn him to the film's source novel, The Ax by Donald Westlake. "The right target for our main character's rage is the company that fired him or the capitalist system," he explained. "But instead, he turns it towards fellow unemployed men who also work in the same industry, who are equally angry and equally pitiful victims of this capitalist system. "So what he's doing is quite foolish and also very selfish as well. And I think that's an accurate reflection of the realities that we’re living in." No Other Choice is now showing in UK cinemas. Check out more of our Film 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.
Steve Coogan reveals why he didn't want to understand Roy Keane's perspective while making Saipan
The Alan Partridge star plays former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy in the new film about the infamous 2002 bust-up.
As football bust-ups go, it's hard to think of many that have crossed over into the news cycle to quite the same extent as the infamous spat between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy ahead of the 2002 World Cup. The argument – which ultimately led to Keane missing out on his only chance to play at a World Cup – stemmed from the legendary midfielder's issues with what he perceived to be a lacklustre preparation for the tournament, and sparked huge debate among fans. That debate continues to divide people to this day – especially in Ireland – and so when RadioTimes.com exclusively spoke to star Steve Coogan, who plays McCarthy in new film Saipan, we asked if he tried to see both sides of the argument or if he looked at things entirely from the manager's perspective. "Objectively, I – Steve Coogan, the actor – can look at both those points of view and go well, actually, I can see both," he responded. 'They're both compelling, and they've got a certain about of credibility. "[But] as an actor, I almost deliberately wanted to not see Roy's point of view because playing Mick, I wanted to get inside [his] head and it doesn't help me to have lots of empathy with Roy's point of view." Coogan added that he reached out to McCarthy and chatted to him, attempting to "get more of a feeling of what was driving him or what made him tick". And it was only afterwards, while watching the film, that he truly began to get a sense of the two sides of the argument. "That's the joy of it," added Éanna Hardwicke, who plays Keane. "It's getting to watch it and for that to be revealed. Like, I was very much staying in my lane. We did have a few script chats before we started filming, and I learned a lot from that. "[But] I think I, probably quite lazily, just [thought] I'm going to stay in the lane of this thing, and then afterwards, you get to see the film, and you get to see the kind of richness of how opposite their perspectives were, actually." View oEmbed on the source website Coogan also pointed out that the idea was for cinemagoers to shift their own opinions while watching, claiming that " you don't want the audience to think it's even Stevens all the way through." He explained: "You do want people to ideally sort of think, 'Well, actually, I think I agree with him, and now I agree with him.' You want people to be constantly shifting. Whichever way they end up at the end is sort of academic. But [we wanted] to make it a little more that your empathy is in motion when you watch it." For his part, Coogan admitted that he walked away from the film with a changed view on Keane and his persona – and particularly his notorious temper. "I think it's just humanising it, because everyone's aware that he is a force of nature," he said. "But it's knowing where that comes from. I mean, I have to say, watching the film I understood Roy Keane more than I did before. "Because my view of Roy was like, you know, he's a bit of a tinderbox, [an] effective player, but a bit of a coiled spring, and maybe a little crude. Powerful, but crude. And watching this, I saw that there was much more substance to his anger." Saipan is now showing in UK cinemas. Check out more of our Film 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.
How Roy Keane's infamous 2002 World Cup bust-up was transformed into an acclaimed film
The cast and crew for the new football flick Saipan speak to Radio Times about adapting the notorious row for the big screen.
