Joseph Fiennes talks Young Sherlock origin story and playing his nephew’s on-screen father
'Exploring where Sherlock's demons evolved from is really interesting', says the Young Sherlock actor, who plays Holmes's father Silas.
This article appears in the new issue of Radio Times magazine, out Tuesday 24 February. Joseph, why did you take this role? I love the idea of an origin story, where we see how Sherlock evolves from a misfit to a brilliant mind – and I loved the idea of ripping up a piece. The purists might be anxious, but I think it gives it a great vitality, muscularity, wit and adventure. Were you a Sherlock Holmes fan? I grew up with the Jeremy Brett version [on ITV], he was wonderful. There was a suspicion that Sherlock might be on opioids, but we never knew what led to the solitude and the reclusiveness. Exploring where the demons evolved from is really interesting. What was it like to work with your nephew, Hero? Once you get past the, 'Oh my God, we're relatives in the same scene together', you’re just actors doing a job. Playing father and son, we get the connection for free, which is lovely. And it was sheer joy. He’s a real talent; charismatic, hard working. I’m really proud of his grace on set. He maintains absolute composure, which is adorable. I knew all those qualities were there since I first held him in my arms. Seeing him flourish made me so happy. Aside from being a rollicking adventure, what themes lie at the heart of Young Sherlock? There’s a bit of the underdog about Sherlock. There are so many gifted, brilliant young people out there that don’t get chances in life, and you can see that in him. He could easily have fallen by the wayside. Is it daunting to take on a story about a much-loved character, reimagined for a new audience? There’s a whole spectrum of people who love Sherlock Holmes, from purists to people who like the zany iterations of him. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories will always survive a good reimagining, because their foundation will always remain true. Young Sherlock is available from Wednesday 4 March on Prime Video. The latest issue of Radio Times is out on Tuesday 24 February – subscribe here. 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.
Silent Witness at 30 - Revisiting our interview with Amanda Burton: 'I don't suffer fools gladly'
As Silent Witness celebrates its 30th anniversary, we're looking back on our 1996 interview with the show's first star, Amanda Burton.
This article was first published in Radio Times magazine in February 1996, when the first ever run of Silent Witness was released. I am no prude but what, I ask, is a nice, discreet, private, shy, wary actress doing in this film where we see energetic alfresco lovemaking within the first few minutes? It is a far cry from the rural pleasantries of Peak Practice. I play mum and pour the tea - we are in a cosy Chelsea Harbour hotel - while she contemplates her answer. "Mmmm," she says. "This is the first time I’ve been involved in a programme that has nudity and perhaps more lovemaking than usual, and I had to think long and hard about it. Brookside [in which she made her name as the glamorous, twice-married accountant Heather Haversham] was hard hitting, but physically more than sexually. And the sex in Peak Practice was fairly dainty, I agree. But I feel all right about Silent Witness. It’s the style of the show." In it she plays forensic pathologist Dr Sam Ryan, a Belfast born single woman of 37, living and working in Cambridge where her mother moved after her husband, who was in the RUC, was blown up in a booby-trapped car when Sam was 13. In the first episode a seven-year-old girl (whose mother and stepfather do the cavorting) is found drowned in a local river. Sam investigates and suspects a history of child abuse, especially when she discovers the stepfather was previously the partner of a woman in prison for murdering her child. "I find the child abuse shocking and reel from that far more than the nudity and sex. It is stunningly hard to come to terms with the fact that people can abuse and murder children like that." She speaks softly, with an occasional Londonderry lilt – she was brought up there, the youngest of four daughters of a headmaster. Her sisters became nurses or teachers, and she seems to have a certain prim cautiousness within her, unusual for an actress, as well as a toughness behind the porcelain prettiness – a more normal attribute. Perhaps I am mistaken. There is a flamboyant statement – not to mention antisocial foolhardiness – in her choice of a Cherokee Jeep as her London runabout. "There’s nothing like a bad driver behind a four-wheel drive," she agrees. "But I think I’m good and I love driving." She explains, several times, how "private" she is – one of those cliched paradoxes often noticeable in those who disport themselves for a living. "Yes, it’s a huge contradiction," she admits. "I don’t know why I was drawn to acting, although from about six I loved dancing and would shut myself away for hours, making up ballets, performing on my own with a record player. "I see my own children (two daughters – Phoebe and Brid – with her husband, photographer Sven Amstein) doing it now. I find it therapeutic to go to Sven’s studio and dance now and again. At school I found it fun making people laugh. I was good at it and used to divert a lot of boring classes. Then, at 13, 1 became involved in plays. I was a complete home bird and the thought of being away from the house after school to attend rehearsals terrified me. But I loved the excitement of it. It was probably massive showing off. "I still find doing ‘takes’ incredibly intoxicating. There’s such a thrill when everyone is concentrating on a scene. It’s nothing to do with people looking at me - we’re so against vanity aren’t we? We’re not allowed to pat ourselves on the back these days. You have to turn round a few months later and ask in a small voice, 'Was that all right?' "I always worry and am anxious. I don’t feel I want to please people. If something is good I’ll allow myself to be pleased. On television you don’t have that awful thing, ‘control’, because you never know how it’s going to come out in the editing, but I rather like the overall shape being controlled by the director and editor. I trust them. You have to." There are those who say there are too many police or medical dramas on television, and Silent Witness combines both genres. "But it’s different because Sam is a pathologist, dealing with what happens after the event. Pathologists are doing a jigsaw puzzle, which is very different to treating a patient with high blood pressure in a country practice. "I agree, though, there is a fair obsession with medical and police matters in this country. Perhaps they’re the things we most worry about politically and stories about life and death provide good drama. But we all have the power to turn off the television and different programmes appeal for various reasons – a favourite actor, good locations. I rarely watch television, but there are some wonderful programmes." After studying drama at Manchester Polytechnic, she worked for several years in the theatre before being cast in Brookside in 1982. She played Heather for four years. "I left because I like change and to see what happens when you give yourself space to do something different. I felt I’d done as much as I could with Heather before she degenerated into something silly. "Script writers can have you doing rather peculiar things when you’ve been playing a particular character for too long. It’s best to go when people still like you. But I had nothing to go to, which was a bit foolhardy. You could call it confidence, or wildness. I don’t think I’ve ever stood still for long." It coincided with the break-up of her first marriage, at 20, to a fellow student and stage director, Jonathan Hartley. "It’s life. Things happen. Things don’t happen," she explains. She had met Sven when he photographed her on set and moved to London with him. After working in Boon, she hit a lean period in her career. "I had a year of staring out the window. The parts weren’t there and interviews didn’t happen. It was horrible, but in retrospect probably quite good for me. I pulled in my horns. For a while, just before Peak Practice, I thought of giving up acting. I hadn’t quite decided what to do, but I am very resourceful and could turn my hands to all sorts of things - cooking, making collages, baking bread in the south of France. It wouldn’t have worried me. I’m not rigid in the way I think of my life." Nevertheless, she enjoyed her three years as Dr Beth Glover in the medical series set in Derbyshire. For years she scorned the idea that actors "become" the parts they play. "I’d never thought I carried Beth home with me until I had an extraordinary conversation with someone – I’m not telling you who – last summer and realised I’d probably kept hold of her. "I’ve always been fascinated with medicine, and there’s a danger in acting a doctor that you become worthy and start believing you’re a saviour, which is very condescending and presumptuous – a dangerous road to go down. I recognised my own personality had changed. Beth – I love her - was a very easy character to have clinging round me, and I didn’t realise it. I put a lot of things in my life into hers and vice versa. "But I don’t take Sam Ryan home because she’s such a dark person. This probably sounds absolute nonsense, but when I’m dressing for the part I feel her around me, and it’s a very kind of theatrical experience. I take on the mantel of this character when I go into the dressing room and take her off at the end of the day. You’re going to think I’m insane." She laughs tactfully and I assure her that is not the case. Filming Silent Witness is "challenging in the true sense," she adds. "Time is always against you. There are smaller budgets and longer hours, so it’s like pushing the donkey up a bigger hill. I think we all get on in the cast. There’s an interesting fusion of people, not necessarily those you’d choose to be in the same room as. It’s an interesting mix which helps very much with the characterisation on screen." There is tension in the films between her and police superintendent Harriet Farmer, played by Clare Higgins, who is unimpressed by her persistent meddling in cases that have been ‘solved’. "It isn’t cosy, like being in the theatre with a nice green room and comfy sofas. We’re all rather different people, but we get on." Is there bitchiness? She pauses. "Is it bitchiness, or a highly tuned competitiveness which comes out in an ugly way sometimes and we label 'bitchy'? Competitiveness can be very positive if it’s well channelled. There’s also an anger that you have for yourself if you don’t get something right. I find it in myself. I’m becoming quieter and quieter in my working day. "When I you’re there from 6:30 in the morning until nine at night, you have to be fairly quiet if you’re going to pull off a good performance during the 15th take of a car scene at eight o’clock in the evening. I don’t like expending energy on endless conversations, so I’ve gone into myself a lot. Does that make me difficult? You’ll have to ask other people. I don’t think so, but I don’t suffer fools gladly and take no prisoners." I wonder if such a punishing schedule requires sacrifices as a mother. "No, it all works. We have a photographer/acting environment and since they were tiny the children have been used to Sven and I rushing off to do things. They go to a good school, have a capable, loving nanny and Sven is usually there for breakfast if I’m not. We work in tandem." Next year she will be 40. "Why should I worry about that? We should be proud of our ages and pat ourselves on the back that we have got so far in such a stressful and frightening world. I’m afraid of the future, of where things will go. Big things. I don’t just mean on our little island, but the world as a whole. What is going to happen?" In her own future she’d like to make films and play a character from a different age – "a woman pioneer. There are extraordinary stories of ladies who went to Africa. I can see why they wanted to shock the chattering classes. It must have been such a claustrophobic life if you had something to say, rather than just look pretty, provide meals and die quietly in your forties. It is such a plaintive cry, but it’s still hard for a woman to do many things, even as an actress. "Not many have the main part in a series. Most roles are token – wife, girlfriend, mother, sister, daughter – a feed to the male peacock. I’d love to be a man for a while and see how different it is when you kick ass." We finish our tea and walk thoughtfully into the night. Silent Witness seasons 1-28 are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer. Add Silent Witness 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.
Comedian Slim on his Guide to Life: "I know how to navigate myself in this industry, that's why I've been in it for so long"
Comedian Slim sits down with Pass the Mic to chat about his brand new BBC Radio 4 show and how he's seen the industry evolve over the years.
It's not often that people sit down and look back on their entire life for the purpose of bringing about laughter, but that's exactly what comedian Slim has done for his latest venture for BBC Radio 4. His new six-part series, Slim's Guide to Life, is just another string to his impressive career bow, having been the first Black British comedian to sell out the London Palladium with a solo show and now widely celebrated as the Godfather of the Black British comedy scene. Having performed to audiences all around the globe, Slim now reflects on his life and career in his trademark comedic way, telling stories about being a teenage father to working as a London bus driver. Chatting to Radio Times for Pass the Mic, he admits that he's "happy and excited with anticipation to see it all come together, to see the final result". He remarks: "It's a nice experience because you're evaluating your life. I think we do it as humans every 10 years anyway. Every 10 years from 30, you look back on the decade before and think, 'How have I done? Have I advanced? Am I any further? My dreams, have they come true?' So, it was nice to go back, especially the early years." But how has it been penning a script based all around your life for a brand new radio audience? As Slim explains below, it's been a cathartic experience and is also an opportunity to expand his fanbase further in an industry that he has grown confident in navigating over his years of experience. How did you go about crafting Slim's Guide to Life – what was the writing process like? I had material that was written anyway but I had to go and write for the first few decades, as I realised I didn't really have any material. All my material's after 20 years old so that was nice revisiting that, sitting down and writing that on top of stuff I already had. I enjoyed happily sitting down and doing the project. Was it cathartic to revisit those early years of your life? Absolutely. We're adults now... I had a happy childhood so it was nice to go back and revisit. Your memory jogs with certain events that you'd totally forgotten about and then when you're sitting down and thinking about it, it's like, 'Oh yeah!' I enjoyed doing it. How was it working with a script editor for this radio project? I'd sit down and write down the material, then we'd go over it and just trim the fat. It was nice because me being a stand-up comic, I work on stages. I haven't got as much restrictions as radio has. We had to tailor it and trim the fat but it was good. I can imagine it's a different mindset to the improv and stand-up routines you're used to delivering. Was it more of a stationary environment doing it for radio? Well, we actually filmed in front of a live audience so it's not canned laughter. We done that at Up the Creek Comedy Club. Doing it in front of an audience was different for me. I had to read out my script and because it's for radio, there's certain visual aspects that, when I'm on stage, you would see if you were watching me live. Now you're listening on the radio, I've got to make sure that everything translates over to the airwaves. On the whole, it wasn't too much of a problem. It was different for me but it was no problem. You're celebrated as the Godfather of Black British comedy – how did you go about crafting the series to be both insightful about your career and funny? My life's always had these little funny moments from young. There's a lot of stuff that – although people know who I am – they wouldn't know about me, especially my younger years. For me, it was a great experience just going back and evaluating that 50 years of my life. A lot of people don't really do that – that's auditing half a century. It was exciting to do and I feel like the people out there, the listeners, will enjoy the final production. There's likely to be a different fanbase for radio, with some listeners maybe not aware of your work till now. How does that feel to possibly have a new legion of fans? Absolutely love that, it'll keep me in business longer. If you can keep getting new fans along the way, you'll usually stay in business longer, so I welcome all the fans and the people who love my kind of comedy. Across your remarkable 20-year career, you've seen a lot of trends and people coming and going. How do you think the comedy industry has evolved over the years, in terms of representation and Black British talent specifically? Now we've got social media and the internet, that is the way that most of the young comics are coming through, rather than finding a little pub with a little comedy night going on upstairs. That used to be the original way. Now, people are posting up their own stuff and coming through that way. Comedy has evolved. We've got more social media influencers coming through and making a career in comedy. I do believe that we've evolved, definitely, in the last 10 years. For the better? Yeah, I'd say so. At the end of the day, there's people that might not be able to make it out to a theatre or a venue but they can stay at home and have a laugh. I do believe that the comedy scene has changed a lot – there's also a lot of comics that, after Covid, didn't come back. It's always changing, no industry stays the same and it evolves in some kind of way. As an older or more mature comic, I just try and move with the times and not be left behind. Social media lowers the barrier to entry in the industry, which is a good thing – do you think that is a major positive in terms of the range of stories and comics we're seeing in the scene at the moment? Absolutely! Everybody's got a different sense of humour – what one person thinks is funny, another doesn't. So what you do need is an array of comics who can cater to everybody's needs. You may have the quirky comic, the dark humour comic. Do you think there's still more that needs to be done to nurture diverse talent in British comedy or is it somewhere you've seen vast improvements? There are improvements, I don't want to bang on like we've not seen any form of Black people on TV – but there's still gatekeepers to this industry, definitely. I don't know how the TV industry works out who they choose to work on, uplift and promote. At the end of the day, I don't overthink that. The comics I've seen that overthink it, they upset themselves and now you're at work with a bad energy. I might as well work a 9-5, this was supposed to be a love that they paid for! I know the pitfalls and I know how to navigate myself in this industry, that's why I've been in it for so long. There could be better representation, especially on national TV but look, people are now using social media, YouTube and stuff like that. They're kind of skipping the middle man as it is now and making their money. I think the industry is losing out really or they come way after the person's already established. You were the first Black British comedian to sell out the London Palladium with a solo show – how do you reflect on that time in your life and that achievement now? It was a major achievement but it's on to the next one, you're only as good as your last show. I savoured the moment, I really did, but then I just moved on. Obviously, people who have known me and watched me rise, for them to see me at such a grand venue – it's a very well-known historical building. People can watch me grow from a little place in Brockley to a big, world renowned venue in the West End. I think the pride, that's what I felt a lot from people. I do feel the pride and the love from my fans. For me, it was a chance to go upmarket a bit and just to show that a venue like the Palladium, I deserve to be in there. I knew that I was going to bring a top-tier show to a top-tier venue with top-tier people in it and it was a great night. It will be unforgettable but what's the next big one I've got? On to the next one! What are you hoping that people get from Slim's Guide to Life? That deep down, I'm just a normal, regular guy that's grown up like everybody else and has made it good for himself. Same struggle as everybody else, single parent household, siblings that you fight with, friends – it's just my life. I'm hoping they'll get a lot of laughs out of it but that they'll be able to resonate with a lot of stuff that is in there as well. Slim's Guide to Life premieres on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 18 February at 11pm. Check out more of our Audio 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 Witcher 3 legends explain their "very experimental" new vampire game, The Blood of Dawnwalker
“Our game structure is totally different than the games you know.”
"It's very experimental," creative director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz revealed, "because not many games do this." Before we go any further, please be aware that you can hear the full version of this conversation on the Radio Times Gaming podcast feed or YouTube channel. Tomaszkiewicz spoke to us at the Gamescom conference about The Blood of Dawnwalker, the upcoming vampire game that he — and many other former Witcher 3 developers — have started their own company to build. He was explaining the game’s time system, which will force players to make tricky decisions. There are a limited number of hours in every in-game day, and you only have a set number of those days to save your character’s abducted wife. Tomaszkiewicz told us: "First of all, we wanted it to feel like the time matters. You know, there is this feeling of urgency to objectives. And we wanted you to actually think, ‘Do I want to do this? Or do I want to do that? How do I want to spend this resource?’ "At the same time, we don't want this artificial pressure that will stop you from exploring the world, for example, right? You do get clear communication from the game at every point." Indeed, we did see this mechanic at play in a hands-off Gamescom demo. We saw that certain actions, like committing to a side quest, will spend a certain amount of your time, which the game flags to you nice and clearly. Tomaszkiewicz said, "As you could have seen in the build, for example, the quest objectives tell you like how many time segments are you gonna spend if you're gonna finish these objectives. Sometimes, specific dialogue options can lead to spending time segments." "We call it ‘time as a resource,’" Tomaszkiewicz added. He also clarified that, "Just standing in one place is not gonna cost you any time. So, the time is kind of waiting for you to perform these actions." If you’re looking for a comparison point to make this system make sense in your mind, Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz mentions Persona, and his colleague/brother Konrad Tomaszkiewicz points to the first two Fallout games from the nineties. Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, the game director and CEO of developer Rebel Wolves, chimed in and said, "Spoiler alert, but we're speaking about it in the interviews; your main goal in the game is to help your abducted family. "And you know that, in some time, something can happen to them. And you cannot build the proper tension, and emotions, if you know that they'll be there forever. You cannot do, story-wise, this thing. That's why we added the system to show you that the clock ticks, and stuff will happen." "Our game structure is totally different than the games you know," Konrad Tomaszkiewicz added. But we couldn’t help but wonder, what happens if you don’t save your family in time? Is it a full ‘game over’ situation? Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz teased, "We don't wanna spoil it for the players. I would say, we treat it more as a choice and consequence thing, than a game over thing. This much I can tell you." We got to see a lengthy hands-off demo of the game, and the time-spending system did look pretty cool, although we're sure it will take some getting used to. The game’s day-night cycle also impacts your gameplay options. By day, the player-character (a 14th century chap by the name of Coen) can walk around like an ordinary person and try to talk or punch his way through situations. By night, he becomes a form of vampire with added stealth, traversal and combat options. But if you wait until nighttime to do everything, you’ll be wasting valuable time and your family will inch closer to peril. It looks like a fun game, and we very much look forward to getting our hands on it. Watch this space, and we’ll be sure to bring you more coverage as the release nears. The Blood of Dawnwalker will release in 2026 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. You can wishlist the game now. Read more about upcoming games: LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight producer talks Arkham inspiration Scott Pilgrim EX creators "wouldn't call it a traditional beat 'em up" Directive 8020 boss promises "a huge leap forward for the series" Resident Evil Requiem preview: Remixing the greatest hits 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.
EastEnders' Tracy-Ann Oberman teases potential return for Chrissie Watts wedding: "The opportunities are endless"
Tracy-Ann Oberman speaks to Radio Times about Chrissie's shock engagement and her EastEnders exit.
Tracy-Ann Oberman has had quite the day. The EastEnders actress not only wrapped up her latest stint in Albert Square, but also accepted an MBE from King Charles at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle - something she initially thought was a parking fine. "It comes in a really official looking brown envelope. And I thought, 'Oh God'," the star joked to Radio Times. "My husband said, 'What have you done?', and I thought I hadn't paid something. I opened it, and I was really delighted to find out that I've got an MBE from The King in his Birthday Honour's list." The order of chivalry isn't the only award that Oberman has been bestowed during her career, which spans over three decades. From best actress to best newcomer, she's also won soap bitch of the year twice over for her performance as scheming Chrissie Watts. And, as the last week's worth of episodes have proved, she's still up there with some of the genre's finest antagonists. Chrissie was lured back to Walford by estranged boyfriend Jake Moon (Joel Beckett) in an attempt to get her to confess to the murder of Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey). Of course, as we viewers knew, she wasn't actually responsible. AddRadio 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. Troubled teen Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness) had smacked him over the head with a salt lamp, and allowed her mother Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) to be sent down for the crime. Chrissie pleaded her case, explaining that she'd already served time for killing husband Den (Leslie Grantham), and wasn't prepared to live the rest of her life behind bars. Kat then came to the realisation that she'd have to call the police on her own granddaughter. In tonight's instalment, Jake tried to prove to Chrissie that he was still committed to their relationship - despite being prepared to throw her under the bus. "I think that there's a moment where she thinks it's over with Jake. I think she feels like he betrayed her. He was the one person that she could trust and rely on," Oberman reflected. "For all these years, they had something that was strong. They are each other's family, and I don't think she really feels she can get over that." In a bid to cement a future together, Jake asked her to give him an hour to put things right - allowing her some time to stroll around the streets that she once called home - and a chance encounter with owner Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins). "It's a really nice, sweet little scene where like-meets-like," Oberman added. Imagine the story potential! The two women could've been best of friends - or the worst of enemies - in another life. Later, Chrissie was counting down the minutes as Jake rolled back into The Square. Had he been late, she'd have probably grassed him up to the police for accidentally killing his brother Danny (Jake Maskall) two decades ago. However, in a shock twist, he swiftly opened a ring box, and asked her to become Mrs Moon. "With Chrissie, her motto has always been, 'You scratch me and you drink your own blood,'" Oberman continued. "She was going to go out to try and destroy Jake, until he does something very surprising, very romantic. and rather lovely." With wedding bells set to ring out, sirens also sounded across East London, and Chrissie began to fear that Jasmine had reported her for orchestrating a string of attacks on Zoe last year. She and Jake didn't have a moment to collect their thoughts - they had to leave. But is this the last we've seen of her? Oberman hopes not. "My dream is that I would love them to come back and host their wedding at The Vic. Nobody knows what the wedding is. They decided to hire it out," she explains. "Being back with Joel was great. We really enjoyed the scenes, and there's such a nice chemistry there. They're an interesting pairing and an interesting couple. So who knows? "I'm always talking to [executive producer] Ben Wadey, who I love. I've enjoyed Chrissie coming back so much, and I love dipping in and out of it. The opportunities are endless. "Chrissie cannot get away from The Square. She keeps coming back. There's something about that place." For the time being, the star is returning to her theatrical roots in an adaption of Noël Coward's Present Laughter. Her role of Geri Essendine is a reimagining of character Garry from the original 1942 comic play. The curtain won't rise at the Theatre Royal in Bath until August, but Oberman is already excited about the audience reception: "I did the Merchant of Venice 1936 which was a play that I adapted, and was the first ever female Shylock. And it did very well, going into the West End twice. "Well, I've done it again. I've taken one of the funniest plays I've ever read, and I've adapted it so that the very badly behaved male lead is now a very badly-behaved female lead. "I really can't wait for audiences to see it. It's going to go on a national tour, and I really hope they come and see that. If you love Chrissie, you'll love this character." Read more: 4 EastEnders spoilers next week: Shock Branning pregnancy and Callum Highway is blackmailed EastEnders star reveals Chrissie Watts's Jasmine Fisher fears ahead of explosive week EastEnders' Kat Moon and Vicki Fowler make risky move to secure Zoe's freedom in BBC iPlayer release EastEnders reveals Mark Fowler Jr's secret and surprise connection to Walford local in BBC iPlayer release EastEnders airs dark Ravi Gulati scenes amid revenge story in early BBC iPlayer release Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. Add EastEnders 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 Soaps 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 Silence of the Lambs at 35 — Revisiting our interview with Sir Anthony Hopkins: 'I wanted to be like Richard Burton – famous as well as different'
As The Silence of the Lambs celebrates its 35th anniversary, we're resurfacing our 1994 interview with Anthony Hopkins — in which he talks about the transformative effect of his Oscar win.
This article was originally published in Radio Times magazine on 20 October 1994. It was only when he won an Oscar in 1992 for his part as Hannibal Lecter, the serial killer who cooked and ate his victims in The Silence of the Lambs, that Anthony Hopkins was convinced finally he’d become a decent actor. "After the old award came along I said to myself, 'What’s to prove now? I’ve done it'." Until then, he says, he’d wallowed in the troughs of insecurity, self-pity and alcoholism so common among our artistic brethren. Tedious stuff really. "Now I’m happy and at peace, with no axes to grind," he says. Let’s hope that isn t really true. His brilliance is drawn from the furies lurking within him and, although today in Cardiff he is the very image of self-deprecating thespian bonhomie, as well as a mixture of hauteur and vulnerability, he adds: "In a way my parts have been therapy, providing me with a great purging of my emotions. They seem to have paralleled my own development. Maybe Lecter was part of me - aloof, cold, a bit closed off. Being an actor has put some frost on my shoulder, a touch of ice in my veins. I don’t like displays of emotion and don’t trust my own because they’ve got me into trouble in the past. "I’ve become detached from life in the past ten years, which is probably why I look so calm. I don’t like being in crowds. In a strange way I’m free because I have no interests. I don’t care for sports, going to the theatre or cultural events. I don’t have many friends, hate going to dinner in other peoples’ houses, or to parties or restaurants. Food doesn’t interest me, nor does being with people for too long. I have no curiosity about anything, never have had." This makes him sound like a curmudgeonly misanthrope, a morose Celtic bore, but nothing could be further from the truth. He provides wonderful conversational entertainment – some of it true – the beguiling Welsh lilt transforming to mimic whatever actor he happens to be discussing. He says his second wife Jenni, whom he married 21 years ago, after they met when she was a production assistant on one of his films, thinks he’s strange. "But that’s the way I am," he shrugs. "At least I’m interesting to live with and keep her on her toes. My only quirk is travelling to LA and driving thousands of miles in a rented car, anywhere, sleeping in motels, talking to people, passing through their lives. It gives me a sense of freedom and adventure. It’s an aspect of myself that intrigues me. Maybe I am self-obsessed." An only child, born in Port Talbot, he was a day-dreamer, hopeless at school because he was an undiagnosed dyslexic, he thinks. "I was very frustrated I could never grasp things quickly like other kids. I was good at drawing and the piano – if I had my chances again I’d like to be a composer. I was a bit of a puzzle to my parents and teachers. They all gave up, except one who said maybe I was a bit different. I was isolated, but I look back on my childhood with great fond memories. It was all grist to the mill. Out of my so-called 'handicap' I became angry, and frustration built up in me like rocket fuel, so when I left school I was determined to show the world. Richard Burton came from the same town. I thought he was amazing and wanted to be like him – famous as well as different." His father would have preferred him to work in the family bakery. "I’d be at the piano and he’d come in with flower dust in his hair and ask what I was playing. I’d say, ‘Beethoven,' and he’d mutter 'No wonder you’re going bloody deaf.' When I told him I didn’t want to be a baker he said, 'Thank God for that. You’d be bloody hopeless.' He was a wonderful man, with that tremendous energy of the Welsh - 'sparks and smoke', he used to say. He was always on the move, and his eyes used to change colour, turn bright, bright blue, when he was excited. We had the odd argument - boom-boom! - because we were so alike. He never believed I’d grown up. "He used to ask my wife to make sure I put Brylcreem on my hair. I called him Dick – I was embarrassed to call him 'father' – and my mother Muriel. It’s much more friendly. It’s taken me a few years to come to terms with how much like him I’ve become. He died 13 years ago and it’s as if he’s come home to roost in me. I was a little sombre before his death, took things too seriously. Now I’ve developed his sense of humour. Whenever I’d do Shakespeare he’d ask, 'Any shooting in it?' or he'd say, 'Shakespeare’s nice, but you ought to be making films like Burton.' He loved films." It was his father telling him to get out of the house and do something which, fortuitously, began his acting career. "I joined the YMCA to learn snooker, was offered a small part in one of their plays and have ended up like this 40 years later. Life's a funny old process. Our paths are chosen for us in a way." He says he’s always been a bit mystical and had flashes of psychic vision. "I’ve never sat around tables with spooky people, but I used to get quite alarming insights which became a bit of a party trick. I’d describe peoples' houses to them and say they'd just had a tea stain on the table. "Then I began to see my own life running backwards. Just before I received the old Oscar I thought, 'This is odd. It's happened before,' and a thought ran through my head like an express train - 'Your father died 11 years ago tonight. You’ve got it.' I’m not a Holy Joe, but it would be supremely arrogant to believe all this is something I’ve done myself. Life is too extraordinary for me to doubt there is some peculiar power that goes through all our lives." Although he is irreverent about acting, the Oscar made him proud. "It was wonderful. This nonsense about being cynical and putting them in the lavatory is an insult. If someone is generous enough to give you an award for what they think is good work, you should be gracious "I don’t hang around with actors much and don’t know who the luvvies are or what they’re talking about. If a director tells me a film is 'going to be a journey of discovery' I’m out through the door. My approach is quite simple: I just want to be told where to stand. I don’t overburden my brain with too much material. I’m a very intuitive and physical actor. I learn my lines, show up and try not to bump into the furniture." This is said without affectation, but of course it is a lie. He reads scripts dozens of times, and then hooks on to one aspect of a character. Last year, preparing a TV film about his Welsh hero, Gwyn Thomas, he explains, "I watched videos and listened to his vocal mannerisms. Then I went to the wardrobe department and asked for a greenish jacket, brown cavalry twill trousers which were a bit too tight and suede shoes. I looked in the mirror and thought, 'That’s him.'" In Alan Parker’s new film, The Road to Wellville, opening in January, he wears protuberant false teeth which give him an uncanny performance as Dr John Kellogg, the health guru and inventor of the cornflake. He has well-known reservations about The Silence of the Lambs and now says, "It’s not wise to make films like that. There’s so much violence around. I don’t want to sound pretentious, but actors have a bit of a responsibility. I’d have to think strongly and deeply about doing a sequel. It would have been crazy of me to turn the film down at the time. I was in my usual naive state of being surprised to be offered a film in America. I’ve always been a bit like that. There is a great snobbishness in the theatre about the film business, but I don’t take any notice. I’ll go where I’m asked if it’s a good script. "I used to take anything because I thought I’d never work again, but I’m a bit more choosy now. My American agent is like a killer. He beats at producers’ doors until they increase the fee. I tell him, ‘I want to do the job,' and he says, ‘Don’t worry. I’m not satisfied with the deal.' It’s nice to make a good living because I don’t want to be insecure, but ifs ludicrous when actors are paid $15 million to do a film. What are you going to do with that money? You have to farm it out somewhere, circulate it, otherwise it destroys you. If you keep money it rots you." View Green Video on the source website He knows about Hollywood because he lived there for ten years, leaving England in 1972 after, he says, "I had a bit of a punch-up at the National. It was my own stupid idiocy. People say I was a hellraiser. I wasn’t. I was just a bloody nuisance and boring. Actors get scared, and fear causes temper. I went through a couple of awkward patches and was a bit troublesome. I never wrecked a studio like some actors, but I had a fiery temperament which used to worry me." Drink fuelled it and could have ruined his career if it hadn’t been for one day in July 1975 when he woke up in Phoenix, Arizona, having no idea how he got there. He attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and hasn’t touched a drop since. He goes to AA meetings three times a week, and says he had his last big bust-up on a set ten years ago. "I had a ferocious row with a ghastly pig of a man, a British TV director." The Silence of the Lambs and subsequent films have made him wealthy, but he says he is frugal. "I don’t want anything. I don’t need three houses and three cars. I don’t give a damn about clothes, although I’m sick of actors walking around looking filthy. I like to keep clean and fit. I drive a Renault because the dealer is round the comer. I’m not interested in holidays. Hollywood is full of people who seek power and wealth and turn into monsters. They become even more acquisitive and, strangely, tight with money. "I’m no pure angel but if you accumulate power and prestige you’ve got to have a daily checking balance where you must ask yourself, ‘Do I really need all this?' Towards the end of my time in Hollywood, the old alarm signal was set off when my agent told me they couldn’t pay as much as on my previous film. I was annoyed before I realised, ‘Hang about. The last film paid me more money than I’ve ever seen. I have a nice house and I’m becoming weird.' Hollywood is like an insect-eating plant. You sit by the pool thinking you should have more and more and it gradually closes in on you. It was then Jenny said, ‘We should go back to England.' It is Wales, though, for which he hankers and where he may one day settle. He has already bought himself a burial place at Margam Abbey, outside Port Talbot ("I feel a bit odd about that"), but it will hopefully not be needed for many, many years. Meanwhile, he has developed a motto for himself. "Ask nothing. Expect nothing. And accept everything. That gets me through. I live in a state of total non-expectation and then extraordinary things happen. I can’t run my life. I make a few little plans here and there but beyond that it is none of my business."
The Lady writer explains new Sarah Ferguson TV drama and how series handles Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
Why The Lady, the new drama telling the story of Sarah Ferguson's former dresser Jane Andrews, is a "toxic fairy-tale".
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. “Andrew does not feature,” writer Debbie O’Malley says emphatically of the royal formerly known as Prince and his presence, or lack thereof, in ITV1’s four-parter The Lady. The drama tells the story of Jane Andrews (former dresser to the once Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson), who killed her partner Thomas Cressman in 2000. O’Malley says The Lady isn’t “interested in the royal world because it’s very much about the female, domestic world of Sarah [Natalie Dormer] and Jane’s part in it. We only ever see the Sarah that Jane got to see.” The Lady’s attention to Andrews’s relationship with Ferguson — “a fascinating dynamic as close as friends but with a difference in status that will never go away” — forms part of what O’Malley calls Andrews’s “toxic fairy tale”. “You’ve got this girl who comes from ordinary beginnings and ends up mixing with the greatest in the land at Buckingham Palace – before things take a sad and upsetting turn. It’s an interesting way to explore one woman’s journey as well as British society at the time.” Of course, it’s not a fairy tale, though. It’s a true story, or at least based on one. “If you’re writing true crime, there are things you can never know, and we wanted to be transparent about that. So wherever possible we’ve tried to show key moments of Jane and Tommy’s relationship through the eyes of the friends that were around them. There was no way we could necessarily please everyone, but we weren’t setting out to upset anyone.” O’Malley says she takes the “enormous” responsibility involved seriously. “When you’re trying to understand a complex protagonist, it’s easy to lose sight of the victim. And that was something that was important from the beginning – to remember that a man lost his life and his family and his friends are still grieving that loss. You just have to approach it with integrity.” The Lady will launch on Sunday (22nd February) at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. 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.
BAFTA nominee Rose Byrne talks unwinding after emotional and demanding new role: "I drink a lot of alcohol"
As a mother, her latest role really hit home, but a post-filming cocktail — and Bafta and Oscar nominations — make it all worth it
On the small screen, Rose Byrne has tackled comedy in Platonic and hard-hitting biographical drama in Mrs America. On the big screen, the versatile Australian actress has petrified audiences in the Insidious horror franchise and cracked up crowds with the slapstick humour of Bridesmaids. Later this month, the 46-year-old tackles her most acclaimed role to date in the psychological drama If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Byrne plays a mother facing an existential crisis in a visceral performance that has earned the star a stack of awards and Bafta and Oscar nominations… It’s the Bafta Film Awards on Sunday, and you’re also nominated for an Oscar. What do you make of all the awards buzz for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You? It’s extraordinary and very surreal. I mean, this is a tiny film and I’m honoured that it’s being acknowledged in this way. In the past, I’ve had more chances to do complex roles on television – but this is by far the most complex role I’ve had on film. This really stretched me and changed me. It’s been a highlight for sure. What does working in television give you that the big screen usually doesn’t? I like the opportunity to develop a relationship with an audience on television. I think that’s wonderful. I love shows that you invest in season after season, shows that you often want to revisit. Whether it’s classics like Seinfeld or The Sopranos, you want to revisit that group of people and see them again. In the film, you play an anxious mother whose world starts to fall apart. How did you find this headspace? I’m a mother, so this role hits home for me. I mean, there’s nothing more confronting than being a parent, because kids see the best of you and the worst of you – and it’s so much about your own limitations. There’s that cliché of your child ending up teaching you more about yourself than anything, but they are the greatest teachers. It’s exactly the same in this film. Your co-star A$AP Rocky’s partner is Rihanna. Did you meet her? When I met Rocky, I immediately asked, “Where’s your wife? Is she coming to set?” We were all waiting quietly, but she was a bit busy with a newborn. She didn’t come, but Rocky is lovely and his performance in this movie is very nuanced and funny. How do you unwind after working on such an emotional character? I drink a lot of alcohol. To be honest, it’s sometimes as simple as having a cocktail after a long day on set or switching on the TV. Everyone has different coping mechanisms. A lot of people have a spiritual practice or a religion but I don’t have any of that. Bobby [Cannavale, Rose’s actor husband] and I have a very simple life. We’re not surrounded by a lot of people. We have a community that we rely on at home in Brooklyn. It’s those things that I gravitate towards. I’m from a very close family who I lean on more and more. How difficult is it to switch off when you head home? Obviously, this is demanding subject matter, but I think I’m very good at keeping work at work and keeping home at home. It’s great to have that separation. My children couldn’t care less if I’ve had a long day – but in the best, most refreshing and grounding way. When I come home, I am now in the role of mum. Have your children — Rocco, 10, and Rafael, 8 — seen many of your films and television shows? Oh, no. I am married to an actor and they are not that interested in watching us on screen. They have a healthy disinterest in it, which I greatly respect. They have seen the Peter Rabbit films that I did, which were really fun, but that’s it. They have a very healthy distance from it all. You’ve tackled horror, comedy, cartoons, drama, sci-fi and more. How do you choose your projects? I want to constantly challenge myself and be scared. Without that, there’s no point. You have to feel like you’re on the brink every time. You have to want to continue. At times, I feel like you have to fail to then rediscover yourself and to have a continued career. I think failure is just as important as success, if not more important. I’ll return to the theatre and do a play or go home to Australia to find a smaller project if I want to change it up. Or I’ll try to shepherd projects through with my production company. What career would you choose if you weren’t an actor? Without acting, I’m not sure how I would be as a person. For me, it’s my saviour in many ways. I’m always grateful to get another job. That never leaves. And if it did leave, what then? I just don’t understand that feeling of security. What’s next for you? I’m doing a Noël Coward play in New York. My friend Scott Ellis is directing and I’m acting opposite Kelli O’Hara, who is a Tony Award-winning Broadway actress. She is brilliant. The play is called Fallen Angels and I’ve never done a broad comedy on stage, so I’m terrified – but I’m also excited. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is in cinemas from 20 February. The Bafta Film Awards are on Sunday 22 February at 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. 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.
Why Carry On icon Kenneth Williams's legacy in British entertainment continues to endure
Radio presenter and dedicated Williams fan Wes Butters spoke to Radio Times about the legendary performer.