Irish actor Éanna Hardwicke was only five at the time of the 2002 World Cup, but the memories are still vivid. “I was really aware of the iconography of it,” he reflects, when we meet in London’s Sea Containers hotel. “I can picture the Irish jersey. I could probably tell you the whole starting 11 of the Irish team. I had sticker books, and I remember just being completely caught up in World Cup fever, which I probably haven’t been to an extent since.” Of course, for any Republic of Ireland football fan, the 2002 FIFA tournament in Japan and South Korea remains infamous. Not so much for events on the field, with Ireland eventually knocked out on penalties in the last 16 to Spain. More for events off it, before a ball had even been kicked, when Irish captain – and Manchester United midfield legend – Roy Keane had an unforgettable bust-up with manager Mick McCarthy. The setting was Saipan, a small island in the Pacific, where the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) had determined its team acclimatise before the FIFA World Cup. Infuriated by the poor training facilities – including no footballs when they arrived – Keane flew home, making headlines around the world. “It’s something that happened over four or five days on, fair to say, the biggest global stage you can get, whether you’re a sportsman or not,” remarks Hardwicke, who plays Keane in Saipan, a new movie that dramatises the fallout. While there have been other player-manager meltdowns at World Cups – think of French star Nicolas Anelka in 2010, arguing with coach Raymond Domenech – this was a row that divided families across Ireland and according to Saipan’s co-director Glenn Leyburn, “still reverberates through Irish culture to this day”. Back in 2002, Ireland was going through a huge transition, the time of the so-called Celtic Tiger when a period of rapid economic growth had transformed the country into a thriving economic success story. View oEmbed on the source website Mirroring that, Irish football was in a golden period, following appearances in World Cup tournaments in 1990 and 1994, in which Keane played. Although injured in the run-up to the 2002 competition, the 31 year-old Keane was at the peak of his professional powers – a symbol that Ireland was no longer here just to make up the numbers. “I mean, he could have played for any team in that World Cup and been the most important player,” says Leyburn. “And so he wanted something more... and felt that was possible.” In what transpired to be his last ever shot at playing in a World Cup, Keane’s abrupt departure caused a great deal of soul-searching among Irish men and women. “I think the tragedy is manifold,” says Hardwicke. “It’s about being in a moment of massive, massive excitement and ambition for a small island, four million people. Also the fact that if there is this narrative about the Irish getting in their own way or not quite being serious contenders in football... there’s something really tragic about that narrative being confirmed for people.” Scripted by Paul Fraser (whose career includes several movies for Shane Meadows, including cult classic Dead Man’s Shoes), the film co-stars Steve Coogan as McCarthy, the actor and comedian perfectly nailing the vocal rhythms of the manager. As Leyburn’s co-director (and wife) Lisa Barros D’Sa points out, Coogan’s origins – like McCarthy he has Irish roots but grew up in the north of England – drew him to the role. “That idea of being part of the Irish diaspora and how that informs your identity was something Steve is very interested in and was able to really bring to the character of Mick.” Hardwicke admits he was apprehensive working with the hugely experienced Coogan. “There’s a bit of your ego that goes... will I just feel nervous and crumble in front of him when we actually do a scene together? And I felt like that could happen. But really brilliant actors like Steve, they do just pull you up to their level.” Did he resist doing impressions of Coogan’s most famous character, the Norwich DJ and TV host Alan Partridge? “I wouldn’t dare,” he chuckles. His own morphing into Keane is one of Saipan’s highlights, especially given his softly-spoken demeanour in reality. “He’s a very gentle, amiable character,” says Leyburn. The actor, who featured in the BBC’s hit Sally Rooney adaptation Normal People and is currently on stage in London in a production of The Playboy of the Western World, certainly seems a million miles from the surly Keane, whose curmudgeonly reputation has only been enhanced by his regular appearances on Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage as a pundit. “I think he’s uncompromising, genuinely, and I think there’s a lot to admire about that,” says Hardwicke. “Like most people, you meet people halfway in an interaction, or you tend to soften things. I always think of preparing for a role, whether they’re real person or fictional, in the same way. “It’s all physical. It’s all about how someone carries themselves through the world, how their brain affects their body and vice versa. I just played around with walking in those shoes and going, ‘How does it feel to not alter yourself or change yourself, to make other people feel at ease?’” With only a few weeks to prepare, Hardwicke trained at London’s Before the