Say the name Kenneth Williams and immediately you’re reminded of a rubber face, elongated vowels, a camp persona and a master of comic timing, as demonstrated in the Carry On films and radio programmes that are still popular today. But for radio presenter and dedicated Williams fan Wes Butters, the comic luminary remains much more than a "cartoon character". Butters says, "He transcended all age groups, all levels of society, all BBC networks." In a book, a radio documentary and now a film to be released later this year, Butters has been at pains to stress the star’s qualities as a person, something Williams would have appreciated, having often referred to the supposed ignominy of the creative artist required to perform low comedy. When Butters was planning a celebration of Williams’s centenary – a whole day of programmes on Radio 4 Extra this Saturday to mark exactly 100 years since Williams’s birth on 22 February 1926 – he had the same aim, to remind us of his idol’s dedication and versatility. Featured highlights include The Streets of London (1980) in which Williams proudly showed off his neighbourhood to Johnny Morris and Percy Edwards, and panel show The Law Game (1988), one of his last appearances. For Butters, this recording is bittersweet: "He’s so buoyant, at his best just months before he died." Butters, 46, was still a boy when Williams died. "He was ubiquitous in my childhood," Butters recalls of a time when Williams’s cross-generational appeal extended to frequent storytelling duties on Jackanory. "Everything about him was amusing to me," says the presenter, who was confused when he read the star’s celebrated Diaries, posthumously revealing a much darker side. "I couldn’t reconcile that happy joyous character with the man who would not allow himself to feel joy." One night in 2005, Butters bought a photo on eBay reportedly once owned by Williams. Butters contacted the seller, Williams’s godson Robert Chidell, who said he was selling everything, a collection his longtime fan was happy to scoop up in its entirety. Later, Butters was sitting with his memorabilia when Williams’s diaries fell open at a page on which the actor wondered what would become of his possessions after his death. "It’s not just serendipitous, it’s spooky," Butters says. "I feel at times as though his hand has guided me." Whether he was indulging in dirty postcard humour, a poetry recital or, surprisingly, Bible readings, Williams "drew you in". He was one of BBC Radio’s biggest stars, greatly loved for three comedy series – Hancock’s Half Hour, Just a Minute and Round the Horne — that have retained their popularity. Meanwhile, Williams’s chat show anecdotes enjoy repeated airings, and the Carry On films remain a perennial TV treat. More than half a century later, why does Williams’s unique contribution to British entertainment endure? "Because there was nobody like him," Butters offers. "He wasn’t trying to be anybody else." Williams died relatively young at 62; where could his career otherwise have taken him? "I like to think that he would have become a serious character actor," Butters says. But he also wonders whether that would have made Williams content: "The laughter was so important to him." The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. The Versatile Voice of Kenneth Williams: A Centenary Celebration is on Sunday from 6am on Radio 4 Extra. Check out more of our Audio 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.
Gordon Buchanan: "Coming from such a small community, I'm almost embarrassed by my achievements"
Gordon Buchanan’s difficult home life forced him outdoors – and he’s never looked back.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. A pride of lions – two lionesses and six or seven, almost-grown up, cubs – are gorging on a zebra carcass in the Okavango Delta. They have been without food for several days. Astonishing close-ups show the longed-for meat disappearing into the jaws of each lion. Drone shots capture the moment when the pride has had its fill. Tummies full, the big cats roll over, sated. If you want to see lions in a state of bliss, Big Cats 24/7 is for you. Wildlife film-maker Gordon Buchanan, who grew up on the Isle of Mull, is part of the BBC team following lion, leopard and cheetah across Botswana, day and night, as the title promises. The Scottish cameraman is at the top of his game, having shot more than 32 natural-history programmes, a number of which he’s also presented. In 2020 he was appointed MBE for his services to conservation. Is he as satisfied as those lions? “Coming from such a small community, I’m almost embarrassed by my achievements. I never set out to prove anything, bar to myself,” he says. Buchanan didn’t have an easy, or privileged start in life. Born just outside Glasgow, the third of four children, the family moved to Mull when Buchanan was a small child, after his mother separated from his father. They lived in a caravan and money was tight; his mother held down three weekly jobs. “She had no support. There were hugs and we were loved, but the rest… you had to make up for yourself. We had a sort of feral existence.” School was no help. “I think today I would be defined as dyslexic,” he says. “I struggled through school, not grasping things. I could skive my way through it and I wasn’t expected to pass anything, bar woodwork and art.” Buchanan acknowledges that being a natural-history presenter from a working-class background is unusual. “Historically, the only people who were naturalists were the clergy or monied classes,” he says. “There is an assumption that I’m middle-class because in the media, and in wildlife film-making in particular, there are a lot of middle-class people. About 90 per cent of people have been to private school, so I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder. There’s this assumption that I’m probably privately educated. Someone once asked me if it was true that my family owned half of Mull. Ha! The only bit of land we had was under my mum’s council flat.” Appearing in front of the camera was never meant to be part of the story. “It scared me so much to speak in public – it was the worst thing,” he says, but that changed when Buchanan shot a Natural World documentary called Leopard Hunters in Sri Lanka in 2001. “There was a big hole in the film and I was ordered to get in front of the camera, with my producer shouting, ‘Put some effort into it!’ But I didn’t want to be a wildlife presenter, so anything I did in front of the camera was minimum effort. But the BBC liked the laid-back approach…” View Green Video on the source website Buchanan’s love of the outdoors began as a child, as a place of escape from a difficult home, which he shared with his then stepfather: “That’s why the outdoors held excitement and promise. I could run away, explore and be carefree. The house wasn’t really a safe place. “My mum said it didn’t happen that often, probably less than 10 times, but the threat of domestic violence was always there.” The violence escalated until Buchanan returned home one day to find blood on the stairs. His mother – who would later throw out his stepfather – had been attacked in her sleep. Having left school at 17, Buchanan’s weekend job, washing up at a restaurant owned by the wildlife cameraman Nick Gordon and his wife Ann, turned into an escape route. The teenager was invited to join Gordon on his next trip, to Sierra Leone. “It was my one golden ticket. It was the chance for me to do something that was different and ticked so many boxes, whether building filming towers or setting up camp,” he says. After two days away he had contracted dysentery and seen a dead body. He was away for 18 months and it was another world compared to travel now. “I don’t want to go back to the days where it took two months to get news from family, but the internet has shrunk the world.” In a good way? Not really, he thinks. “At the age of 53, I’m addicted to my phone. You can pick up your phone and discover a whole day has passed.” A father of two grown-up children, aged 22 and 20, does he support the anxiety about young people on social media? “I’m all for banning phones for the under-16s. I’m dismayed when I walk through a school playground and you see these little clusters of kids around someone’s phone. They should be burning off some energy and running around.” Buchanan’s talent has taken him around the world. He has sat in a Plexiglas box and been pushed around by a polar bear; he has waited all day beneath a tree for a leopard; he has followed camels across the Gobi desert and accompanied huskies across the Yukon in Canada; and he has discovered a new species: the Bosavi woolly rat in Papua New Guinea. He is what is known as a super-recogniser, and not just for different types of lion. “I take in more details of the human face than other people. I have the ability to spot – before anyone else – who’s had Botox,” he says drily. Is he tempted? He laughs. “There is no substitute for healthy living, and a bit of style.” This man is as focused on the work (from the safety of a Land Rover) as a lion is on eating. “It’s roulette,” he laughs. “You can spend all night with them and nothing happens. The minute you get a stove out and start heating up some bolognese, that’s when things start to kick off.” He’s learnt how to wait. And he believes it’s a skill we all have. “People think I have an infinite amount of patience, but when you are sitting in a hide, you are observing everything that’s going on around you, whether it’s a noise from a baboon, a bird fluttering up, or a storm coming. “It’s within us all to find the frequency of nature. Every single human, whether you are from a tribe in the Amazon or Elon Musk, has ancestors who walked out of a cave and sniffed the air and saw a bird fluttering at the alarm of a lion. We haven’t changed in 10,000 years as human beings. That desire to connect with nature is still with us.” Only now we can do it from the safety of our sofa, watching this show. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Big Cats 24/7 airs at 9pm on BBC Two and iPlayer on Friday 27 February. Check out more of our Documentaries 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 Archers favourites star in 75th anniversary photoshoot and talk THAT dramatic George whodunnit reveal
Radio Times heads to Ambridge to take a deep dive into the latest plot twist.
This article originally appeared in Radio Times magazine. It began in 2024 when Alice Carter, an intermittently recovering alcoholic from the prosperous Aldridge family, fell asleep drunk in the passenger seat of her car. Her nephew-in-law George Grundy, a farmworker’s son, couldn’t resist offering to drive her home (it was a flash car). But Alice half-woke and clawed drunkenly for the door: it made George swerve and knock another car, bearing Mick, Joy and Fallon, from the bridge into the River Am. George dived in for a heroic rescue but afterwards panicked and moved the blotto Alice into the driver’s seat. Fallon lost the baby she didn’t know she was expecting, and everyone’s trauma rolled on for weeks. Alice was riven by guilt, though she couldn’t remember driving. George finally admitted the truth: when his grandparents Neil and Susan reported it, he got sent to prison for eight months. On release, he found most of Ambridge pretty unforgiving. Jobless and barred from the Bull, he ranted at all of them on New Year’s Eve. Following a conversation with the now saintly, forgiving Alice however, he resolved to put the past behind him and make good. Hollie Chapman, who plays Alice, explains, “The tables turned, and when she went from being the drunk to someone giving George wise advice, the scene felt really emotional, and I nearly lost it.” 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. Angus Stobie who voices George and joined Chapman on RT’s photoshoot to mark the dramatic storyline for the soap’s 75th anniversary, agrees that something changed in the characters’ dynamic. “I think George is slightly in awe of Alice and how she handled the whole situation. He also then means to change, family is at the centre of it all, and he wants to work and give back and provide.” But as George walked to his parents’ house in the dark that night, someone followed him, whacked him on the head with a wine bottle and left him for dead. Thankfully George recovered, and for weeks listeners heard characters suspecting one another of the attempted murder: Jolene the landlady; Fallon the pub cook and her policeman lover; George’s sister Keira; Alice’s dad Brian; Joy and her boyfriend Mick; and Amber’s roughneck father. Now we learn it was actually – shock! – Alice’s illegitimate half-brother Ruairi, who aspires to take over the family farm. Will Brian, in his 80s with angina, continue to pretend it was him to save his son? Will Ruairi confess? Will George lose his rag again? We asked Chapman, Stobie and some of the other actors who play these key figures how they feel about the dramatic revelation and what it means for the future of their characters in Ambridge. "There are a lot of ways this could play out. Not necessarily criminal justice, but village justice – the people themselves might deal with it!" Chapman reveals. She wasn't the first to learn of the latest Ambridge twist - that honour was bestowed on Brian star Charles Collingwood. "I was let in on the secret about Ruairi before everybody else, and sworn to secrecy," he explains. "Everyone was saying it would be me who did it. But really! Brian could barely lift a bottle – except up to his lips! I loved the great scene with George, when Brian decides to cover for Ruairi. And then the one with Ruairi! "Alice is Brian’s favourite child, he adores her. But remember, he has daughters and a stepdaughter and always longed for a son. Ruairi is the apple of his eye." He continues: "Back in the 1980s, they nearly wrote out the Aldridges for being a happy, wealthy family with no problems. But then they gave Brian a romantic wandering eye and the affair with Siobhan, from which Ruairi was born. Crises are an actor’s dream: the hard scenes to play are the ones where you’re walking across a field of not-quite-ripe oilseed rape." Arthur Hughes, who has voiced Ruairi since 2018, says that keeping the plot's outcome a secret what somewhat akin to the Beeb's reality TV show hit The Traitors. "It was very exciting, the clandestine nature of the whodunnit. I was taken aside in November and told it was my character, when The Celebrity Traitors was at its height. "I had to be careful in the studio not to give it away. Luckily, there was an ordinary plot to focus on, about wanting the farm…" Sunny Ormonde, better known to listeners as Ruairi's step-aunt Lillian Bellamy, adds: "Would she agree to protect Ruairi? Interesting one. She might, you know! Blood is thicker than water, though he’s just her step-nephew-in-law." Read more: The Archers confirmed for live 75th anniversary tour as fans can celebrate beloved radio drama Bridge Farm to be brought to life at new RHS show to celebrate The Archers' 75th anniversary Read our interviews with George, Ruairi, Alice, Brian and Lilian – or the actors who play them – in tomorrow's edition of Radio Times – subscribe here. Check out more of our Audio 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.
Beloved author Marian Keyes reveals why 'chick lit' exposes the "hollowness" of post-feminism
Marian Keyes’s novels were seen as fluffy fiction, but a new drama about her Walsh sisters is fun and fearless.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. The award-winning Irish author Marian Keyes has sold millions of books in an internationally acclaimed career, but still behaves as if she has everything to prove. A few years back she was invited to be on the BBC arts programme Imagine. Her reaction? “You’ve rung me by mistake, it’s Roddy Doyle you want.” And despite the fact that two of her novels have now been adapted into a six-part series, The Walsh Sisters – a cracking, tragicomic saga of five sisters living it large in Dublin – she still doesn’t think she deserves it. “Well, it’s 30 years since my first book was published, and things have been suggested all the time, and nothing ever gets made, and it’s the hope that kills you,” she says. “So I just never bothered expecting it, because I felt there was no point.” When I ask why she’s so down on herself, she widens her green eyes and looks directly at me. “Because I write popular fiction. People were so keen to tell me that that my voice was worthless and my books were worthless…” she shrugs. Not only does Keyes write popular fiction – albeit peppered with Shakespearean allusions and quotes from the King James Bible – but that fiction often comes with pink covers. “I have stayed the course and I have defended myself for a long time, especially with men. I mean, sexism was so rife. It was OK for men to mock books with pink covers.” The eyes get even wider. “The patriarchy was so confident. One great way of hanging on to the power and the money is to mock the things that women love. A woman might read a book and love it. And a man will say, ‘You’re not reading that pink fluff, are you?’ And immediately a woman feels foolish and embarrassed.” Keyes is charming, but there is anger just under the smiley surface. Take her first novel, Watermelon. It deals with a number of the most urgent of female issues (single parenting, the pay gap, body dysmorphia). Yet, when it was published in 1995, it was put into a pink dust jacket and filed under a new, fluffy genre, known for its pastel dust jackets and adorned with drawings of high heels and cocktail glasses. “Chick lit. It was degrading. It was meant to be degrading. What it did was ‘defang’ post-feminism,” says Keyes wearily. “We were told, ‘The second wave of feminism has ended, you can be anything you want.’ But women knew that was absolutely not the case. Women could not expect to get paid the same as men, to get promoted with the same speed as men, to be welcomed back after maternity leave, to have sex with the same freedom that men do – and not get judged. And that is exactly what so-called ‘chick lit’ was about,” she says, with scorn. “It was about the hollowness of post feminism. Slap a title like chick lit on; instantly, it’s defanged.” Indeed, it blunted the weapon she wielded. Which was? “Writing about the lives of women who were confused by a world where men still had all the power. None of that was picked up. Because of the pinkness of chick lit.” Did the pink fluffiness of the covers make her change her subject? Did it hell. “I write about women. I’m 62 now, and as I age, the women I write about get older. My focus shifts. I wish younger women well, but I can’t really relate to their lives in the same way that I used to. Now, I love the thing you have in your late 50s, of being too exhausted to care about getting your legs waxed. Or just that feeling the world won’t end if your roots are on show.” She smiles beatifically at me. She explains she hasn’t helped with the scripting by Stefanie Preissner of The Walsh Sisters. “She didn’t ask me to, and I wouldn’t have wanted to. I like writing books. And forgive me, this sounds ungrateful, but when I finished the books, the books were done. And no matter what the series is like, the books are still the books that I wrote. Secondly, I knew Stefanie. I find her fascinating and admirable. So, I thought if anybody could do it, she could. I also felt that the producers had paid for the option. It was theirs for them to do with what they liked, and that’s the deal.” No worries then? “Well, it was a risk, but you can’t do it without risk. I moved house recently, I sold my house to somebody else, and what they do with it is up to them. They gave me the money. It’s now their house.” A woman who has coped with addiction and has defined herself as an “ordinary alcoholic”, Keyes clearly has enormous strength, as well as a no-nonsense approach to the vagaries of the media. “I have used humour in the books to deal with painful subjects, and that’s a personal survival mechanism, but it’s also immensely Irish. When people told me I was crap back then, I wondered if I was, if my books were… I always knew their worth, but it was exhausting to be told, constantly, that my books counted for nothing.” Now they count in their millions, and have presumably made Keyes an extremely wealthy woman. Not that this was the plan. “My first book was published only in Ireland, set in Ireland about Irish people. I honestly thought nobody outside of Ireland would have any interest. I still can’t believe how lucky I am.” The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. The Walsh Sisters airs at 9:15pm on BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 21 February. Check out more of our Books 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. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Phil Wang transforms into the legendary horror icon Nosferatu - and reveals his top horror picks
RT’s vampiric cover star, comedian Phil Wang, explains his new-found love of horror movies, as he gets his fangs into judging Great British Menu.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Don’t let anyone tell you that Phil Wang isn’t a trouper. In a studio in south London, the amiable comedian has submitted, uncomplainingly, to two hours in the make-up chair to be transformed into Count Orlok – bloodsucking antagonist of one of his favourite films, Nosferatu: a Symphony of Horror – to help draw together the threads of RT’s horror special and his latest gig as a judge on the new, film-themed series of Great British Menu. Having been fitted with a bald cap (“like a big condom,” according to the make-up artist), slathered in grease paint and accessorised with razor-sharp nails and false teeth – Phil Fang, anyone? – the only thing our easy-going vampire draws the line at is shaving off his moustache. “I’ve got five minutes of material about it in my stand-up show,” he explains, apologetically. That’s OK, we assure him – hipster Orlok is actually quite a strong look. “I feel like I’ve unleashed an inner part of me,” says the 36-year-old, as he vamps it up for the camera. “Also, it’s nice to have a preview of what I look like bald. I think I’ve got quite a good-shaped head.” According to his self-effacing tour blurb, Wang is best known “for one series of Taskmaster, one episode of Would I Lie to You? and one minute of Wonka”. In reality, of course, he’s one of Britain’s most in-demand stand-ups, a regular TV fixture on everything from Graham Norton’s sofa to Have I Got News for You, and the star of two hit Netflix specials, Philly Philly Wang Wang and Wang in There, Baby! He also hosted the 2021 podcast series Phil Wang Hates Horror, in which comedy pals including Ed Gamble, Rose Matafeo and Nish Kumar forced him to overcome his lifelong fear of scary movies. Did it work? Judging by his current get-up, yes – even if, as we talk, he’s slightly ruining the effect by sipping peach water instead of drinking blood… What was your main takeaway from the Phil Wang Hates Horror podcast? That horror can be really fun. As heightened emotions, laughter and being scared are actually very close together. To anyone who doesn’t like horror, I’d say the best cure is definitely immersion therapy – you just have to watch lots of it. What’s your favourite horror film? Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror is obviously up there – especially the 2024 remake. I didn’t sleep for three days after watching The Babadook [2014], but it was worth it. Are films like Weapons, Sinners and Frankenstein – which are up for multiple Bafta Film Awards – proof we’re living in an age of “prestige horror”? It seems that way, and that can only be a good thing. There’s a kind of snobbery around film awards – comedy never, ever gets a look in, for example. But I think they’re finally recognising that horror is a very significant genre. Plus, horror seems to be single-handedly keeping cinemas alive, because it’s more fun as a shared experience. The new series of Great British Menu, which you’ve joined as a judge, is a celebration of great British films. I guess you’d include Wonka [2023] in that category? Of course. Paul King [director and writer] and Simon Farnaby have made some of the most beloved films of this century. Paddington 2 is a cultural behemoth. I’m in Wonka for a glorious one minute and 48 seconds [as wedding groom Colin]. It was my first day on a big movie set, and I broke my elbow falling through a table. But there was so much adrenaline surging through me, I didn’t really feel the pain. Are we calling it the greatest 1 min 48 sec in British film history? I think so. I think British film will now be separated into pre-Colin and post-Colin. In other film news, you wrote a gag for Amy Schumer at the 2022 Oscars… That was really exciting. It was the year Will Smith was nominated for King Richard, and the joke was, after years of Hollywood ignoring women’s stories, this year we finally have a movie about the incredible Williams sisters’… dad. Then it cut to Will Smith and he was laughing. At my joke! I thought that would be the most surreal moment of the night. But it wasn’t. Afterwards I was like, “Can we just skip over the slap thing? I feel like that was a really good joke earlier!” This isn’t your first Great British Menu rodeo. You were a guest judge in 2021 – when you went, in your own words, “full Asian parent”. Yeah, I was a bit mean with some of the scores. I was giving threes and fours, and the producers had to have a word, saying, “People don’t normally go below a six.” So I’ve gone in with a different attitude this time around. I get it. You’re a big foodie, aren’t you? I’m a glutton. I love foods of all different types – I love a 17-course tasting menu; I love a KFC. I’m just a pig. When I moved to the UK [Wang was born in Stoke-on-Trent to an English mother and Chinese-Malaysian father, but grew up in Borneo, before returning aged 16], the biggest culture shock was curry sauce, from a chip shop – I’d never had sweet curry glue. British food is now spectacular, though. It’s unrecognisable compared to when I moved here. And we all know how you feel about our fear of reheating rice… That was a shock. People were like, “You will die if you eat a single grain of this reheated rice.” Which is weird, because old rice is literally what you make fried rice out of. So that became a routine in my last Netflix special. I like to think I’ve started a very important dialogue. Your forthcoming stand-up tour is called Uh Oh. Should we be worried? It’s about the vibe shift in the Western world – the end of the progressive era and the lurch towards the right, politically and culturally, that’s coincided with the ageing of my millennial generation. That doesn’t sound like a laugh a minute, does it? But it is. Photography - Simon Webb @simonwebbphoto Make-up and prosthetics - Bryony Blake @bryony_blake Make-up and prosthetics - Holly Davies @hollylouisehmua Styling - Maureen Vivian @maureenstylist The latest issue of Radio Times is out on Tuesday – subscribe here. 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.