Lights gym to get in shape. Keane may have come of age “in that era where you’re on the pints four nights a week, and then you play on Saturday”, but he never followed suit. “He was one of the early adopters of a really clean diet and a particular training regime.” Hardwicke tried to put himself in Keane’s mindset, although it was a struggle. “I couldn’t be further from that. I really couldn’t. Honestly, five weeks was enough for me. I felt like I couldn’t shoot anymore. This film couldn’t be longer than it was.” In advance of the shoot, meanwhile, Coogan met McCarthy, who was happy to talk through the notorious events. And Keane? “We reached out,” says Barros D’Sa, cautiously. “We let him know about it. We haven’t spoken directly to Roy.” While the film has already been released in Ireland in early January, the filmmakers seem braced for the unknown when it comes to reactions from either party. “We don’t know how it’s going to unfold,” she continues. “It’s really up to them to react however they want to react.” Leyburn nods in agreement. “One of the great things about Roy is he’s very forthright with his opinions. We all love him for that. So we’ll see.” It meant that Hardwicke, who grew up in Cork, in Ireland, where Keane is from, had to do his prep work from afar. Now the film is done, would he like to meet the man himself? “I’d love to have a drink with him,” he grins. “When I saw the film, I thought, if he has one complaint, it’s he looked much better at 31 than I do at 28!” Although it’s hard to imagine either Keane or McCarthy being overly pleased at this emotionally raw moment in their lives turned into movie, the filmmakers never wanted to sensationalise events. “We’ve got nothing but respect for both Roy and Mick,” adds Leyburn. “They both had very valid approaches to that World Cup, and they were both put in a really difficult situation, which wasn’t of their own making. And the tragedy is just it couldn’t work out. The more we delved into the story, the more we saw how alike they were and how they both wanted the same thing.” No strangers to real-life stories, Leyburn and Barros D’Sa previously made 2013’s Good Vibrations, about Terri Hooley, a record-store owner instrumental in developing Belfast’s punk scene. But here, they take a more surreal, dreamlike approach – typified by a giant promotional cut-out of Keane’s head that can frequently be seen around the hotel. Largely set in the rooms and empty corridors where Keane is having his meltdown, the film echoes other works – like Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and the Coen Brothers’ Barton Fink – where a hotel setting becomes a reflection of the protagonist’s state of mind. “It feels like a psychodrama,” says Hardwicke. “The island and the hotel become a theatre of the psyche for Roy. What it does is it takes us away from a straight retelling or a docu-drama. We’re used to seeing those factual dramas now, aren’t we? You get three or four episodes, and it is about telling true events in a concise way. I don’t think that is what Saipan is doing. It’s based on true events, and it’s thoroughly researched by Paul, but it’s about the way that you tell that visually.” More than anything, it shows Ireland at a tipping point, says the actor. “I think we live in a very, very different Ireland now than we did 23 years ago. And if it’s not too lofty to say, there is some connection to our culture, whether it’s our sporting culture, whether it’s people like Roy, whether it’s our rugby team in the last 10 years, whether it’s our musicians and cultural figures now, like Fontaines DC or CMAT or Kneecap. “I think there’s a sense that we live in an Ireland now that is quite front-footed on the world stage and is maybe less apologetic about its presence.” Saipan is now showing in UK cinemas. Check out more of our Film 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 14 greatest sci-fi films of all time – according to Radio Times readers
We asked our readers to name their favourite films in the sci-fi genre – and these were the titles that came up most often.
From beloved space operas in far distant galaxies to fascinating treatises on what it means to be human, the sci-fi genre is one which has gifted us with many of the finest, most ambitious pieces of cinema ever crafted. It's a genre which allows for more innovation – both aesthetically and thematically – than just about any other, and one which continues to be reinvented time and time again. With that in mind, we recently put a request out to our readers (via Facebook) to name what they believe to be the greatest sci-fi film of all time, and it's safe to say we were inundated with enthusiastic responses. The post has over 1400 comments and has yielded a huge variety of different films, from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the 21st century. After sifting through those comments, we've put together a list of the films that received the most mentions, in order to determine the definitive greatest sci-fi film of all time according to Radio Times readers. You can find that list below, counting down to the overall winner and including our official reviews for each entry. Although films from various eras were mentioned – the entries in the top 14 below span 1956 to 2014 – it's interesting that no films from the last decade, such as Denis Villeneuve's hugely acclaimed Dune adaptations, made the list. Perhaps they've just not had quite enough time to enter the all-time canon just yet, but who knows – maybe the list would look very different on a few years time. In fact, there are all sorts of intriguing looking sci-fi films set for release this year, including the third instalment in Villeneuve's series, a new UFO flick from the legendary Steven Spielberg, and the Ryan Gosling-starring Project Hail Mary – which has been getting a fair bit of early buzz. Perhaps any of those could feature in future countdowns. But for now, read on to find the best 14 sci-fi films ever made according to our readers. 