Under Salt Marsh’s Rafe Spall talks impact of nepotism in his career: "That’s called an advantage"
Balancing fatherhood and a successful screen career is challenging, but he’s trying…
What’s the view from your sofa? It’s an open-plan TV area that has the TV, obviously, and a record player with lots of records beside it. And lots of baby toys, because we have an 18-month-old. You have four children. Do you enjoy being a dad? Being a father is my proudest achievement. My kids are 14, 13, 10 and 18 months, which is quite a big stretch, and sometimes the sense of responsibility is pretty crushing. But it’s what sustains me; it’s what keeps me going. It’s really defined by what you get wrong. I get a lot wrong and I find it difficult sometimes, but I show up and I try. Looking after these kids and giving them as nice a life as I can is really the only thing of any worth I’ve ever done. Eric Bull, your character in Under Salt Marsh, has entered the pantheon of British detectives. Tell us about him. He’s awkward. Brusque. Into mushrooms. He’s a gay man – or a man who happens to be gay. A lot of that stuff was on the page, but I had free rein to decide where he was from because he needed to be not from there, not Welsh, so I decided to go West Midlands. My partner [and Trying co-star] Esther Smith is from Stourbridge, and I like the idea of the Black Country. It’s geographically close to north Wales and you don’t hear the accent much on television. Given that Bull’s been conducting his murder investigation under the threat of an almighty, evidence-destroying storm that finally hits this week, how was filming Under Salt Marsh? It was one of the most difficult pieces of shooting I’ve ever done. Given that the show is, essentially, about a storm, it meant being under rain machines from November through to March in north Wales and Cardiff – and that’s physically quite demanding. There were a lot of wetsuits involved. But we’re well paid, and it beats digging a hole in the road. Trying, your Apple TV sitcom that’s now being shown on BBC One, must be a cakewalk, comparatively? When I go home after a day of Trying, I’m much more exhausted than I would be after a day under a rain machine on Under Salt Marsh. There are three jokes on every page that need to be squeezed for every bit of juice while looking effortlessly like you’re not serving up gags – and that’s mentally taxing. It’s one of the great merits of the show that it mixes comedy capers and set pieces with real emotions. And it is also really joyful because I’m with my partner and people I’ve made it with for six years. I draw on a lot of myself for Jason so he’s quite different from Bull. View Green Video on the source website Did you always want to be an actor? For as long as I can remember, but I had an amazing role model… You refer, of course, to your dad, actor Timothy Spall. So let’s talk about nepotism. People get insecure talking about nepotism because they think that it makes them look bad, but you’ve got to be real. My dad being a famous actor definitely meant that a casting director would look at a list of potential young actors and would want to see what Timothy’s son is like, out of interest. That’s called an advantage, and compared to Esther or Kelly [Reilly, his Under Salt Marsh co-star], who didn’t have a leg-up, it’s an unfair one. Now, in my experience, it gets you through the door, but it doesn’t get you the job. Why would a film-maker who has spent years trying to get a film off the ground put someone in it that he or she didn’t think was going to be good? The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Under Salt Marsh is airing on Sky Atlantic and NOW – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.. Add Under Salt Marsh 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.
The Silence of the Lambs at 35 - Revisiting our interview with Sir Anthony Hopkins: 'I wanted to be like Richard Burton – famous as well as different'
As The Silence of the Lambs celebrates its 35th anniversary, we're resurfacing our 1994 interview with Anthony Hopkins – in which he talks about the transformative effect of his Oscar win.
This article was originally published in Radio Times magazine on 20th October 1994 It was only when he won an Oscar in 1992 for his part as Hannibal Lecter, the serial killer who cooked and ate his victims in The Silence of the Lambs, that Anthony Hopkins was convinced finally he’d become a decent actor. "After the old award came along I said to myself, 'What’s to prove now? I’ve done it'." Until then, he says, he’d wallowed in the troughs of insecurity, self-pity and alcoholism so common among our artistic brethren. Tedious stuff really. "Now I’m happy and at peace, with no axes to grind," he says. Let’s hope that isn t really true. His brilliance is drawn from the furies lurking within him and, although today in Cardiff he is the very image of self-deprecating thespian bonhomie, as well as a mixture of hauteur and vulnerability, he adds: "In a way my parts have been therapy, providing me with a great purging of my emotions. They seem to have paralleled my own development. Maybe Lecter was part of me - aloof, cold, a bit closed off. Being an actor has put some frost on my shoulder, a touch of ice in my veins. I don’t like displays of emotion and don’t trust my own because they’ve got me into trouble in the past. "I’ve become detached from life in the past ten years, which is probably why I look so calm. I don’t like being in crowds. In a strange way I’m free because I have no interests. I don’t care for sports, going to the theatre or cultural events. I don’t have many friends, hate going to dinner in other peoples’ houses, or to parties or restaurants. Food doesn’t interest me, nor does being with people for too long. I have no curiosity about anything, never have had." This makes him sound like a curmudgeonly misanthrope, a morose Celtic bore, but nothing could be further from the truth. He provides wonderful conversational entertainment – some of it true – the beguiling Welsh lilt transforming to mimic whatever actor he happens to be discussing. He says his second wife Jenni, whom he married 21 years ago, after they met when she was a production assistant on one of his films, thinks he’s strange. "But that’s the way I am," he shrugs. "At least I’m interesting to live with and keep her on her toes. My only quirk is travelling to LA and driving thousands of miles in a rented car, anywhere, sleeping in motels, talking to people, passing through their lives. It gives me a sense of freedom and adventure. It’s an aspect of myself that intrigues me. Maybe I am self-obsessed." An only child, born in Port Talbot, he was a day-dreamer, hopeless at school because he was an undiagnosed dyslexic, he thinks. "I was very frustrated I could never grasp things quickly like other kids. I was good at drawing and the piano – if I had my chances again I’d like to be a composer. I was a bit of a puzzle to my parents and teachers. They all gave up, except one who said maybe I was a bit different. I was isolated, but I look back on my childhood with great fond memories. It was all grist to the mill. Out of my so-called 'handicap' I became angry, and frustration built up in me like rocket fuel, so when I left school I was determined to show the world. Richard Burton came from the same town. I thought he was amazing and wanted to be like him – famous as well as different." His father would have preferred him to work in the family bakery. "I’d be at the piano and he’d come in with flower dust in his hair and ask what I was playing. I’d say, ‘Beethoven,' and he’d mutter 'No wonder you’re going bloody deaf.' When I told him I didn’t want to be a baker he said, 'Thank God for that. You’d be bloody hopeless.' He was a wonderful man, with that tremendous energy of the Welsh - 'sparks and smoke', he used to say. He was always on the move, and his eyes used to change colour, turn bright, bright blue, when he was excited. We had the odd argument - boom-boom! - because we were so alike. He never believed I’d grown up. "He used to ask my wife to make sure I put Brylcreem on my hair. I called him Dick – I was embarrassed to call him 'father' – and my mother Muriel. It’s much more friendly. It’s taken me a few years to come to terms with how much like him I’ve become. He died 13 years ago and it’s as if he’s come home to roost in me. I was a little sombre before his death, took things too seriously. Now I’ve developed his sense of humour. Whenever I’d do Shakespeare he’d ask, 'Any shooting in it?' or he'd say, 'Shakespeare’s nice, but you ought to be making films like Burton.' He loved films." It was his father telling him to get out of the house and do something which, fortuitously, began his acting career. "I joined the YMCA to learn snooker, was offered a small part in one of their plays and have ended up like this 40 years later. Life's a funny old process. Our paths are chosen for us in a way." He says he’s always been a bit mystical and had flashes of psychic vision. "I’ve never sat around tables with spooky people, but I used to get quite alarming insights which became a bit of a party trick. I’d describe peoples' houses to them and say they'd just had a tea stain on the table. "Then I began to see my own life running backwards. Just before I received the old Oscar I thought, 'This is odd. It's happened before,' and a thought ran through my head like an express train - 'Your father died 11 years ago tonight. You’ve got it.' I’m not a Holy Joe, but it would be supremely arrogant to believe all this is something I’ve done myself. Life is too extraordinary for me to doubt there is some peculiar power that goes through all our lives." Although he is irreverent about acting, the Oscar made him proud. "It was wonderful. This nonsense about being cynical and putting them in the lavatory is an insult. If someone is generous enough to give you an award for what they think is good work, you should be gracious "I don’t hang around with actors much and don’t know who the luvvies are or what they’re talking about. If a director tells me a film is 'going to be a journey of discovery' I’m out through the door. My approach is quite simple: I just want to be told where to stand. I don’t overburden my brain with too much material. I’m a very intuitive and physical actor. I learn my lines, show up and try not to bump into the furniture." This is said without affectation, but of course it is a lie. He reads scripts dozens of times, and then hooks on to one aspect of a character. Last year, preparing a TV film about his Welsh hero, Gwyn Thomas, he explains, "I watched videos and listened to his vocal mannerisms. Then I went to the wardrobe department and asked for a greenish jacket, brown cavalry twill trousers which were a bit too tight and suede shoes. I looked in the mirror and thought, 'That’s him.'" In Alan Parker’s new film, The Road to Wellville, opening in January, he wears protuberant false teeth which give him an uncanny performance as Dr John Kellogg, the health guru and inventor of the cornflake. He has well-known reservations about The Silence of the Lambs and now says, "It’s not wise to make films like that. There’s so much violence around. I don’t want to sound pretentious, but actors have a bit of a responsibility. I’d have to think strongly and deeply about doing a sequel. It would have been crazy of me to turn the film down at the time. I was in my usual naive state of being surprised to be offered a film in America. I’ve always been a bit like that. There is a great snobbishness in the theatre about the film business, but I don’t take any notice. I’ll go where I’m asked if it’s a good script. "I used to take anything because I thought I’d never work again, but I’m a bit more choosy now. My American agent is like a killer. He beats at producers’ doors until they increase the fee. I tell him, ‘I want to do the job,' and he says, ‘Don’t worry. I’m not satisfied with the deal.' It’s nice to make a good living because I don’t want to be insecure, but ifs ludicrous when actors are paid $15 million to do a film. What are you going to do with that money? You have to farm it out somewhere, circulate it, otherwise it destroys you. If you keep money it rots you." View Green Video on the source website He knows about Hollywood because he lived there for ten years, leaving England in 1972 after, he says, "I had a bit of a punch-up at the National. It was my own stupid idiocy. People say I was a hellraiser. I wasn’t. I was just a bloody nuisance and boring. Actors get scared, and fear causes temper. I went through a couple of awkward patches and was a bit troublesome. I never wrecked a studio like some actors, but I had a fiery temperament which used to worry me." Drink fuelled it and could have ruined his career if it hadn’t been for one day in July 1975 when he woke up in Phoenix, Arizona, having no idea how he got there. He attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and hasn’t touched a drop since. He goes to AA meetings three times a week, and says he had his last big bust-up on a set ten years ago. "I had a ferocious row with a ghastly pig of a man, a British TV director." The Silence of the Lambs and subsequent films have made him wealthy, but he says he is frugal. "I don’t want anything. I don’t need three houses and three cars. I don’t give a damn about clothes, although I’m sick of actors walking around looking filthy. I like to keep clean and fit. I drive a Renault because the dealer is round the comer. I’m not interested in holidays. Hollywood is full of people who seek power and wealth and turn into monsters. They become even more acquisitive and, strangely, tight with money. "I’m no pure angel but if you accumulate power and prestige you’ve got to have a daily checking balance where you must ask yourself, ‘Do I really need all this?' Towards the end of my time in Hollywood, the old alarm signal was set off when my agent told me they couldn’t pay as much as on my previous film. I was annoyed before I realised, ‘Hang about. The last film paid me more money than I’ve ever seen. I have a nice house and I’m becoming weird.' Hollywood is like an insect-eating plant. You sit by the pool thinking you should have more and more and it gradually closes in on you. It was then Jenny said, ‘We should go back to England.' It is Wales, though, for which he hankers and where he may one day settle. He has already bought himself a burial place at Margam Abbey, outside Port Talbot ("I feel a bit odd about that"), but it will hopefully not be needed for many, many years. Meanwhile, he has developed a motto for himself. "Ask nothing. Expect nothing. And accept everything. That gets me through. I live in a state of total non-expectation and then extraordinary things happen. I can’t run my life. I make a few little plans here and there but beyond that it is none of my business." 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.
EastEnders star reveals Chrissie Watts's Jasmine Fisher fears ahead of explosive week
Tracy-Ann Oberman speaks to Radio Times about her latest stint in the East End.
Chrissie Watts is a real force to be reckoned with. In just 226 episodes of EastEnders, actress Tracy-Ann Oberman has been afforded some of the finest dialogue in soap history, and the character is responsible for killing off one of the drama's biggest antagonists - 'Dirty' Den (Leslie Grantham). Being the successor to Anita Dobson's Angie as the second Mrs Watts is quite the task, though Oberman went into the audition relatively nerve-free, as she wasn't aware which role she was aiming for. "There was only five names down for this recall [audition], and apart from me, every single one of them was a household name," she recalled to Radio Times this week, just one day after her latest return. "I didn't know what it was for, other than being a regular character's new wife. I think at that time, Ian Beale had just got rid of another wife, and my flatmate at the time was a huge EastEnders fan, so she was really excited. "We just worked out that [Chrissie] must be Ian Beale's wife." She continued: "I was taken into the set and the casting director said, 'Just to let you know, you're going to be doing a screen test with Leslie Grantham'. I was a bit late because I had to come from a voiceover job down to Elstree. As I walked on set, Leslie said, 'Oh, you're the girl that does the voiceovers?', and I batted back, 'Are you the bloke whose character has been dead for 15 years?' AddRadio 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. "We had a really good banter between us. Within nine days, I found out that I got the part of his new wife. It was a real whirlwind. The producer at the time said that they felt me and Leslie had real chemistry, and that if Angie and Den were like Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, he was like Spencer Tracy, and I was Catherine Hepburn. "I thought, 'I'll take that.'" After almost two decades away, Oberman was back on set in 2024 for a week-long run with Sharon Watts actress Letitia Dean. The two were banged up together, conveniently on the same cell wing, and managed to settle old scores prior to Chrissie's release. She then reunited with lost love Jake Moon (Joel Beckett) before riding off into the sunset in his vintage red Jaguar. But with more story to be told, executive producer Ben Wadey invited Oberman back last Christmas, where Chrissie was revealed to be the orchestrator behind Zoe Slater's (Michelle Ryan) torment. We also discovered that things weren't exactly greener on the other side with Jake, and the two had separated. "I had such a good time going back to the prison stuff, and I knew that I was going to be working with Michelle and Kim [Medcalf], who I'd spent an enormous amount of time with in the original days, and Jessie [Wallace], so it fitted in perfectly to my theatre jobs," Oberman added. Chrissie's comeback wasn't the only talking point from the festive period. Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey) was found dead on the Queen Vic landing following a confrontation with Zoe, with it later transpiring that their estranged daughter Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness) was the murderer. Zoe has since spent time behind bars, hoping that Chrissie - who she believed to be the culprit - would be arrested. The storyline seemingly comes to somewhat of a conclusion next week, with Chrissie agreeing to lure Jasmine back to Albert Square after reuniting with Jake. "Chrissie is his fatal flaw, he can't let it go," she laughed. "They love each other dearly - they really do. They're trauma bonded, because they're each other's family. I think that she did see something in Jasmine, because she's a feisty little number. She felt very protective, in a weird way." Upcoming scenes will see Jasmine arrested following Chrissie's tip-off. The floor fell from beneath Kat Moon's (Wallace) feet when she realised her granddaughter could have manipulated everyone into believing she was the innocent party. But could Jasmine's time in the police interview room cause more upheaval for Chrissie? "I think she's worried. She's just been let out of prison and doesn't want to get into trouble with the police. She served 20 years for good reason. "I think she's really nervous that this Jasmine, in her own idiot savant way, could get her banged up again. I don't think she feels any particular loyalty to anyone in The Square, but I think seeing Sam and Zoe, has brought up a lot of stuff for her. "I don't think she owes Kat anything. She just thinks: 'What this child's gonna do or say, could absolutely ruin my life.'" Whether or not there's a future for Chrissie and Jake in Walford remains to be seen. Oberman is currently preparing for her next role as Geri Essendine in a reimagined version of Noël Coward's Present Laughter. "It's one of the funniest plays I've ever read," she beamed, "I really can't wait for audiences to see it, because if you love Chrissie, you'll love this character." She will meet also The King on Tuesday - to be presented with an MBE, an accolade she was bestowed during his Birthday Honours. Oberman laughed: "I was really surprised. I thought I had a parking fine because it comes in a really official-looking brown envelope. I was really delighted to find out that I've got an MBE. "But Chrissie cannot get away from The Square. She keeps coming back. There's something about that place." Read more: 5 EastEnders spoilers next week: Shock arrest made after Anthony Trueman's funeral, as Max Branning professes his feelings EastEnders' Kat Moon and Vicki Fowler make risky move to secure Zoe's freedom in BBC iPlayer release EastEnders reveals Mark Fowler Jr's secret and surprise connection to Walford local in BBC iPlayer release EastEnders airs dark Ravi Gulati scenes amid revenge story in early BBC iPlayer release Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. Add EastEnders 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 Soaps 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.
Rick Astley takes poignant look back on his career, Bond songs and future hopes: "I'm just getting more emotional as I get older"
Performing is "still the most special thing".
There are a few candidates to be the nicest guy in music, but Rick Astley is surely up there. The Lancashire-born singer-songwriter is a quintessential voice of the 1980s, and the immortality of his biggest song Never Gonna Give You Up will forever guarantee him a place in the annals of pop history. Following years of hiatus, Astley returned for the 21st century with a renewed sparkle, killer vocals and still one fantastic head of hair, winning legions of new fans. Whether it's taking Glastonbury by storm or heading out on acclaimed tours and still producing new records, Astley is now a confirmed national sweetheart. Now, Astley has sat down for an emotional instalment of Dermot O'Leary's Reel Stories, looking back at footage of his career, and it left him feeling sentimental. Speaking with Radio Times for the release of Reel Stories and ahead of his much-anticipated 2026 live tour in the UK and Ireland, Astley discussed his career, aspirations for the future, and, of course, what he's watching on TV. So, Rick, you took part in Dermot O'Leary's Reel Stories. Have you managed to see it yet? "I was there on the day! I don't know whether I want to see it again. It was a really enjoyable thing to do, but it was a bit emotional as well. And I think that didn't completely catch me by surprise. Have you seen George Clooney's new movie [Jay Kelly]? Some similarities with that, where someone plonks you down in a cinema and then just goes like, 'These are some of the best bits of your life.' "So it was pretty emotional. I think I'm more emotional about the last few years than I was when I was young, to be honest; when it was all kind of kicking off. Because it's a long time, for one thing, and my memories of it are pretty strong in certain ways, but they're also probably filtered for the good and the bad. So, whereas the most recent stuff is kind of a bit easier to relate to, I'm just getting more emotional as I get older. It's as simple as that." Do you think that's also because you appreciate those experiences more now? When you're younger, lots of things just happen to you, and it's very fast-paced, and you kind of don't really take stock... "You don't. And I also don't know if this might be a bit heavy...[you] kind of just get a lot closer to death every year. And you think, 'OK, well, you better start digging into some of these moments', and I've been doing that. Most of my friends are of a certain age – around my age, a bit older – and you're just kind of beginning to think, 'OK, well, for one, this may be the last time we ever do X.' And now, every time I do it, this time, I'm 100 per cent involved. "Because when you're young, you just do, and so you should, for God's sake. I've always said music is a young person's game anyway, and I still think it is. It's vitally important that the new artists come through and kind of push the older ones aside, me included, and go, 'This is where it's at.' "But as you get older, you do learn to appreciate those moments where you were in it, and you were right in the heat of the fire and all of that. And you think about some of the things that have happened in the last 10 years, which have been sort of unbelievable, and you would never have dreamt could have come round again. I've just hung on a bit tighter and gone, 'Yeah, I can appreciate what that actually is.'" I was going to say, I think it's great how strong your voice still is. Like, really strong voice. Really good hair! Not a lot of of men can say that. What do you think that is – just sheer luck? "I think it's luck. I mean, I never got into doing drugs. I love a glass of wine. I love a couple of beers, but I've never been, a big drinker generally. Well, certain nights I am, but I'm not one of those people who's out on the road, five of us in the bar at 2am, and we're going to be dragged out by a tour manager. "The first proper tour I went on, you suddenly realise you can't do this and do the partying thing as well, not if you're the singer. The bass player and drummer can get away with it, but if you're the singer, forget it, because you just can't sing the day after properly. I've been at a certain festival where a certain artist didn't come and play, and then two days later, you realise, well, that's because they were up at four o'clock in the morning in some club in wherever. "I've been kind of responsible about it, which sounds a bit un-rock 'n' roll and boring, but it's like, believe me, when you're about to go on stage, the last thing you want to be thinking is, why did I cane it last night?'" Another thing people have always really liked about you is that you've not shunned the fact you had such an iconic song quite early in your career – when some people would get really funny about it. Has your relationship with Never Gonna Give You Up changed at all over the years? "It probably has, to be honest. When I was 27, I closed the lid and went, 'Yeah, probably don't have to sing that ever again. That's OK if I don't sing that song ever again'. Not in a kind of like, 'I hate it' way, I don't mean that. I just sang it a lot. "I mean, I was so lucky to have that song, and as the decades have gone by, that's become more apparent. But even at the time, I was thinking, 'Well, it's amazing we've got that song, but it would also be amazing if we could ever get past it.' And I realised after a few years, you're never going to do that. That's the biggest song you're ever going to have. Because it was just a monster out of a cave. I mean, it just came roaring out, and it was a bit of a phenomenon. "I would kind of chase that song around the world. I've said this before, I've been to places that I never thought I'd ever go in my whole life. You go, 'Oh, I get it. I'm already famous. Yeah, famous here. I haven't set foot in the place. I've not spoken to one journalist yet, and I'm already famous. I'm walking through the airport, and people are going, 'Oh!' That's a weird thing to digest at the age of 21." In light of your success in recent years following your hiatus, are there any remaining dreams or aspirations that you've got? "I've done a bunch of swing shows in the last few years. I just really like doing it. I've got a great group of people who do it with me, but it's just a gorgeous thing to do. It's really good fun. And when I think about certain places in the world that I've been to do my everyday gigs, I've kind of thought, 'Oh my God, this would be amazing to do a swing thing here, it's on a lake, for God's sake!' "Listen, loads of people do it. And I think there's a reason for that. When you stand in front of a big band or even an orchestra and sing some of those songs that our generation of parents loved and grew up with, and have now just become part of the super music, they genuinely believe that was their music. So as a kid, my dad sang those songs around the house. And I know them all because of my dad, not because of Frank Sinatra, really. I know them because of my dad. "And I think someone like RAYE, who has that in her locker, the whole orchestral thing, and it's kind of glamorous, you know? I'm like, 'Wow, that is amazing!' Because she's young, she's in the white heat of her career, but she can press that button quite strongly, and it's like, 'Oh, my god, she could have been around in the '50s!' That's what's beautiful about the way she does certain things. She kind of transcends the age of it, because she's in a moment of her own. Whereas when you see an old bugger like me doing it, it's like, well, it's just an old guy singing songs his dad likes! It's a different thing." If she did an album of old classic standards, would you feature, if you could? "She's got a few people knocking on her door, I think! I'll definitely go to the gig, I'll tell you that." RAYE is one of the favourites to sing a Bond song. Would you do a Bond song if you could? "I think most people would do it, to be honest. I think it's big boots to fill. There's been some amazing ones over the years. I think the Sam Smith one was great as well. I think the Billie Eilish one was great, obviously. Adele's one was really good. "Adele's one, for some reason, a friend of mine, we were on a road trip across America, we weren't even working, we just did it for a laugh, and it was on the radio all the time, and for some reason, he started singing 'A trifle and apple crumble' instead of Skyfall. So now, whenever that song comes on, all I can sing is, 'A trifle and an apple crumble.' I'm like, 'Steve, for God's sake. Why did you do that? Because I love that song (laughs).' "I think they've always been really good at marrying that thing together, that the song has all the atmosphere of Bond. I don't think they've ever really screwed that up yet. So I think anyone would do it, to be honest, but I think there's probably about 1,000 people in front of me to get that job, and that's OK, that's all right." You've got your own live tour coming up in 2026. How are you feeling about going back on the road? "I'm still getting a genuine buzz about it, and I feel there is no substitute for that. Hit records are amazing, and the only reason I'm getting to talk to you today is that I had that record in 1987, but in terms of the reward of it, you hang around all day in a pretty crappy dressing room most of the time, doing nothing, eating something you don't really want to eat, because it's like, 'Well, I can't have dinner, so I'm just going to eat a little bit of this.' And after all that nonsense to just go on stage and the moment that the lights go down, you go, 'Oh yeah, I remember now. I get it now.' It's still the most special thing." On the subject of film, music biopics are all the rage right now. Have you ever thought about someone playing you, if that were ever to happen? "I mean, in my twenties or whatever, even though he's a bit older than that, it's Jack Lowden from Slow Horses. I saw him actually in a play some months ago. He was incredible in it – really, really amazing. And I like him on screen, but it needs someone with a bit of Celtic in them, because of my hair and all this. And he's got great hair, so obviously it's all about the hair. And he's a handsome devil as well. So, what can you do? You've got to punch up, haven't you?" Finally, Rick, as we are Radio Times, what TV shows could you never give up, which have never let you down, and which could you never desert? "I'd say Match of the Day. "I think back in the day, Top of the Pops was exactly what it should have been. It was a bit preposterous doing it, but as a viewer, it was amazing. It was exactly what it needed to be. It was short and punchy and like, 'This is what's happening right now in the UK pop chart.' "Slow Horses has been pretty exceptional. Every now and again, a TV show gives the world of movies a bit of a kicking, and it says, 'Are you guys watching?' Some of the best acting and directing and all the rest of it. And, obviously, the budgets are up there now for a lot of those shows, so they look great, and they're directed really well. "I think that has been amazing. That's never really been one where I've watched an episode and gone (grimaces). I've really loved that show. Gary Oldman, obviously, is just incredible. But the whole cast is fantastic in it." This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Dermot O'Leary's Reel Stories with Rick Astley is available now on BBC iPlayer. Tickets for Rick Astley's The Reflection Tour are now available. Check out more of our Audio 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.
Pixar at 40: from Toy Story, to sequels and tackling the AI boom
Chief creative officer Pete Docter, Pixar's third-ever animator, explains how the company continues to evolve, while keeping its heart.
You wouldn’t know it now, but Pixar Animations Studios began small, so small that its chief creative officer reflects, “I'm not sure exactly why I went to Pixar.” Peter Docter says, “I'd always grown up thinking, ‘I'm going to work at Disney. Someday, I'm going to draw Mickey Mouse.’ Then instead, I went to this place that no one had heard of... literally no one.” The same cannot be said today, of course, as the award-winning company responsible for beloved films including Toy Story, Monsters, Inc, Ratatouille, WALL•E, Cars, A Bug’s Life and Inside Out celebrates its 40th anniversary this month. In 1979, George Lucas hired Ed Catmull to head Lucasfilm’s Computer Division, which in 1982 completed the first fully computer-animated scene in a feature film for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In 1986, Steve Jobs purchased the Computer Division from Lucas and officially founded Pixar as an independent company, made up of about 40 employees. In 1988, the short film Tin Toy was released and it became the first computer-animated film to win an Oscar in 1989. Docter joined in 1990 at the age of 21 after graduating from CalArts (California Institute of the Arts), where he studied character animation, as Pixar’s third-ever animator. He began animating and directing adverts, including his work on Listerine’s “Boxer”. “Friends of mine from CalArts were working on The Little Mermaid and I was animating happy products bouncing, thinking, ‘This is a waste of time,’” Docter says, but it was good practice for what was to come. “It's actually surprising how much story you can tell in 30 seconds, so it was very instructive. It was also fast, so if you hated one commercial, you’d wait a couple of weeks and be on to the next one.” It wouldn’t be long before he started working on Toy Story (which evolved out of Tin Toy), contributing to story and character development and serving as supervising animator. “Steve [Jobs] put up with us losing basically a million dollars a month before Toy Story. Frankly, I think he was distracted working on [computer company] NeXT, and then ultimately Apple, and he wasn't really paying attention that we were burning through his cash. The fact he stayed with it was pretty monumental.” A lot of studios passed on Toy Story until the Walt Disney Company agreed to produce it. “I never really considered that other people would see it, which sounds absurd, but I remember driving and seeing a billboard for Toy Story and being stunned, like it didn't really compute that it was going to be rolled out to the world,” Docter says. “I was surprised by how many people afterwards said, ‘I thought my toys came to life too when I wasn't in the room.’ I think the reason it worked was probably because it had that central conceit, and then it had fun, entertaining characters. Plus, the voice talent we had and the animators.” Toy Story was the first feature-length computer-animated film, and its fifth instalment will be released on 19 June, where Bonnie’s toys (Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, Rex, Hamm, Forky and the gang) are cast off in favour of a tablet called Lilypad. Although in Toy Story 4, Woody became a “lost toy” living with Bo Peep and helping carnival toys find new homes, he’s summoned back for a toys vs tech face-off. Coming up with new ideas for the franchise becomes harder and harder each time, Docter admits. “We want to make sure we're exploring stuff that we haven't already talked about. We've explored different facets of the toy world, including what it’s like to play with a kid and what's it like to be collected and preserved. I'm hoping there's more out there. “It's rare that you get a character like Woody that does seem to unfold and reveal these different layers. Other characters don't seem to have that depth, and I don't know where that comes from.” After Toy Story, Docter recalls Jobs saying, “The thing I'm most worried about is our second movie, because you can do it once, and maybe you're lucky, but to do it twice shows that it's more than luck – you have the skills and the talent to be able to do it.” Pixar’s sophomore effort was 1998’s A Bug’s Life. “The fact that came out and did well is huge.” As well as skills and talent, the success also likely lies in how much heart is put into Pixar’s films in the first place. “As an animator, I was working on this shot of Woody. He's used to being on the bed, which is sort of the throne, and he's dethroned as Buzz is put up there. He comes crawling out from underneath the bed, and he looks around at all the other toys and says, ‘It's nothing, just some cake and ice cream. It's a mistake.’ I was thinking, ‘What's going on in his head?’ “I used to be the star animator, then there were these young guys coming in, dethroning me, so that sense of jealousy I was able to tap into, like, ‘Oh, of course, I'm going to brush it off, pretend like it's no big deal,’ which is what I did. Even if the story is not about you in big or small ways, I think it’s the job of the artist to say, ‘This is coming from a place in my heart,’ and that shows up on the screen.” Docter is the Oscar-winning director of Monsters, Inc (2001), Up (2009), Inside Out (2015) and Soul (2024), all films that very much contain elements of himself. The character of Riley Anderson from Inside Out was inspired by his own daughter Elie. “Growing up, Elie was goofy, funny, full of life, and then there was a parent-teacher conference at school and they said, ‘Elie’s a quiet child’ and we were like, ‘Who are you talking about?’ She had hit that age of being self-aware, and everything changes. I remembered that as myself growing up, and that really became the core of that movie: what happens to that childhood joy?” The origins of Up came from Docter directing Monsters, Inc. “Nobody told me that directors don't actually do anything, they just go around and talk to people. By the end of the day, I'd be curled up in a ball under my desk, wanting to get away from everything, floating away in a house and feeling a little bit like Carl, like, ‘Just go away. I'm gonna slam the door and stay in my house.’ There's a lot of days that I feel like that.” Docter also voices the giant, flightless, quirky bird Kevin. “That was just out of desperation, because we couldn’t find the right sound in the bird library of sound effects, so I would make whatever noises!” Four decades on, how does Pixar strike that balance of returning favourites and new stories? Docter, who has been the chief creative officer of Pixar since 2018, says, “We try to listen to the audience. We're making these movies kind of for ourselves, but of course, for the audience. What's funny is, when you talk to people, they're like, ‘We want new stuff,’ but then their behaviour and the box office sales show that people really want to see movies with characters they know and love. We try to deliver both. “People still want to see characters that seem reflective of their own lives and that experience things that we are all going through as human beings. Even though it's bugs or fish or cars or whatever, it's us up there, and that's continued to be the same.” View Green Video on the source website Docter believes there’s always more to explore. “Working on Inside Out, I said I would love for the movie to end, and for people to say, ‘Wow, that was a huge world and I feel like I only saw this much of it.’ There's amazing worlds that go on for years in there, so there's more to play with there. Monsters, Inc was a great world to play in. What does a monster forest look like, or a mountain? We didn't get to explore any of that. Maybe someday… “On a number of films, we’ve thought, ‘What if?’ Then you go in and you realise you’re retelling the same story or it's leading somewhere that just doesn't feel interesting, so we close the door on it. It's got to earn its keep.” While Toy Story 5 fully engages our nostalgia, new film Hoppers, released on 6 March, ticks the newness box, while maintaining the great characters, story, and emotional depth we’ve come to expect from a Pixar movie. When scientists discover a way to transform human consciousness into robotic animals, teenager Mabel “mind-hops” into a robotic beaver to protect a threatened wildlife habitat. Interestingly, both Hoppers and Toy Story 5 deal with technology in different ways, and technology has changed drastically since the start of Pixar, even just in how computers have progressed. “We couldn’t have dreamed of doing the hair and the fur from Monsters, Inc, on Toy Story. Then, with Finding Nemo and the water. Today, we don't really consider the technical restrictions. We just know the wizards we work with can do anything we need.” In 1995, it took an average frame of Toy Story seven hours to render, and in 2008, the average time it took to render a frame on faster machines was under one minute. Now, Docter explains that they use AI to complete renders, but it saves time without robbing anyone of their creative abilities. “AI is a prickly topic, even at Pixar, a technology company,” says Docter, “Artists and people are angry, scared, intrigued and very interested – it’s a wide range. We've approached it with curiosity, a sense of play, and what we can use it for. How can we make what we do better, more creative, more deep and more human? Because that's the danger – when you see stuff online, it feels eerily soulless. I don't think people are going to be satisfied and we certainly are not going to be, so we’re looking at it as a new tool to augment the skills of the artist. “AI is going to be disruptive in the way we work. The hope would be we can use it on background characters and sets that don’t matter as much so we can focus on the important stuff in the foreground. We can use it to do the boring stuff, so we can do the exciting stuff – to generate things that visually you've not ever seen before. "Based on how much people are watching and how much is available at any time, there's going to be a great premium placed on new stuff that somehow is unlike anything you've seen.” Pixar did it with Toy Story in 1995, and they’re sure to do it in 2026, and beyond.
Suda51 says Grasshopper staff are "funky in the head," as he explains Romeo Is a Dead Man development
Suda51 has cultivated a very Suda51 staff under him.
Anyone who has ever played a Suda51 game knows in their heart that this is a man who operates on another level to most of us. It is, therefore, hardly a surprise that the staff who work under him at Grasshopper Manufacture embody the same guiding principles, according to the man himself. During Romeo Is a Dead Man's recent press tour, we managed to convince Suda to visit our office, whereupon we interviewed him while cooking him a katsu curry, as one does. One prominent aspect of the game that becomes clear early on is the sheer dearth of minigames available, from growing seeds into the zombie-like Bastards and navigating Pac-Man-style mazes to, of course, cooking katsu curry. And the reason behind this is that Suda has seen fit to let loose the Grasshopper team on Romeo – a team that is just as off-kilter as he is. "A lot of the staff at Grasshopper are a bit, kind of funky in the head, I guess you could say," he noted. "Also, a lot of them seem to have this strange sort of motivation, thinking, 'OK, if I don't come up with something really weird, or come up with something kind of out of left field, then Suda's not going to OK it. So, I've got to come up with something just really weird, and something that nobody else would think of.' "One of them came up to me with this idea for, "Hey, let's have katsu curry, and you could actually make it and then when you eat it, Romeo gets powered up,' and I was like, 'Yeah, OK!' That's pretty much how it came to be." Beyond this, the fact that Grasshopper has such a small, but diversely talented team drove Romeo to platform all sorts of different art styles, from realistic combat scenes to a pixel art hub world and comic book exposition. "We're not a huge studio, we're not like a big AAA studio," Suda explained. "We're relatively small. Currently, we only have about 50 people on staff. "To be honest, we can't spend a whole lot of money, and so luckily, I've got a lot of experience in, and I feel I'm pretty good at making games that use different art styles, different visual styles. "When it came time to decide, OK, how are we going to make this game, how are we going to be able to afford to make this game, I thought, instead of doing full-on, all polygon, full 3D graphics, let's just mix up a bunch of different art styles and do the stuff that each individual member is good at and kind of mix that together. "That's how we got that super cool-looking, super awesome game, Romeo Is a Dead Man." Romeo Is a Dead Man is out now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. View oEmbed on the source website 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.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight producer talks Arkham inspiration and Easter eggs
"I can't think of anything that was off the table." That's what Matt Ellison told us, when we spoke to the LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight executive producer at the Gamescom conference last year. You can see our whole chat with Ellison in the video player above (or on YouTube) and it’s also available on the Radio Times Gaming podcast feed. Boasting seven playable characters, with over 100 suits between them — including Ellison’s personal favourite, the Rainbow Suit — it certainly doesn’t look like Traveller’s Tales (TT) are holding back with LEGO Batman 4. "We've drawn from so many things," Ellison revealed. "There are so many different Easter eggs and references. I don't think anyone knows all of them. "And yeah, there's been very little that people have said no to. If it exists in DC and is familiar for Batman, I think it was fair game. So we've put in as much as we can, and there are things everywhere as you explore. "Through Gotham, round every corner there's a different billboard or a different shop, and all of these things include references to various different things. Some of them are really subtle, some of them are a bit more obvious, but there's lots of things that fans of Batman will enjoy." View oEmbed on the source website Indeed, fans of Batman have noticed all sorts of things in the trailers, with nods appearing not just to movies and comics, but also previous games starring Gotham’s Caped Crusader. As Ellison admitted, "We very much took inspiration from other games, particularly the Arkham series. "When we were looking at what we wanted to do in this game, we were looking at, 'What can we improve?' And combat is something where… It was an area we thought we could improve. And [Arkham developers Rocksteady] did a fantastic job of what they did [in combat]. "So, we got that as sort of a template, and then, [we looked at] what can we do for this game to make it slightly more accessible, so that younger players can get into it as well. So, there's some things that we've simplified. "Of course, we also have this game in local co-op, as well. So, figuring out how that combat works when there's two players involved in it, [is] something we've had to consider and work in. "But we are really pleased with how it is all coming together, and people seem to be loving it when they're playing it. So, we're delighted with how it's been perceived." In a lengthy hands-on session with the game, we got to explore the open-world Gotham City and play through a co-op mission involving Batman and Commissioner Gordon investigating ACE Chemicals. Both facets of the game impressed us, feeling like a cross between the Arkham franchise and what you’d usually expect from the studio that most recently delivered the 2022 smash hit LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. "Gotham is big and it's very dense," Ellison told us after the demo. "There's more verticality than we've ever had before. We filled it with puzzles, we filled it with secrets. There's something around every corner. "If you wait a few minutes, there'll be a random crime going off for you to go in stock and then something will appear somewhere else. So, you've got to go off and investigate that. "So, there's content around every corner and lots of puzzles and different challenges and things to collect. So, all of that gameplay is going to be in there, and there's hours of content there." Fans of British TV rejoiced upon hearing Toast of London star Matt Berry in the game’s reveal trailer, voicing the villainous Bane. How did that come about? Ellison recalled, "I think it was just a suggestion from someone, and we asked, and it worked out. So, we were really pleased with that. We had a lot of fun with him in the session when we recorded all the lines. And so far, people have only heard one, so there's plenty more to come, and yeah, we're really delighted with how that worked out." And how is the rest of the cast shaping up? Are there any other familiar voices? "I'm not sure if they're familiar voices," Ellison admitted. "There'd be some people you recognise. There's a couple of things that we haven't announced yet, so I can think of a couple that are quite interesting, and a couple of surprises, but I'm not going to reveal too much yet. "I will say, on the subject, we have said that Shai Matheson is going to be our Batman in this game. And he's done a really great job of portraying Batman in a way that really suits this game. "So, as you play through the game, Batman starts off young, and as he goes through the story, time passes and he sort of evolves and sounds more mature as he goes through the game. So, that's something that his performance has been able to bring to this, and [that] is unique to this game." For a game that clearly has no shortage of influences to nod and wink towards, that unique idea of an ageing Batman could be the most intriguing element. We’re certainly looking forward to playing more and seeing how Ellison's team have managed to weave all this lore into one experience. Watch this space, Bat-fans! LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight launches 29th May for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, with a Switch 2 launch to follow. You can order your copy now. Read more on upcoming games: Why High on Life 2 added skateboarding, explained Scott Pilgrim EX creators "wouldn't call it a traditional beat 'em up" Directive 8020 boss promises "a huge leap forward for the series" Resident Evil Requiem preview: Remixing the greatest hits 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.