14. The Fifth Element French writer/director Luc Besson's wacky 1997 sci-fi The Fifth Element was the 14th most mentioned film in our post. The film – which starred Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm and Chris Tucker in its impressive ensemble cast – received somewhat mixed reviews at the time of release but was a big box office hit and has also gained a significant cult following. RT review: Ancient evil returns to destroy the galaxy in this ultra-hip, socially conscious and clever science-fiction action adventure from director Luc Besson. Bruce Willis's laconic former government agent is forced to save the universe when the secret key to preventing its destruction literally falls into his cab in 23rd-century New York. This superb flight of imagination soars into original terrain for an inventive rollercoaster ride and is a stunning achievement that delivers on all levels. The satire is slick, the visuals unusual and the thrills futuristic, and if the Big Apple special effects don't amaze, the camp trip to the resort planet of Fhloston Paradise certainly will. Gary Oldman’s villainous Zorg is haute-couture corruption personified. – Alan Jones 13. District 9 One of the more recent entries to make the list, this 2009 South African mockumentary about an extraterrestrial arrival was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars after a wave of rave reviews. Blomkamp and star Sharlto Copley have frequently spoken about the possibility of a sequel – titled District 10 – in the years since, but as yet we're still waiting for the follow-up. RT review: Seemingly helpless extraterrestrials arrive on Earth and are treated like any other vulnerable minority – as if they’re subhuman – in this startling mix of sci-fi action and trenchant social drama from producer Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings). By framing events as a mock-documentary set in his native Johannesburg, writer/director Neill Blomkamp makes obvious reference to the shadow of apartheid, but the film never seems preachy. Heading a largely unknown South African cast, Sharlto Copley delivers a remarkable performance as the glib Afrikaaner bureaucrat heading up a brutal alien-relocation operation, who’s forced by escalating events into an affecting realisation of the error of his ways. It may give way to (admittedly effective) shoot-’em-up fare in the later stages, but this remains a textbook example of fantasy cinema’s ability to tackle thorny moral issues while splattering the screen with gloopy creature effects. – Trevor Johnston 12. Silent Running Perhaps one of the more low-key entries on the list, this 1972 film from director Douglas Trumbull saw Bruce Dern star as an ecologist – and that ecological focus means it continues to remain relevant to this day. RT review: Special-effects ace Douglas Trumbull (of 2001 fame) turned director with this ecologically based science-fiction tale. The action tales place aboard the Valley Forge spaceship, which carries the last of Earth’s plant life under the guardianship of space ranger Bruce Dern and his cute drone robots. However, when orders arrive to destroy the cargo, Dern mutinies to preserve the wildlife. Although the film may seem rather hippy-influenced now – those syrupy Joan Baez ballads! – Trumbull creates some spectacular images and elicits a sensitive performance from Dern. Silent Running is gentle, imaginative and much admired. – Alan Jones 11. Close Encounters of the Third Kind View Green Video on the source website Steven Spielberg has given us several terrific sci-fi films, with ET the Extra-Terrestrial and AI: Artificial Intelligence among the other classics, and a new film Disclosure Day on the way. But only one of his efforts made this list – and that's the 1977 classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. RT review: As does the later ET the Extra-Terrestrial, this brilliantly realised suburban sci-fi saga reverses years of flying saucer attacks with the notion that visitors from outer space just might be friendly. Richard Dreyfuss strikes the perfect note of childlike inquisitiveness as the electrical engineer chosen to make contact with alien lifeforms, despite obstruction by family and government. Director Steven Spielberg confirmed his genius for painting a convincing picture of mundane domestic life, subsequently shattered by extraordinary events (notably the terrifying kidnap of a young boy and Dreyfuss's slide into apparent insanity). The special effects are spectacular, John Williams's score is emotionally charged, nouvelle vague director François Truffaut makes an elegant UFO expert and it's impossible not to get caught up in the protracted climax. – Andrew Collins 10. Starship Troopers In addition to its many other merits, one of the great advantages of sci-fi as a genre is its ability to use larger-than-life imagery for satirical purposes. That's arguably never been done better than in this 1997 effort from Paul Verhoeven, which takes the tenth spot in our list. RT review: This violent adaptation of writer Robert A Heinlein's classic 1959 novel about Earth battling alien bugs is popcorn exploitation at its lip-smacking, blood-spattered best. Whether portraying the chilling spectacle of millions of ugly giant insects swarming over the planet or the astonishing intergalactic warfare, the special effects are simply outstanding. It's when director Paul Verhoeven cuts to the teenage romance between young leads Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards that his sensational cartoon carnage comes unstuck. But the dull bits are never long enough to really matter or do too much damage to the sheer enjoyment of this absurdly apocalyptic satire. – Alan Jones 9. Forbidden Planet Of course, sci-fi has been a key cinematic genre since the dawn of the silver screen – with Fritz Lang's 1927 epic Metropolis an early example. But the oldest entry to make it into our list is this 1956 film, which proved to be an extremely influential addition to the sci-fi canon. RT review: What unknown terror roams the planet Altair-4, killing everyone apart from tormented scientist Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his daughter Altaira (Anne Francis)? Starship commander Leslie Nielsen (long before he turned Airplane! comedian) finds out in one of the finest science-fiction films ever made. Loosely based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, which explains its overall intelligence, this 2001 of the 1950s is an enthralling eye-popper. The superb monster effects (created by Disney animators) and outstanding technology include the unforgettable Robby the Robot, the subterranean Krell city, Morbius's futuristic home and an impressive array of space vehicles. – Alan Jones 8. Terminator 2: Judgment Day View Green Video on the source website When discussing sequels that are better than the original, James Cameron's 1991 follow-up to his own 1984 film is often brought up. So it's perhaps no surprise that this film makes it onto our list rather than the first movie. RT review: Director James Cameron piles on the hard-edged humour and rollercoaster action in a worthy sequel to his own 1984 horror fantasy classic. Adrenaline junkies get epic value for money as cyborg Arnold Schwarzenegger comes back from the future to save our world from the new T-1000 assassin (Robert Patrick), whose liquid metal shape-changing abilities set a new cinematic standard for stunning, computer graphic special effects. Linda Hamilton turns in another terrific performance as the fiercely committed heroine who puts a necessary human face on Cameron's high-decibel mayhem and pyrotechnical bravura. – Alan Jones 7. The Thing Possibly the best remake in cinema history, this film is one of the greatest sci-fi films and one of the finest horrors ever made – and so is very deserving of its high placement here. RT review: John Carpenter's remake of Howard Hawks and Christian Nyby's influential 1951 creature feature is a special-effects extravaganza of the highest order. In fact, the updated screenplay by Bill Lancaster (son of Burt) sticks more closely to the plot of the classic John W Campbell short story that inspired the original movie, as the occupants of a polar research station (which include Kurt Russell and A Wilford Brimley) are menaced by an alien with the ability to change its shape and impersonate its enemies. Carpenter stresses the slimy ET at the expense of characterisation, mood and practically everything else, yet it's precisely this one grisly facet that makes it such compelling science fiction. Even Alien can't hold a candle to the nightmarish images on offer here, so be warned. – Alan Jones 6. Interstellar The most recent entry on our list, Christopher Nolan's epic was already a huge hit on release and has arguably only grown in stature in the years since. RT review: Director Christopher Nolan goes to infinity and beyond with a cosmic epic that adds breathtaking meaning to the idea of a race against time. When former pilot Matthew McConaughey is asked to save the world from starvation by boffin Michael Caine, he jumps at the chance. For this is no ordinary mission – it requires McConaughey to enter a wormhole to find a planet for the human race to colonise – a journey that could take years. Nolan's most ambitious film to date is a thoughtful sci-fi that echoes Kubrick's 2001, with fine performances from Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain. But holding it all together is McConaughey, who guarantees this majestic film retains a human heart. – 5. The original Star Wars trilogy The original Star Wars trilogy as a whole was – no surprise – brought up by a huge number of respondents to our poll, with middle entry The Empire Strikes Back receiving the most individual mentions. It's our review of that classic instalment that you can find below. RT