Open All Hours creator reveals of his legendary sitcom: "It would never happen again"
Sir Roy Clarke on his important lunch with Ronnie Barker, a pairing made in comedy heaven and the gift of an idea.
Fifty years ago this month, a little corner store opened for business. Quintessentially northern but universally popular, Open All Hours was a hit for its stars and spawned a successful sequel, but in fact the bell above Arkwright’s door first tinkled in a pilot episode three years before in 1973. RT was lucky enough to gain a rare interview with its creator, Sir Roy Clarke... Last of the Summer Wine, Keeping Up Appearances and Open All Hours are just three of the hit shows that have kept Roy Clarke busy over the years. And so beloved are those comedies that he was recently appointed a Knights Bachelor for services to entertainment. Did the recent honour come as a surprise? “You can bet your bottom dollar!” says Clarke, 96. But what of the other birthday boy, Open All Hours: how did that come about? “The BBC put Ronnie and I together for a lunch to see if we could come up with something,” explains Clarke, “and in the course of that, Ronnie said, ‘I’ve always wanted to play one of these small shopkeepers.’ Well that clicked for me because my wife’s father was a grocer, she was raised in the trade, and when we were first married she ran a little shop, so I was comfy with the material and I went away quite happy with working on that.” The show was created specifically for Ronnie Barker for his 1973 comedy anthology series Seven of One, which also gave rise to Porridge. There was a three-year gap between pilot and series, so why the long wait? “Well, it was always Ronnie’s commitments.” As well as The Two Ronnies, Barker was also becoming established as “habitual criminal” Norman Stanley Fletcher in said cell-mate sitcom. So in Open All Hours, his skinflint shopkeeper Albert Arkwright, paired with David Jason as his naive nephew Granville, was a comedy dream come true. “It would never happen again,” says Clarke. “David happened to be just starting in his fame. At no other stage in time would it have been possible to have two stars of that magnitude in one show. So that was a huge bonus for me.” The team wasn’t quite complete, however. Nurse Gladys Emanuel, the focus of Arkwright’s permanent infatuation, was played in the pilot by Sheila Brennan and only subsequently by Lynda Baron. “The production didn’t think it worked, so they recast. Absolutely nothing to do with me.” It's not the only thing to change after that first instalment. Outside scenes of Arkwright's shop were initially filmed in Ealing, west London, but afterwards in Balby near Doncaster. The foundation was now in place for four series of fun, with ardent Arkwright constantly rebuffed by no-nonsense Nurse Gladys, and wet-behind-the-ears Granville perpetually thwarted in his own dating games by his accident-prone nature. It’s a tribute to Clarke that so many pre-fame actors queued up to play customers on the show, including Yootha Joyce (George and Mildred), John Challis (Only Fools and Horses), Liz Dawn (Coronation Street) and Barbara Flynn (A Very Peculiar Practice). “That was part of the gift of the idea, that in effect with the shop you’ve got a theatre. You’ve got the two regulars, Ronnie and David, keeping things always on a comedy level, then you’ve got your customers walking in. It was like old variety acts coming in, doing their turn and then going off again. It was a wonderful gift. “I think Ronnie, when he said that’s what he wanted to do, he sussed that, somehow. The instinct was there, telling him it was a good idea.” In fact, Clarke wrote another pilot for that springboard series Seven of One. It was called Spanner's Eleven and followed the misfortunes of a terrible football club. "Yeah, we won’t talk much about that!" he laughs. Open All Hours mixed slapstick, verbal dexterity and end-of-pier gags, as well as a smidgen of melancholy in Arkwright's end-of-episode ruminations. The show ran for four series and 26 episodes, until 1985. So what were some of Clarke's comedy inspirations, growing up? "I loved George Formby. I liked the American humour, I liked Crazy Gang and that sort of stuff." Clarke famously wrote all his early scripts in longhand. "I did. I used to when I had a legible hand, because typewriters in those days... I mean, if you had to make an alteration it was a huge labour. With pencil, at least you could soon scrub out and rewrite in a balloon or something, so it was easier." The show's “hero”, miserly, crotchety Arkwright, could easily have been unlikeable, so Clarke and Barker gave him a stutter. “For which I make no apology," says Clarke, "because he was big enough to handle that. In fact, he was so big a character, I think, Arkwright needed a little flaw. "Without a little humanity he would have been an appalling character, and that’s one of the wonders of people like Ronnie Barker that his decency came through, even with the terrible bloody things I gave him to do!” The decision to revive the show for Still Open All Hours in 2013 was a brave one, bearing in mind Barker’s death in 2005, but it was upheld by more than 13 million tuning in, and the show running for six series and 41 episodes – longer even than the original programme. “You tamper fearfully with a success,” says Clarke, “and it could have gone badly, but again, with David, you’ve got the talent that rescues it." Jason's turn as Granville, taking over the store following Arkwright’s death, was another winner for Clarke. It brought back running characters such as Wavy Mavis (Maggie Ollerenshaw) and Mrs Featherstone the "Black Widow" (Stephanie Cole), and introduced viewers to more comedy royalty in the shape of Brigit Forsyth, Johnny Vegas, Tim Healy, Sally Lindsay, Nina Wadia and others. In many ways it overcame Barker's absence by making his presence strongly felt. "Yes we did, that was deliberate. His photo was always there, and his presence was pretty huge, I think." Not to mention Arkwright's famous snapping shop till. "Of course," laughs Clarke. Although the BBC axed Still Open in 2023, Clarke has written a coda for the show in a documentary about Open All Hours and its legacy, to air on U&Gold later this year. "It's not a script really, it’s a piece to finish off the documentary, and it kind of winds it up." Two of his biggest successes, Open All Hours and Last of the Summer Wine, are both comic portrayals of northern life, but Clarke views them as separate entities: "Summer Wine is all expansive and hillsides and things, the shop’s a tiny theatre. And they both worked." Favourite episodes? “I liked Ronnie and the nurse going to a wedding... I like the funeral one, too, with Ronnie putting the buns in the hearse. But I like most of them, to be honest. It was such a pleasure working with that talent.” An official biography of Roy Clarke, Writing All Hours by Andrew T Smith, will be published by Ten Acre Books later this year. Roy Clarke Remembers... is on BBC Four on Tuesday 10 February at 7:30pm and afterwards on BBC iPlayer. 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Felicia Day reveals The Guild movie update, as musical version lands in London
"Next year is the 20th anniversary of The Guild."
Felicia Day’s iconic web series The Guild is transferring to the London stage for one week only, having been transformed into a musical! And beyond that, Day is planning a Guild movie. In our latest Arcade Hang interview, we got the chance to ask Day how exactly The Guild's unlikely transition into musical theatre happened, as well as hearing from her co-star in the musical, Anjali Bhimani. “The Guild: The Musical is so exciting,” Day told us in the interview, which you can watch right now in the video player above (or over on YouTube). Day continued: “I'm just like a girl who works on my instinct, and about six years ago, two playwrights who were in a playwriting workshop were like, 'Hey, we wrote a song for The Guild as part of our workshop. Can we option it?' “And I was like, 'Let me listen to the song.’ Because I grew up on musicals. I was home-schooled, and the reason I'm an actor is because I did musicals across the Southeast, as like, Orphan Number Seven. So I was excited about it, and I loved their song, and I was like, 'Okay, let's do it'. “So I let them option it, and of course, I get sucked in more and more, and I become a producer, and I work with them. They're scrappy, New York actors, and they're so good, and it's taken so long. We did a reading in LA and I was able to get Dean Johnson, this amazing, very established London director on board and now we're doing it.” At the time of writing, there are only a few tickets left for The Guild: The Musical’s week of London shows, and you can find them on The Other Palace website right now. It’s running from Tuesday until Thursday this week, in a work in progress state. View oEmbed on the source website Explaining where The Guild musical fits in the series, Day explained: “The musical kind of takes a lot from the first and second seasons, and exorcises some things that I'm like, ‘Whoa.’ “When I watch my first work, I'm like, ‘That is not a joke I would tell now, thank you very much’. There are some dated things about it. And it's nice to be able to have that sort of edit, and also maturity, and also have somebody else take the reins. Looking back on the origins of the web series, Day said: “ The roots of The Guild are that I wanted to show mainstream people… like, I love creating bridges for things, you know? “The Guild was showing the world that, as a female, I can play a game, and this is the reality of gaming, and not the cliche of gaming that every time up until then, even now… I'm sure all of us have watched gaming shows. Again, it just reinforces the stereotype. “That may not be reality to me. Reality to me is The Guild. We are all from different backgrounds, different ages, different sensibilities, and yet this thing brings us together.” And what’s it like, after all these years, for Day to step back into the role of Codex (aka Cyd) and revisit that era of her life? “ I had a terrible anxiety disorder," Day recalled, “which actually caused me to do The Guild. You know, I was a very semi-successful actor in that I would go and I'd test for so many TV series". “I would be second choice, always, and I would choke. People would want me to go, but my anxiety disorder, which was undiagnosed at the time, was so all encompassing that I would choke every time. “But it's been an amazing process to learn about myself, to be gentler, and I think my anxiety disorder disorder did get me so far, because The Guild was made with nothing. “I did the website, we did a PayPal button on the website, that I made, to actually fund the second season. It was before Kickstarter was invented. “There were no resources for creators back then. I would have to be like, ‘I wanna do this’, and we'd have to somehow source it and it would be janky and we'd have to do so much work.” Day added: “My philosophy is like, I'm just trying to enjoy myself, and Codex is a great character and just like slipping into her is like slipping into an old skin of somebody who needed a lot of help. “But that's kind of what the show is about. About somebody who's in a bad place. Who needs to build functional relationships around her. And through her online world, she's able to do that.” “What really drives the story is the connection between all of the characters and how they are using games, not to disconnect, but to connect,” Day continued. “And I think that's something that a lot of people, particularly older generations, don't necessarily understand. It is a real boon that we have, in the gaming community, is that people actually get to connect and become more human because they get a chance to connect with other humans.” And with this run of London shows only lasting a brief week, what’s next after this? As Day told us: “ Next year is the 20th anniversary of The Guild, which is insane, so the aim was always… two years ago, I was like, ‘Well, for the 20th anniversary I want the movie to be out, the reunion movie, and I want this play to be staged’. “And so we're doing a crowdfunding this summer for the movie. It's already written. I'm already planning. And I'm hoping that we get to fundraise and get to do the movie and have the play out there at the same time.” As we hear more about that movie, we’ll be sure to let you know! And if you’re free this week, head over to The Other Palace website to grab your tickets for The Guild: The Musical. See more Arcade Hang interviews on YouTube: Devora Wilde talks Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 future Neil Newbon talks Dungeons & Dragons & Dramas Karlach actor Samantha Béart talks Baldur's Gate 3 and more House of the Dragon star Abubakar Salim chats Dead Take Glenn Moore, Sarah Keyworth and Pierre Novellie talk Button Boys podcast 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.
Meet the BBC's last reporter remaining in Russia: "It feels like we're in the eye of the storm"
The BBC's Russia editor Steve Rosenberg admits the last four years have tested his optimism, but he has no intention of abandoning the country he loves.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Steve Rosenberg is the BBC’s Russia editor, and the broadcaster’s only reporter left in the country. Over more than 30 years of living in Moscow, he has experienced the Communist and Boris Yeltsin eras, Vladimir Putin and now “Z”, the military symbol for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Though journalists are often detained, arrested and tried, he continues to report from the country. You’re currently based in Moscow, but not in your usual office? Our main office flooded, there was a burst pipe in the building, so we’re in an emergency flat. We’ve had to build a temporary voice booth, using blankets and a desk. What were you doing when Russia invaded Ukraine, four years ago? I was woken by a call from the news desk in London. I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes and rushed to the office. That was a hell of a day – I was working non-stop, broadcasting live, doing reports for the main TV bulletins. There wasn’t a second to stop. At the end of the day, it hit me – this was a watershed moment, things were never going to be the same. As the only BBC reporter in Russia, what’s a typical day like? Going back 10 years, it would be hard to get on the news; that’s all changed. I sleep for four to five hours, get up at 5am and walk our rescue dog, Laila. After breakfast, I come into the office and review the papers for social media. Even though it’s a very controlled media environment, you find all kinds of nuggets in the Russian press. But the situation is so unpredictable, you never know what’s going to happen. It feels like we’re in the eye of the storm; it’s disconcerting. Last May, I was completely exhausted. The doctor said, “Eat better, do more exercise!” So I started going to the gym, having a decent breakfast, cutting out the snacks… I’m feeling much better. How is it, in the eye of the storm? We’re in a strange bubble. When you’re in Moscow, everything looks pretty normal. Then you see adverts trying to recruit people to fight in the war, and people who have lost limbs. A lot of Russians try to pretend this nightmare isn’t happening, but that’s becoming increasingly difficult. Russia’s affected more and more in terms of casualties. The economy is getting worse and the newspapers are talking openly about this. With only a handful of Western journalists left in Russia, do you constantly assess the risk? After Evan Gershkovich was arrested and jailed [the Wall Street Journal reporter was released in 2024 after more than 16 months in custody], a lot of foreign reporters left, understandably. There’s no guarantee something won’t happen to us, but independent Russian journalists who criticise the authorities are putting themselves at more risk than we are. The BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford was expelled in 2021, and dozens of journalists working for BBC Russia pulled out of Moscow. Do you miss working in a bustling newsroom? My wife, and playing the piano, help to put the craziness behind me, because it feels as if everything has been turned upside down several times. And Laila, we love her to bits – you come home and she’s waiting there. Aside from Vladimir Putin, who would you like to interview there? Valentina, who sold newspapers in the local newspaper kiosk – she’s a lovely babushka with an incredible smile. We became friends, and I used to film our little conversations – with permission – and post them on social media. Her kiosk was an island of calm in this sea of craziness. But she left Moscow and moved to southern Russia. I miss her. She was a daily reminder of why I fell in love with Russia – the Russian soul, before this huge, dark cloud came over the country. What’s it like asking President Putin a question at his annual, five-hour press conference? The situation, in itself, is quite intimidating. It’s a big set-piece event, live on Russian state television, with millions watching. Often, he says something before you ask a question, perhaps to make you a bit ill at ease. Last year, he made some comment about the BBC. I paid no attention – you’ve got be focused. I don’t hold back. How does President Putin come across in person? As someone who believes that he’s invincible. His decision to invade Ukraine was a miscalculation. He thought this “special military operation” would last a few days. Having lived in Russia for 30 years, how did you feel when the invasion happened? I felt the Russia I’d known for so many years had gone. The familiar buildings were there – the Bolshoi Ballet, my local supermarket. But this was a different Russia. Suddenly you started seeing the letter “Z”, the symbol of the “special military operation”. Then repressive laws were passed, silencing dissent. The relationship with the West broke down. Our lives became very unpredictable. You went off-air for a short time? There was a moment after the repressive laws were passed, when bosses in London asked us to pause broadcasting while lawyers looked at the legislation for our own safety. For three days we were off-air and waiting. I sat at the piano and wrote a piece of music, Isolation, that expressed how I felt – that Russia was suddenly cut off from the rest of the world. I was allowed to post that. Music was another way of reporting, in a sense, what was happening. You’ve been on-air since, but your job comes with great challenges — not least being followed? On trips [outside Moscow], there are chaps waiting for you, who pop up regularly. I’m used to that now. Normally, they don’t get in the way of our work. “Keep calm and carry on” is the best advice. You’ve been called a “defecating squirrel” on Russian TV – quite a contrast with the 90s, when you were invited on-screen during the Eurovision Song Contest, when Russia was taking part. How does that affect you? Squirrels are quite cute. It’s being called an enemy of Russia, which I’m not, that’s unpleasant. I spent five years studying Russian, I’ve lived here for more than 30 years. I fell in love with Russian literature and Russian music – I married a Russian lady. A lot of Russians still want to talk to us, they still want a relationship with Britain. They often shake my hand, or ask for a selfie. That shows the very intense, anti-British propaganda on Russian state television doesn’t necessarily filter down. You’re up at 5am, reporting live on Radio 4’s Today programme and later the BBC television news bulletins. How do you relax? I watch 1970s British sitcoms – the ones I watched as a kid – on YouTube, isn’t that embarrassing? It’s quite a pressured job so it’s nice to watch an episode of Dad’s Army or Yes Minister. It feels as if the old world order is breaking down, so a bit of nostalgia helps. Your great-grandfather left Belarus when it was part of the Russian Empire… My grandma found a box of documents, including the passport that my great-grandfather used to leave the Russian Empire in 1894. The family story is that he wanted to go to America and bought a ticket. But when the ship landed in England, the captain said, “America! Everybody off!” How do you feel about the future? The last four years have been a nightmare, especially for Ukraine. The level of death and destruction is off the scale. Russia’s taken a very dark path, and the last four years have tested my optimism to the extreme. But little interactions with Russians give me hope that things are going to be better. Do you ever fancy an easier job? Not at the moment! I think, in a sense, my whole life has led up to this. Panorama: Our Man in Moscow is available now on BBC iPlayer. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Check out more of our Current Affairs 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 Archers at 75: Reflecting on the British institution with BBC Radio stars and its celebrity fans
From cake competitions to coercive control, The Archers has captivated its devoted listeners for 75 years and counting.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. For all the gentle storylines about lemon-drizzle cake and family tiffs, there is something oddly majestic about The Archers and its survival for 75 years. It’s not about thriller events – though there’s a grand shock revelation coming very soon. The more solid pleasure of the radio drama lies in getting to know the characters over years, watching them arrive, reveal themselves, scrape against the others, maybe intermarry and bear children, with all recognisable tensions and worries and rows. And the reason that this tapestry of lives becomes sort of majestic is its sheer longevity: the following of fictional lives in real time. And in a largely urban society, it perhaps helps to remind those in cramped cities that food comes from hard work and green fields. When you meet the long-serving actors they always stress that peculiar sense of living in a parallel reality. Pat Gallimore, who has played Tony Archer’s wife Pat for 52 years, says: “If anyone had told me at that audition in 1974 that I would be around for half a century, it’d be unbelievable. But like your own life it becomes part of you, surviving and thriving. A second life, a second family.” Gallimore’s character Pat is a classic example of a figure listeners have heard evolving over the years: from a Welsh-accented CND firebrand and leftist, who cancelled Tony’s Express for The Guardian, we’ve heard her support the farm going organic “way before it was mainstream”. The Archers was part of that new acceptance just as it reflects today’s rewilding enthusiasm. Her Pat also worked through a delicate handling of grief over her elder son’s death on a tractor. I remind her how furious farming people were when the then-editor giggled in an interview about his departure as a “fun” plot. “Yes,” says Gallimore thoughtfully, “we all know that things can hit people personally. It matters.” Another storyline that hit people personally, making national news, was the “coercive control” story between Pat’s daughter Helen and Rob. She portrayed a mother entirely unaware of what the listener – in genuinely troubling scenes – had heard happening. “I did argue a little bit at the time, asking why hadn’t Pat spotted what’s going on,” protests Gallimore. “But I suppose she had come to trust Rob, he helped on the farm.” That was a big story, but over 75 years there have been many smaller ones that gripped listeners, with news of them sometimes (as in my case) drawing back midlife listeners who got irritated or bored and gave up for two or three years. Returners easily fall back into the entangled stories of imaginary Ambridge, amused by changes in half-familiar characters, soothed by the rhythm of life. And of death, too: my generation has seen the end of several, from the roguish Joe Grundy and Walter Gabriel to wicked but repentant Rob and, just lately, the formidable matriarch Peggy herself. It’s a narrative hymn to humanity and mortality, and that is no small thing. My mother once said, “It helps us age, it’s company.” When the performance and script are particularly well done (right now under Jeremy Howe, a serious veteran of radio drama, it is on a high), it can touch hearts and change attitudes. A modern-slavery story a while back made many listeners say they became more conscious of how a plausible gangmaster would exploit homeless men, chillingly alluding to them as “the horses”. But all this wasn’t really the aim, back in 1951 when it launched nationally on New Year’s Day. When farmer Dan Archer was invented, paired with a London girl called Doris in a fictional village called Ambridge, it was actually an educational project for farmers: there was still rationing after the Second World War and it was vital to boost the national food supply. The BBC, with government urging, wanted to publicise new ways forward, beyond the plough-horses and steam threshing machines. But its first editor Godfrey Baseley realised that, actually, it would be family and neighbourhood relationships that kept the interest going. He gradually created a balance, so that the agricultural story editor’s rather plodding information wouldn’t overwhelm the general listener who just wanted “an everyday story of country folk” to calm them down while making supper. Successive editors devised non-farming plots to run alongside the informative stuff about dairy and arable problems, and kept up with changes in society. The Archer family – spreading sideways into the Aldridges with the marriage of Peggy’s daughter Jennifer to the rakish, affluent Brian – has always dominated, but gradually, to the relief of many, the working-class Grundys and Horrobins have been elevated from mere cartoon yokels. (Neil Kinnock once said The Archers should be called “The Grundys and Their Oppressors”.) 