review: Director Irvin Kershner's imaginative supervision of George Lucas's brainchild gives this second part of the first Star Wars trilogy a truly epic dimension, adding a mature, philosophical aspect to the nonstop barrage of brilliant special effects. Events take place all over the universe – Darth Vader sends Imperial troops to crush the rebels on the ice planet Hoth, while Luke Skywalker searches out Jedi master Yoda for further instruction in the mysterious ways of the Force – and the much-loved characters are developed in intriguing ways. Kershner darkens the imagery of Lucas's vibrant, futuristic fairy tale and deepens its narrative with provocative plot strands, giving this sequel a cynical, harder edge that lifts it above the serial roots of its predecessor. – Alan Jones 4. Blade Runner A great example of sci-fi's ability to blend seamlessly with other cinematic genres – in this case, film noir – Ridley Scott's 1982 masterpiece was immensely influential. In 2017 it spawned a well-received sequel, Blade Runner 2049, which was directed by Denis Villeneuve. RT review: A super Philip K Dick story about a superdick searching for rebellious replicants translates here into a violent visual eye-popper, based in a futuristic Los Angeles, which set the acid rain/neon-drenched metropolis design standard for 1980s sci-fi. As influential as 2001: a Space Odyssey and Star Wars, and as thought-provoking as the former Kubrick classic, Ridley Scott's atmospheric downer is a compelling noir thriller that pleads for harmony between man and machine. Harrison Ford stars as the former cop assigned to track down android Rutger Hauer and his three associates. Hauer gives an exceptional performance as the blond humanoid who, like the others, has been implanted with memories of a nonexistent youth. The Director's Cut drops Ford's voiceover and actually adds more depth to the 1982 original, so the full masterpiece can shine through. – Alan Jones 3. 2001: A Space Odyssey View Green Video on the source website For many film fans, this will be the first movie that pops into their when they hear the words science fiction. Stanley Kubrick's film has lost none of its mystery in the more than 50 years since is release, containing some of the most iconic images ever committed to celulloid. RT review: This seminal sci-fi work from Stanley Kubrick is considered by some to be less a supreme piece of cinema than an interesting, innovative product of the 1960s. But the memorable celluloid images still strongly resonate, such as the giant Starchild floating through space and the tribe of apes painfully putting two and two together following the appearance of a mysterious black monolith. It is Kubrick's haunting, stylised combination of music (Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra and The Blue Danube) and visuals that gives 2001 its eerie, mesmerising quality. As a slice of philosophy on how we all got started and where we ultimately go, the movie continues to intrigue and perplex in equal measures. It’s a must-see if you never have, even though its visual impact is seriously hampered by the small screen. – Sue Heel 2. Aliens Another sequel, and one which has amassed almost – but clearly not quite – as many fans as the film that came before it. There have been several additions to the franchise since, and despite some decent efforts, this still ranks as comfortably the best of the follow-ups. RT review: Ridley Scott’s original outer-space nightmare set the bar high, but this sequel from James Cameron surpasses it in terms of sheer spectacle. Sigourney Weaver wakes up 57 years after the original events unfolded, only to be told that the planet where she first met the alien predator has been colonised. When all contact with the inhabitants is lost, she's sent in with a crack squad of marines and hurtles headlong into a hi-tech house of horrors that delivers plenty of shocks and nail-biting suspense. Masterfully controlling the tension and moving the involving plot at a lightning pace, Cameron exploits everyone's worst fears and carries them to the riveting extreme in this consummate Oscar-winning fright-fest. – Alan Jones 1. Alien We're sure there will be few complaints about the position of Ridley Scott's film at the very top of the list – a movie which expertly merged sci-fi and horror to create an experience that still ranks as one of the very best achievements in all of cinema. RT review: Ridley Scott’s original haunted house in space thrill-ride is a bona fide classic, stunning you with shock after shock, even when the alien creature is revealed in all its hideous glory. In her breakthrough role, Sigourney Weaver plays one of the crew of a spacecraft that picks up an unwanted guest after answering a distress beacon coming from a barren planet. The top-notch acting and imaginative bio-mechanical production design (with the alien created by Swiss artist HR Giger) succeed in flattering a script culled from many cult sci-fi movies, including It! The Terror from beyond Space and Planet of the Vampires. Scott brilliantly alternates false scares with genuine jolts, helping to create a seamless blend of gothic horror and harrowing science fiction. – Alan Jones Check out more of our Film 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.