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. The economic pressures on all classes are woven in: whether it’s Brian fretting about the cost of a £150,000 farm machine, old Peggy’s will supporting Alzheimer’s research and rewilding rather than her family members, or Emma’s heart breaking because she will never own a house. The introduction of Asian characters has been gradual (artfully, the first one fell in love and married the vicar). That again reflects the nation, albeit sometimes stretching rural probability: the old joke is that it’s the only village in England where the year revolves round Diwali and the Pride festival. The latest, touchingly, is Akram Malik (Asif Khan), husband of the new local doctor, who involves himself with the Ambridge farm people because he is homesick for family farming in Pakistan. But aside from race and technology, producers also, with cautious but determined steps, had to keep up with changes in morals and family values since the staid 1950s. Doris Archer’s stout-knickered world is not ours. At a BBC event celebrating the life of June Spencer – who played Peggy for 70 years – I was asked to speak about the changes this matriarch had seen. I mischievously listed the “sexual rewilding” of Britain – Archers coping with adultery, divorce, hookups, abortion, single mothers with multiple baby daddies (including an anonymous donor and a “friend with benefits”), gay and lesbian couples, surrogacy, a granddaughter drunk while pregnant, and even a family grandson selling sex as an escort. Some more traditionally minded listeners objected to this, especially the acceptance of uncommitted hookups, but it does reflect modern mores just as faithfully as Brian’s £150,000 seed-drill and bovine TB anxieties reflect modern farming. Sunny Ormonde, who for 20 years has played the ageing femme fatale of the Archer family, cheerfully observes, “Lilian seems to have had affairs with almost everybody in the village, though never Brian. “When I started in 2000, I wanted to check whether listeners would take this middle-aged manhunter on board... but it’s interesting how things change as the long story goes on. With the loss of Peggy as well as her sister Jennifer, family dynamics change. There’s nobody left to put Lilian in her place, she’s had to grow up. Be the new matriarch.” Like several of the other professionals who receive scripts and recording dates, Ormonde completes the curious, beguiling loop between listener and actors that the series has created. “You see, I am a listener as well as being part of it. Sometimes I hear something that I didn’t know anything about and think, ‘Oh, my goodness!’ And I’m in it!” Indeed, the urge to be in it for a few lines of cameo has captured over the decades starry names from Princess Margaret to Queen Camilla, Dame Judi Dench to Sir Terry Wogan and Sir Bradley Wiggins. The jury that finally acquitted poor Helen of stabbing evil Rob included Catherine Tate and Dame Eileen Atkins. It’s become a bit like being asked to be in Who’s Who. As to the real cast, any theatre company talking to journalists can paint itself as a happy family, whether in truth it is or not. But I have over the years run into a fair few of the Archers cast, and it really does seem to be a reality in that sense. Certainly those who get killed off tend to strike a slightly wistful note, and there are apocryphal tales of senior actors complaining at not getting enough scenes (it is, of course, piece-work!). Pat Gallimore reflects, “I can’t remember any major fallings-out. Certainly not with me involved. One thing about it is, even though you’re together in scenes for years, it’s not claustrophobic like a real family. You do your work and come home. In the studio, we particularly enjoy the table scenes, loading the dishwasher and arguing about who’s making the supper, all together. But of course,” she adds, “as an actor it’s much more fun to play conflict or crisis. “I remember dear Colin Skipp [the original Tony] saying, when John [Pat and Tony’s son] died, that in a way those scenes are easier to play because there’s something to react against. Doing the workaday stuff, feeding the cows, doing the shopping, is actually far more difficult to get right. But you’re hardly going to win an Oscar for saying, ‘Let’s go and make some blueberry yogurt,’ are you?” Read more: The Archers confirmed for live 75th anniversary tour as fans can celebrate beloved radio drama Bridge Farm to be brought to life at new RHS show to celebrate The Archers' 75th anniversary Celebrity fans Ruth Jones The Archers is my little 13-minute daily sanctuary. I’m not going to lie, they’re in bed with me almost every night. Sometimes I get really frustrated with it but that’s part of its joy. I nearly stopped listening when David and Ruth Archer almost lost the farm when it was threatened by a new road. I can picture all the characters in my mind, and yes, I do have favourites. I love Jazzer and in more recent times George and Brad. But Susan is also a joy, as is Tracy. My absolute top favourite though is Lilian (Sunny Ormonde, top right). Her wicked gin-swilling laugh, and her life-affirming, life-grabbing presence cheer me up every time she’s in a scene. Though the truth is I love ’em all. Seventy-five years – I won’t be around in another 75, but I do hope The Archers will. Brad Horrobin might be the future Joe Grundy, Martha Carter may be the future Lilian and who knows if the Bull will still be serving, but I’ll keep listening into my old age if I’m lucky enough! Sir Stephen Fry One of my very earliest memories is of fitting myself under the chair that my mother sat on and listening with her to The Archers. The theme tune was as familiar to me as Pop Goes the Weasel, Happy Birthday or Baa, Baa, Black Sheep. In fact, I cannot really remember a time when I didn’t think of The Archers as a natural and inevitable part of my life, like the milkman and the chimney sweep. Those have more or less stepped away from our world, but The Archers is still there. I listen to it more religiously, rarely missing an episode, much more when I’m abroad than when I’m at home. Because it always takes me right back to England. And, like England, it can be as banal, embarrassing and ridiculous as it can be charming, brave and lovable. The people of Ambridge are for the most part sound, well intentioned, friendly, forgiving and kind. It is always the same, but it changes with the times without one quite noticing. There’s minimum tillage and mob grazing on the farm now, and Pat and Tony’s yogurts are kefirs. Alan Titchmarsh Thirty years ago, my wife told me that she would only consider that I had “made it” when I’d appeared in The Archers. I thought there was no chance. Then I was asked if I would judge the Ambridge Best Garden competition – as myself. I got to meet Lynda Snell and was driven around the village by Joe Grundy (actors Carole Boyd and Edward Kelsey, right) in a pony and trap pulled by the legendary Bartleby. The fact that the “trap” was one table upturned on another with two broom handles placed between them to allow movement mattered not a jot. What a fun day. But I can’t for the life of me remember who won! Still, my wife now admits I’ve made it. David Mitchell My mum has been listening to The Archers for as long as she can remember, almost since it began, and I think she still does. So I heard a lot of it during my childhood. I haven’t entirely kept up, but I’m very glad it’s still going. And in a frightening and changing world, I think it’s great that some things continue. And it’s the original soap opera, isn’t it? Congratulations to it! Emma Freud My favourite characters have to be the Grundys — not because they’re easy to like (they’re not), but because they’re written without flattery. They’re flawed, often irritating, and test our sympathy, but even when they’re horrendous, I find myself rooting for them. I want them to win, to prosper. Maybe I want them to take over Ambridge? The Rob and Helen storyline was a slow, devastating depiction of coercive control. Each episode contained so much thoughtfulness, research and creative discipline. The writers didn’t hold back: scenes were as uncomfortable as they were impactful. But for every Rob and Helen storyline, there’s delightful eccentricity – such as the “soiled pants” competition, where characters buried their underwear to test the soil. Only The Archers. I love the low dramas – precious episodes when life just potters on with its moments of sweetness, meanness, small wins, small losses, long-term love, loneliness, Clarrie’s arthritis. It’s life… and it’s gently talked about in a way that only happens behind closed doors. I know some villagers better than my own family but I never have to buy them Christmas presents. I also love the lack of money. We rarely hear details of salaries, house prices, rents or the cost of a gift. This means we can exist in a world where we aren’t constantly looking through the lens of finance for status or position or value. It’s a subtle but welcome omission. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Check out more of our Audio 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.
Derry Girls creator talks new Netflix show How to Get to Heaven from Belfast: "You can't separate us from what's happened here"
Following her BAFTA-winning Derry Girls, Lisa McGee is pivoting to something a bit creepier – but with friends, laughter and fun at its core.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. If you ever catch an Irish brunette staring as you argue with friends, beware: it might be Lisa McGee, and she might write you into her next comedy. McGee’s huge hit Derry Girls, about a group of teenagers growing up during the Troubles, hit the mark with viewers thanks to its precise and hilarious observations about the way family and friends often talk to each other. And while writing her new series, which also follows a group of bickering pals, McGee admits she takes a lot of inspiration from real life. “I love watching people argue,” she says. “I have a group of close friends from school and when we go away together, I just listen. The arguments are unbelievably funny.” While McGee changes and embellishes the real-life stories she hears – and usually asks permission – she admits getting into trouble once when she forgot to tell a friend she was pinching her story about a family feud. “My friend was like, ‘Lisa, what the hell?’ But I just go, ‘Well, you shouldn’t tell me’. Everyone knows it’s all up for grabs, my mum especially. You can see it dawning on her as she’s telling me a story and she’ll go, ‘Don’t you dare’. With my mum – tough. I’ll use it anyway.” Her new series, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, has the same DNA as Derry Girls but is edgier, according to McGee. And that’s not the only difference – rather than a six-part sitcom this is an eight-part thriller going out on Netflix, which means a bigger budget than Derry Girls had on Channel 4. View oEmbed on the source website The plot revolves around three school friends now in their 30s – Saoirse, Dara and Robyn – who discover their fourth friend has died suddenly. They haven’t seen Greta since school and when they go to her wake, they realise the cause of her death may not be all it seems. Soon, they’ve stumbled into investigating what really happened while facing up to their own past lives – and lies. The idea came to 45-year-old McGee when she visited her old school in Derry, which had been derelict for 20 years and become a favourite location for ghost hunters. “It was really weird,” she says. “There were school skirts hanging up and writing on blackboards. I was walking down a little path and I got this freaky feeling I was going to bump into myself as a teenage girl. I didn’t, but it made me ask, what would she think of me and my choices? That’s where the idea started. “As you get older, I think you go back to the true person you were. I was a little girl that just liked writing and the older I get, the closer I get to that person, because she had it all worked out, actually. The death of their friend shakes these women and connects them to the teenagers they once were, and that spirit they thought they’d lost. It’s about friendship and self-discovery.” 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. While Derry Girls was an out-and-out comedy set around a very specific area and time (the mid-1990s), How to Get to Heaven from Belfast is much harder to place tonally. It’s certainly a very funny thriller, but it also includes moments that are fantastical, spooky and heartfelt. Aware of how bonkers it may sound, I tentatively ask McGee if the likes of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and the cartoon Scooby-Doo were influences on the show… “I love you!” she laughs. “Scooby-Doo was our biggest reference, and people thought I was mad. The director Michael Lennox and I would go, ‘Let’s make it 30 per cent more Scooby-Doo’. We wrote a list of unhinged references. And yes, Rebecca is one of my favourite books. The A-Team was also in there, Murder, She Wrote, Father Ted. I’ve got away with doing two insane shows, and no one’s stopped me. I count myself so lucky.” It’s a more complicated series with more money behind it, and as the follow-up to the BAFTA-and Emmy-winning success of Derry Girls, I assume McGee must have felt pressured to deliver another hit. But when I put this to her, McGee says she felt far less pressure than during the third series of Derry Girls, which ended with a poignant episode about the Good Friday Agreement. “Derry Girls started to feel like it wasn’t mine,” she says. “I really felt I had to deliver, because it wasn’t just for me any more, it had become this thing people were invested in. With this, I’m not representing a big moment in history, or my town or my people. I’m just trying to tell a banging story. “I’ll be disappointed if people don’t enjoy it, but it’s not the same level of scrutiny as Derry Girls. It’s been quite freeing. I had to not be the Derry Girls writer, because it could cripple you to be worrying about that.” As in Derry Girls, the protagonists in How to Get to Heaven from Belfast are a varied group: Saoirse is a high-flying writer based in London; Dara is a gay Catholic who lives at home with her mother and sister; and Robyn is a glamorous, stressed mum. McGee agrees they could absolutely be seen as grown-up versions of Erin, Orla, Clare and Michelle, but says she didn’t find herself slipping into repeating jokes or cadences from Derry Girls. “I love writing about female friends,” she says, “but the thriller aspect meant I couldn’t do some of the cartoonish stuff I would have done in Derry Girls. The stakes are higher for these women because they’ve got careers, kids or a mum to look after – stakes that Michelle and Erin didn’t have. I also found myself, for the first time, stripping out a lot of jokes because they detracted from the tension. That would have been unthinkable on Derry Girls.” How to Get to Heaven from Belfast may not tackle as serious a storyline as the Good Friday Agreement, but it doesn’t shy away from jokes that are close to the knuckle. One gag has the women breaking down after filling the car up with the wrong type of petrol, to which a Garda [police officer] from the Republic of Ireland tells the Northern Irish women, “It’s not like you lot to waste petrol.” There are also running jokes about Dara having “an attack of the Catholics” every time she feels guilty. Still, McGee says she knows where to draw the line to avoid upsetting her Northern Irish compatriots. “You can’t separate us from what’s happened here, you just can’t. It never really goes away, and I think it can be funny.” However, she does concede that there are subjects that are definitely off limits since becoming a mother (she has two young sons with writer husband, Tobias Beer). “Being a mum, with all the crazy and chaos, is good for comedy,” she says. “There’s more I can write and access now. But there are certain topics I won’t go near because they’re just too dark. “When people write well about things like sexual violence, it’s very important, but there needs to be space for women to just enjoy and laugh and have escapism. I was a very silly person when I wrote Derry Girls, and a very hopeful person, so everything was positive. It could still have been a brilliant show written by someone else, but it might have been bleaker. “I want people to come away from my shows feeling a wee bit better about things. My characters are never cool, they’re always eejits. I think people respond to that: my characters make people feel a bit better. I’m very comfortable writing silly women being silly.” The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. How to Get to Heaven from Belfast arrives on Netflix on Thursday 12 February. Check out more of our Comedy 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.
Blue Lights star argues that there are still so many realistic stories to tell about sex workers
Despite her BAFTA, the actor says that every role she gets is still like winning the lottery.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. What’s the view from your sofa? I used to have a small TV because I was against letting it dominate the room, but my partner is a massive film geek and viewing is very important to him. So, I doubled the size of my TV, but it doesn’t dominate the room. We have a corner suite that we watch it from. What have you been watching on your room-appropriate TV recently? I’m drawn to documentaries, and I’ve just watched Sean Combs: the Reckoning on Netflix. I’m also enjoying The Beast in Me. Who controls the remote at home? We share it. If I walk into the room and my partner is watching a programme, he will stop to talk to me. He doesn’t just continue watching, which is incredible, isn’t it? You recently starred as a crime boss in the drama Blue Lights, and you play the head of MI6 in the comedy Black Ops. Which genre do you prefer? I like immersing myself in characters and I’m fascinated by good writing. As long as my mind is engaged, I’m a happy bunny. I just try to make things interesting and bring some humanity to even the baddies I play – they were kids once, too. But being around people who do a lot of comedy is always lovely. Black Ops also makes pertinent points about racism and corruption. Do you think comedy is an effective medium to explore difficult topics? Yes, and I think it gets overlooked. Even though I’m not employed in a lot of comedic roles, I’m still aware of the need. I revere comedy and I don’t think it gets the respect it deserves, budget-wise, as well as the kudos. Your breakout role was as a sex worker, Simone, in the 1986 film Mona Lisa, and you played another one in the 1990s TV drama Band of Gold. What’s your opinion on how TV series and films represent that occupation? In the area of sex workers, there are still loads of stories to be told from a realistic point of view. When Band of Gold came out, hearing and seeing these women at home, it was revolutionary. I let go of my prejudices of sex workers on that job, because I met them in person for research – the prejudices were there, but I thought, “I’ve got to drop them before I play this part.” I’ve heard that the film Anora [starring Mikey Madison as a sex worker from Brooklyn] is exploitative, not that it shouldn’t be, but the way it was done was exploitative. However, I do want to watch it. Were you offered a lot of similar parts after Band of Gold? Yes, so I veered away from them. Kay Mellor [the series creator] asked me and the other cast members if we wanted to do a fourth series, and because of my desire to do something different – and even though I didn’t have a lot of money back then – I said no. I thought, why not leave on a high, because I know things can be watered down. 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. Is having variety as an actor important to you? I became an actor for variety, but I don’t make a judgement on other people if they’re happy in what they do. If you want to be in a situation for 20 years, the security and the feeling of family that brings is absolutely fantastic. When you finish a job, it’s like a death every time, so I can understand why people would want to avoid that. You won the BAFTA for best supporting actress in 2022 for the Channel 4 drama Help. How did that feel? When you get a nomination, that’s an honour in itself. Every job I get is like winning the lottery. Help was a very small part, and the other people in my category had a lot more screen time, so I didn’t expect it. Sometimes you think, “I can stop acting now. I’ve done what I’ve needed, so if you want to retire, you can.” But when I look at it, it reminds me to be a good actor, to work hard and to still have aspirations. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. 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.
Vinnie Jones explains why Clarkson's Farm comparisons are "upsetting" as he returns with In the Country
The footballer turned actor on playing gangsters, the great outdoors and coping with loneliness and grief.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. After a headline-grabbing football career, Vinnie Jones burst onto the big screen in Guy Ritchie’s 1998 debut Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Since then, he’s played soldiers, supervillains and enough gangsters to fill a crime family. But Vinnie Jones in the Country, now in its third series, follows the actor’s true passion: preserving and exploring the countryside from his 2,000-acre estate in West Sussex. Just don’t compare it to Clarkson’s Farm… When did your love of the outdoors begin? I caught my first trout with my dad when I was seven. He was always a passionate country man – we had fishing rods and guns and bred working dogs. We were in Watford, and I still remember finding my first lapwing nest in a field. If I were on Mastermind, my specialist subject would be British nature – not many people would beat me. You’ve moved from football to acting to country living — is it in your nature to reinvent yourself? I couldn’t just sit on my arse watching daytime TV. I get anxiety attacks if I don’t have plans for every day of the week. Doing all of this is where I’m in my element. For me, it’s 1988 every day: playing Liverpool in front of 100,000 people at Wembley. It’s like reliving my childhood, which was all countryside and football. Now it’s all countryside and acting. You had the idea for Vinnie Jones in the Country before Covid — did the pandemic change your approach to the show? I’d just lost my wife [Tanya died in 2019] going into the pandemic, so I couldn’t have been lonelier. I spent lockdown watching Netflix box sets. When we came out, the first thing I wanted was to dive into the countryside. It felt like being on the top board with the ladder taken away – I had no choice but to jump in. The show was the same: I dived straight in. How would you describe the show? It’s a show without an agenda, and it’s not a farm show – it’s an in-the-country show. Everyone’s tried to hang it on Clarkson’s Farm, which I find a bit upsetting. Jeremy’s done a fantastic job raising awareness for farmers, but ours is a different little show. After our second series, I think we were given a sponsored rake. Look at Clarkson’s Farm: tractors, combines – everything! Did you set out to explore grief and male friendship this series, or did that emerge naturally? It was never planned, but we’ve let the show take its own course, like a river: if it hits a dam, it goes another way. There’s a lot to be said for discussing mental health in the countryside, because it can be a lonely job. Are people surprised by your interest in nature and mental health? In the past, many newspapers were filled with stories about me being a lunatic, but a lot of that I brought on myself with the drinking. But I’m 12 years sober this April, and I wanted to show people what I actually do in my spare time. Yesterday, I sat for six hours just to see a kingfisher. I’m not a south-London gangster, never have been. After 15 years in the US, did you miss the British countryside? We moved there for my acting career and were up in Burbank, across the valley from Beverly Hills. I saw lots of wildlife – although mostly on golf courses! I’d also go up to Canada two or three times a year to fly fish and see the eagles. My favourite place on earth is just north of Vancouver. It’s a different world up there. What’s next for your partnership with film-maker Guy Ritchie? The new series of The Gentlemen, and I’m pretty heavy in this one. I may have another big movie with Guy this year, too. [Jones has just been confirmed as one of the leads in Ritchie’s new film Viva la Madness, based on the Layer Cake book series, alongside Jason Isaacs and Jonny Lee Miller]. There’s no time to stop swinging, but for me, and my mental health, that helps. In the show, you call your manor house “the new Yellowstone”. What else have you been watching on TV lately? We’ve watched MobLand and I’ll always watch Attenborough, he’s one of my heroes. I also like Grand Designs and The Chase. But other than football, we don’t watch a lot of telly. The countryside takes it out of you, so we’re often knackered and in bed before 9pm. We’ve got a little puppy too, so that also keeps us busy! Will there be more In the Country? We haven’t decided yet. I don’t want it to drag – three was our magic number. We’re building the lake house now and filming that, but do we want a construction series? When I played football, I wanted to finish at the top, not go back down through the leagues. We’ve had fun, but look at Clarkson’s Farm – there’s lots of politics there. I never want our little show to get like that. Ours is more of a hobby. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Check out more of our Documentaries 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.
Small Prophets' Pearce Quigley on Mackenzie Crook comedy: 'It's the perfect TV show'
Mackenzie Crook reunites with his Detectorists co-star Pearce Quigley for a suburban-set comedy about magical spirits with the power to predict the future.
Seven years ago, on Christmas Eve, Michael Sleep's girlfriend, Clea, disappeared. He doesn't know why she left, just that she did – and that her car was later found on the Severn Bridge. But there was no trace of her, and Clea's whereabouts remain unknown. Following on from Detectorists and Worzel Gummidge, Mackenzie Crook returns with his third project, Small Prophets, a BBC Two series billed as a comedy – and like both of the aforementioned, there's a healthy dose of silliness and tomfoolery. But also like the aforementioned, there are moments where you find yourself unexpectedly moved, delivered with the lightest of touches – a specialty of Crook's uniquely brilliant writing. It was rumoured that Clea was murdered by Michael. A common assumption in such circumstances, and one that certainly wasn't helped by the police digging up his garden – which Michael has long given up on. The plants and weeds threaten to swallow his house whole, to make it disappear, just as Clea did. But if he was to mow the lawn, or pack away the Christmas decorations that have remained untouched in the living room – a space suspended in time – it might be taken as a sign he's ready to move on, which he's not. Michael's love for Clea has never wavered, not once, and he's never stopped hoping that one day she'll walk through their front door, as if her absence were nothing more than a slight detour. "His life has completely stopped," Pearce Quigley, who plays Michael, told RadioTimes.com. "He's able to function, he's able to keep his job going, but all the joy has gone out of his life. His only joy, I suppose, is seeing his dad, who he goes and visits [in a care home] every day, because he loves his dad very much." Brian is played beautifully by Michael Palin, who's on sparkling form. "That was intimidating, meeting him for the first time, because there's no two ways about it, you can't get it out of your head, that's Michael Palin, Michael Palin's playing my dad... How did that happen?" And he might just have the answer: homunculi. "If somebody had asked me in a pub quiz five years ago what homunculi are, I probably would have gotten it wrong," said Quigley. "Now it would be my specialist subject on Mastermind." <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2026/02/sp-9f82173.jpg" width="4285" height="2857" alt="A bearded man with shoulder-length grey hair pours water from a metal bucket into a large glass jar using a funnel. He stands in a cosy, cluttered shed draped with colourful fabrics and patterned cloth, lit by warm, glowing light. Several large glass jars filled with water are lined up on a table in front of him, with candles and small objects nearby, creating an atmosphere of homemade alchemy." title="Small Prophets" /> For the uninitiated, they are tiny humanoid creatures with special abilities, grown using a very precise alchemistic recipe. "The seed of the idea came from a footnote in an old book about Paracelsus, a 16th-century Swiss philosopher and alchemist," creator Mackenzie Crook told Radio Times magazine. "It told of a mystic who had grown eight homunculi, magical spirits able to predict the future, in glass jars full of water." And crucially, explains Brian, they can answer any question. Like: is my missing girlfriend coming home anytime soon, or...? As sceptical as Michael is – "This is a story his dad used to tell him at night" – especially given Brian's deteriorating mental faculties, it's an offer that’s simply too tempting to ignore. What's he going to do, wait another seven years? So, why not? After digging out one of his dad's old sketchbooks, he gets to work acquiring everything he needs to bring the homunculi to life: six big glass jars and lots of water (manure comes into it further down the line), and six key ingredients for each homunculus: a brass key, the nib of a pen, a plain, undecorated button, a crystal of amethyst, a gold ring and a silver coin, as old as he can find. And lo and behold, after returning from a trip to the pub, the impossible has happened: a homunculus is born (that's not a spoiler – as per the trailer). To go into any great detail about what the creatures look like, and Michael's interactions with them, however, would be to spoil the fun. But Michael's scepticism melts away. And for the first time in a very long time, he feels hopeful. "Isn't that wonderful?" said Quigley of that thread of otherworldliness that runs through the series. "I love that. We're in the shed at one moment, and we're seeing this world that is like something out of a fantasy film, and then the next minute, Michael's selling nails at the DIY store [where he works]. It's marvellous. That mix of the mundane and the magical sets it apart [from other shows]." In a world that feels distinctly devoid of magic, wonder and hope in this current moment, Small Prophets is just the tonic. "I mean, it's not all unalloyed joy, of course. There's a deep current of sadness running through the whole thing, [Clea going missing is] his dad's whole reason for wanting to give him this recipe in the first place. But the world is definitely every day, in every way, just getting worse, so maybe people will enjoy this as a place to escape to." Read more: Michael Palin talks returning to acting in new comedy from The Office legend – and how he approaches old age I'm Mackenzie Crook, and this is the 16th-century inspiration for my new comedy Small Prophets – and how we brought it to life "I think it's perfect, really, it's the perfect TV show," he added. "It’s beautiful. I've watched it so many times now – and I hate watching myself. I'll avoid it at all costs. But I'm in love with it. I just adore it. I think Mackenzie is an absolute genius, and I know that word gets banded about, but honest to God, I just think the way it unfolds so slowly and unexpectedly, I love it." Quigley first met Crooks when they appeared in The Seagull at The Royal Court 18 years ago. "He was already famous from The Office and Pirates of the Caribbean – so I was quite nervous initially, just being in the same room as him." But Quigley found Crooks to be "quiet and unassuming, ridiculously unassuming", while Crook described Quigley as "about the funniest person I know" while chatting to Radio Times magazine. "We just we got on. Instantly. I mean, instantly," added Quigley. When the play transferred to Broadway, they spent their evenings at the same bar, scoffing mini burgers and writing short poems, "and then read each other's poems to each other" – a detail that would feel right at home in one of Crook's stories. Further down the line came Detectorists, in which Quigley played oddball Russell – and now here they are again. "One of the reasons I think he had me in mind for this character was because I’m not a million miles away from Michael. Well, I mean, my wife isn't missing, and I don't grow homunculi in my shed. And I don't work in a DIY store... yet. "But I can't believe it, to be absolutely honest with you. I've got a major dose of imposter syndrome about this whole thing. I can't actually believe that I'm in this thing and that I'm playing that part. "It's like Mackenzie's made a suit for me, like a bespoke suit, because he knows my size." After being cast in two of Crook's projects – Detectorists inspired a cult following, and Small Prophets will likely do the same – he's game for another collaboration, naturally. "Oh, yeah, I'd do anything for him, really. Well, unless he went into porn. I wouldn't do that. "But I would like to think that this world has another life and more story to tell. It is a story in itself, but at the end it says: 'To be continued'. And to continue this story would be just the best gift." But as Quigley notes, like all the best stories, this one doesn't end when the credits roll. "Of course it will be continued, whether we make another series or not. It will be continued because they go off, they leave the screen, and they're going somewhere." Small Prophets airs on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on Monday nights at 10pm from 9th February. All six episodes are also available to stream on iPlayer. Add Small Prophets 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 Comedy 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.
Adam Richman's ultimate Italy food guide: From 'tag bol' to chocolate fountains
Swapping New York for Italy, Adam Richman embarks on a city-hopping adventure in search of the country’s best-loved dishes.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. If you weren’t hungry before listening to Adam Richman describe food, you certainly will be after. The presenter of Man v Food, Adam Richman Eats Britain and Adam Richman Eats Football has worked in New York kitchens since he was 13, so the Brooklyn native knows his stuff. For his new series, though, he’s munching his way across 10 Italian cities – and letting RT in on his very best bites from the trip… ROME - Porchetta sandwiches at Er Buchetto “Er Buchetto opened its doors in 1890. The name literally means ‘little hole’, and it’s an itty-bitty restaurant that’s known for serving porchetta sandwiches. Porchetta is pork, and here it’s a deboned suckling pig stuffed with rosemary, spices and olive oil, cooked for three to four hours. It has crispy skin and it’s super juicy inside and they serve it cold on traditional Roman bread, though some people get it with cheese or other condiments. “The owner, Alessandro Fioravanti, is the fifth generation of the family running it; his son is now representing the sixth generation. Get there early though: there’s normally a line out the door and they can sell out by the afternoon.” Browse our holidays to Italy here FLORENCE - Bistecca alla Fiorentina and Brunello at FrancescoVini “I really try to do my homework, but that does not mean I can’t be wrong – there have been times when a chef has corrected me, like at FrancescoVini. The wine cellar there is in the remnants of the fifth largest amphitheatre in the Roman Empire, and I was talking to the owner, Fabio La Brusco, about Super Tuscans [red wines from Tuscany]. He said, ‘That’s what we make for Americans. If you’re having Bistecca alla Fiorentina [a steak dish], you’re having a Brunello.’ View oEmbed on the source website “Afterwards he apologised to me and said, ‘I know you just spoke about this whole thing, we can cut it,’ and I said, ‘We are not cutting it.’ The showrunner of Man v Food taught me that the worst thing any host can do is play cool, like, ‘I got this, I know this.’ How can I know Florence better than a Florentine?” Request a brochure and get inspiration for your next holiday BOLOGNA - Tortellini en brodo at Ristorante Biagi “There’s no spag bol in Bologna – the real thing is technically tag bol, because it’s tagliatelle bolognese. But in Bologna, you have to have tortellini en brodo. It’s tortellini with, usually, pork, mortadella, prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano and some spices – salt, pepper, nutmeg – in a clear broth. At Ristorante Biagi, it’s one nonna [Italian for grandma] who comes in and makes around 5,000 tortellini a day, all by hand. There’s no machine. “I thought I was going to be eating big, bold, bright tomato sauces and mozzarella on everything, but that’s just what you get in America. Dishes in Italy look deceptively simple. Some of them, like the one in front of me, are beige, yet eating it felt like getting a back rub or a hug from your grandma. It is truly delightful.” VENICE - Bigoli in salsa at Osteria al Cicheto “Bigoli in salsa has hardly any ingredients: rough pasta – which itself is just two ingredients – with Chioggia onions, olive oil, a clove of garlic, salted anchovies, maybe some wine. It’s a peasant pasta: it’s called cucina povera, the cuisine of the poor. It has produced mine, the crew’s and the world’s favourite recipes. The rationale was that peasants in Venice only had an onion, a bag of flour and some salted fish and that’s it. It’s unbelievably moreish.” FLORENCE - Lampredotto at Da Nerbone “Lampredotto is the fourth stomach of a cow. It’s where the rennet enzymes come from to curdle milk into cheese. It’s a very traditional Tuscan dish, and Da Nerbone is a stand that opened in 1872. It’s now run by Fabio Giolli, who made me the lampredotto sandwich. And it was spectacular, with the flavours of his two sauces, salsa verde and a chilli/pepper one, with the bread soaked in the cooking broth. “All morning, I was making these eye-rolling jokes, like, ‘Wow, I have to start my day with a stomach sandwich.’ I was grossed out by it without trying it. And yes, I am acutely aware of just how disrespectful I was being. Poor people ate it out of necessity, but it’s endured because it’s so good. It was one of the best bites of the whole show.” Sign up to our mailing list to receive more content like this from Radio Times Travel, Shop and Money - click here AND FOR DESSERT… ROME - Ice cream at Gelateria Come il Latte “They have these chocolate fountains that are always running, and their cones are made fresh. They fill the cone with chocolate first, then put your gelato in. After, they hit it again with the chocolate and threw this little cookie in. It was such a joy and I regressed to being a little boy again.” Adam Richman Eats Italy airs Monday at 9pm and 9:30pm on Food Network. Check out more of our Travel 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.
Betrayal's Zahra Ahmadi: "There's a duty of care to communities that haven't been represented enough to do it authentically"
The Beyond Paradise star takes on a very different role in Betrayal and chats to Pass the Mic about how it taps into her own Persian heritage.
Zahra Ahmadi is channelling her inner 007 in new ITV thriller, Betrayal, and while it's an action-packed step away from her previous roles, it's also one that has a bit more of a personal connection for the actress. "I've never had a role like it," Ahmadi tells me about her character of Mehreen Askari-Evans, an intelligence operative who is tasked to take over the duties of Shaun Evans's John Hughes after he finds himself under an internal investigation. From their first on-screen meeting, the air is clouded with tension and mystery – plus an awkward grilling (and ace rebuttal from Ahmadi's character) about Mehreen's heritage. The character, like Ahmadi herself, is mixed-race and of Persian descent so when it came to crafting that scene (in which John randomly asks: 'Where are you from?'), that came from Ahmadi's personal experiences. Working with series writer David Eldridge and executive producer Tom Leggett was a collaborative joy, Ahmadi tells me, and came with the acknowledgement from Eldridge that while he "innately understands what it is to be human, he doesn't understand what it is to be every human in those kind of specific moments". In a bid to make all the characters in Betrayal feel real, they chatted through them with the actors in question and actually, that entire encounter between John and Mehreen was born out of a discussion they had with Ahmadi. "I said to them that people always ask me where I'm from. It's a tricky one because in some ways, I don't mind. I'm interested in people, I want to know where they're from and what's your heritage. It's not that I have an issue with that, but it's more when it's used as a measuring tool," the actress tells me. "We can put whatever words we want on it, but it's 'How British are you?'," she says. "I was really grateful that they really listened. To explore that sort of dichotomy of being from a mixed background ... because anyone from a mixed background – we can all connect and relate as humans – it's so specific depending on what your mix is. And then also, were you around both parents the whole time? And if you were, was one parent away working a lot? Was there a dominant parent whose culture you took on slightly more, who you could identify with more? "That can be different between siblings as well. Myself and my siblings have different levels of identity with different sides of ourselves – that's cool, that's beautiful and that should be celebrated. I just love that David and Tom were able to listen and collaborate and go, 'Yeah, let's make this real, and let's make it your experience'." Being of Persian descent and portraying that in her new character is something that the actress says is "important". However, Ahmadi does underline that it's not always about "prescriptive casting". "I'm an actor, we're all actors. We should be able to play anything. So I don't necessarily believe in prescriptive casting," she says. "I certainly didn't go to drama school for three years to play myself. I'm trying to escape myself by being an actor," she laughs. "However, when a group of people have been underrepresented on screen for a long time, then I think there's a need, an obligation, to be authentically representative for a while so that community is portrayed in the way that they should have been and haven't been." Ahmadi is most certainly correct and with Betrayal centring very much on British-Iranian relations and a rapidly evolving intelligence landscape, the series not only puts its own spin. on the long-loved spy genre but also, platforms a raft of actors of Persian descent including Ahmadi, Hayley Tamaddon, Omid Djalili, Karim Kadjar and Raphael Zari. "There's a lot of representation there and it's wonderful," Ahmadi beams. "It's wonderful to see so many Persians in the same piece, it's great. I'm really happy." In terms of the fast-paced role itself, it'll be a far cry away from Ahmadi's ongoing stint in Beyond Paradise, which many viewers may recognise her from. But while tonally very different to most titles in Ahmadi's repertoire, she does compare this new role in Betrayal to her previous one in US drama Berlin Station ("the only other time I've played a spy, actually"). One of the most appealing parts of playing Mehreen was her sheer charisma, Ahmadi tells me, which leapt out from the pages of the script. "When a character leaps off the page like that, you want to play that," she says. In preparation for the role, Ahmadi picked the brains of author, journalist and The Rest is Classified co-host Gordon Corera. "He's phenomenally knowledgeable about security services and I had one really great meeting with him quite early on, where I just was firing questions at him so I could try and get my head in the game when it came to playing Mehreen," she says. Asking him about the one thing that any MI6 agent has in common, Corera told Ahmadi that it comes down to when they walk into a room, you notice them. Surely that goes against the grain of covert operations, though? "We had a giggle about that because ... you're undercover so, do you want to be noticed or do you actually like fade into the background? But it's not about not being seen, it's about not being suspected, right? And those are two very different things," Ahmadi shares. And that was precisely what struck Ahmadi about Mehreen – "she's not necessarily at the forefront all the time, but she's there and she's very present. You feel her and there's an energy, a weight with her." Of course, with any TV show concerned with spies and intelligence services, there will be its fair share of high-speed chases, close calls and action sequences, all things that Ahmadi found very exciting, especially because she herself was safe. "But it truly is the exploration of that heritage, specifically coming from a mixed background," Ahmadi tells me when reflecting on the overall enjoyment of the role. "Similar roles I've done before are great but they've always been very 'You're Iranian', 'You're Asian' or 'You're white British'. So, that's really what sets her apart for me. This is the first time I've been able to explore that as an actor on screen and I'm so grateful for that," Ahmadi says. As well as her ongoing role in Beyond Paradise, Ahmadi is also best known for being the original actress to portray Shabnam Masood in EastEnders. The introduction of the Masood family was a long time coming for the East London-set drama, with the Masood's being the soap's first ever Muslim family. "That was crazy that that didn’t happen till 2007," Ahmadi reflects. But with the family came a "bold" exploration of topics, Ahmadi tells me when I ask how she reflects on that role. "I really respect them for that – Syed and his sexuality, exploring that within the faith was really bold. I think rightly so, they needed to do it. You’re never going to please all of the people all the time, right? I'm really proud to have been a part of that," she says. "I'm really proud of it. I'm really proud to have been part of that moment that needed to happen and had been a long time coming." As for the future, Ahmadi reprises her role as DS Esther Williams in Beyond Paradise for its upcoming fourth season but looking further afield, the actress admits that she just want to play "good roles that are written with panache and integrity". "I'm really lucky because within these past few years, I've been able to explore both sides of myself. I've been able to explore being been mixed – Mehreen in the storyline we find her in, it does lean in slightly to her Persian heritage slightly more," she says. "But then by doing Beyond Paradise, it's the first time I've ever played West Country and I am from the West Country. We can talk about the reasons why for a long time, right? Why hasn't that happened before this point in time? And again, that's because of representation and understanding that diversity exists outside of big cities and it exists rurally as well. "I feel really lucky that on a personal level, on a cathartic level, to have explored those two things within recent years is something I wanted to do and I actually needed to do, I realised once I did them." Ahmadi continues: "So now, working from that place of privilege where I've exercised those things – I mean, I don't want to put them to bed, I want to keep going with them both, of course, but yeah, just great roles. I love great writing and that's my only prerequisite." For now, fans can enjoy Ahmadi in her enigmatic and twisty new role in Betrayal, one that not only shines a light on representation and her own culture, but is also one where she gets t don the persona of "a badass", Ahmadi smiles. "It's fun playing a badass because I'm not particularly badass in real life – but I would like to be!" Betrayal is coming to ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday 8th February 2026 at 9pm. All episodes will be released on ITVX ahead of linear transmission. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast. Add 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.