Steal's Sophie Turner reveals *that* twist made her want to sign onto the show
Major Steal spoilers ahead. For much of Steal's opening episode, friends Zara and Luke are having the mother of all bad days. The pair, played by Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones, Joan) and Archie Madekwe (Saltburn, Gran Turismo), are going about their business at the pension fund investment company where they work when they're caught up in a heist. Armed robbers enter the building and force them, at gunpoint, to carry out a transaction that siphons off billions of pounds of ordinary people's pensions. They don't just have a front-row seat to what's happening at Lochmill Capital – they also push the big red button, so to speak. But all is not as it seems. In the final moments of episode 1, when Zara slips away to the toilet after giving her statement to DCI Rhys (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) – we assume so she can catch her breath – she overhears two employees speculating about whether it could have been an inside job. It's in that moment – an exhausted smile creeping across Zara's face – that we realise she was in on the whole thing. "That's what made me sign on to the show," Turner told RadioTimes.com. "Reading that first script and then seeing the end, I just thought, oh, wow, this is going to be hard to pin down, and this is going to be a really fun character to play. "And then episode 2 comes around and then you realise this guy [gestures to Madekwe] was in on it too. And I just loved it. I found it totally fascinating and exciting to have everybody in this show be morally grey. You're constantly guessing who's done what, and who's up to what. And who can we trust and who can't we trust?" That also extends to DCI Rhys, who is a relapsed gambling addict and running in dodgy circles himself, which adds an extra layer of jeopardy to the storyline. "It just keeps you on your toes at all times," added Turner. But Zara's relief is short-lived... "There's a certain thing rehearsed or spoken about, how maybe this would go, if and when it happens," said Madekwe. "But then all of a sudden, it spirals out of their control. It becomes a lot bigger than what they'd spoken about. It feels scarier." Read more: Steal cast: Full list of actors in Prime Video thriller Steal creator reveals unsettling real-life inspiration behind Sophie Turner Prime Video heist thriller "As much as it's been planned, these guys come into the office and they beat up their colleagues," continued Turner. "None of this is part of the deal." "And when push comes to shove, they realise they're actually not cut out for this," added Madekwe. "For Luke, that's very obvious – he doesn't handle it very well and buckles under the pressure. "They've done something they potentially immediately regret." Steal is streaming on Prime Video from Wednesday 21st January 2026. Sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime Video and pay £8.99 a month after that. Add Steal 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.
Éanna Hardwicke explains how playing Roy Keane was more about capturing an "attitude" than impression
The star of The Sixth Commandment takes on the role of the legendary Irish midfielder in new film Saipan.
There haven't been many footballers in the past few decades with a larger, stronger presence than Roy Keane. The legendary Manchester United and Republic of Ireland star – who is of course now an opinionated Sky Sports pundit – was something of a major force, known for his deeply competitive spirit and occasionally hot-headed temperament, both on and off the pitch. Both of those qualities are very much on display in new film Saipan, which dramatises Keane's infamous bust-up with Ireland manager Mick McCarthy in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup, a spat which ultimately saw the iconic midfielder miss out on what was his only opportunity to play at football's most prestigious tournament. The film sees The Sixth Commandment star Éanna Hardwicke take on the role of Keane alongside Steve Coogan – no stranger to playing real people – as McCarthy. And speaking to RadioTimes.com for an exclusive interview ahead of the film's release, Hardwicke explained how he approached the challenge of playing such a well-known figure. "I think we were really on the same page with this, and I've loved and admired so many of Steve's real character portrayals," he revealed, adding that deciding how to approach a real life character tended to depend on the particular film or TV project in question. "The extent to which the physical accuracy, the vocal accuracy, is important, and then the extent to which you're just trying to capture the essence or soul of someone in your own way," he explained. "For me, it was probably the latter in this. We're telling a story about an event rather than a biopic. So for me, it was always about capturing a spirit, an attitude." He explained that there were certain projects – such as Coogan's portrayal of Jimmy Savile in 2023 BBC series The Reckoning – where "pinpoint accuracy" and "precision" are more important, but that in Saipan he felt "freed from the biopic-ness." View oEmbed on the source website With Keane having been a public figure now for almost three decades, Hardwicke added that there was so much material at his disposal, and so he had to pick one or two things to hone in on when crafting his performance. "For me, it was that well of anger and where that comes from," he continued. "And I think there's something quite brilliant about anger when it's justifiable or when it comes from a real place. And so it was about channeling that, but finding my version of that. "Then the second thing was about commitment and dedication, what is it like to be that disciplined? Because I don't have that very much in my life. So it was about channeling that. Those are the two things I tried to keep as the touchstone. "And then the other thing was just remembering that you put away the public figure and to try imagine and figure out what it's like behind closed doors. I'm so grateful that that was in the script that we both got to explore, like those sort of private lives of those characters, because I think that grounds it and brings into other territory, you know." Saipan is released in UK cinemas on Friday 23rd January. Check out more of our Film 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.