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BBC leaders' debate: highlights and reactions from the opposition leaders
3 hours ago
Here are the best reactions and highlights from the BBC’s challengers election debate, with Ed Miliband, Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood
Ed Miliband faced a fight on two fronts on Thursday night: one against Ukip’s Nigel Farage; the other against the anti-austerity, nationalist, Green arguments of Nicola Sturgeon, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood.
Miliband knew in advance his attendance was a risk, that he could be left isolated by the alliance of leftwing leaders as the beacon for stale Westminster politics and austerity policies. But the post-debate Survation poll found that he won the debate, even though respondents said Nicola Sturgeon performed the best.
Nicola Sturgeon: “Ed and I don’t agree on Trident, although I think some of his members agree with me.”
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- Carmen Fishwick
Something new is happening in British politics. This image captures what it is | Jonathan Jones
4 hours ago
This picture from last night’s TV election debate shows how Britain is headed, in its nuanced way, leftward. No wonder Farage looks lost
Oil paintings are probably the only evidence not introduced by party spin doctors as they tried to claim victory for their leaders – even the ones who weren’t there – after last night’s BBC televised debate of the 2015 general election. Yet looking at the debate’s closing image of Ed Miliband shaking hands with Nicola Sturgeon as Nigel Farage stands isolated to our far right, I cannot help thinking of some grand narrative painting of a moment in history.
Related: How did the challengers fare in the final TV debate? Guardian columnists' verdict
This is the election of a new British left – the anti austerity parties are making the running
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- Jonathan Jones
Christopher Eccleston: My family values
4 hours ago
The actor talks about feeling like an outsider growing up and his relief at not being expected by his dad to play for Man Utd
Being from Salford is a big part of who I am and who my family are. Not Manchester, Salford – we’re a city in our own right. The values I live by come from that sense of identity. Hard work, honesty and loyalty were the three pillars. When I was seven months old, we moved to Little Hulton. But we never let go of Salford. I grew up with this sense that “we aren’t from here”. It made me feel like of a bit of an outsider.
There wasn’t always huge political debate in our house but there was a very strong sense that we were Labour. My dad said: “The Labour party is the party of the working man,” and that was that. »
- Claire Donnelly
Tom Hardy: I prepped for Child 44 by watching Sesame Street
4 hours ago
The star of the Soviet thriller claims his accent was inspired by kids’ TV character The Count
Tom Hardy has revealed a surprise inspiration for his Russian accent in new thriller Child 44: a character on Sesame Street.
The actor, who stars as a secret police agent hunting a killer, attended the premiere of the film last night, along with co-star Noomi Rapace. When asked on the red carpet about the origins of his onscreen Soviet twang, he said: “I watched Sesame Street. The Count speaks just like it”.
Related: Child 44: let's put an end to British actors adopting horrible fake foreign accents
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- Benjamin Lee
The Great British Baize Off: your TV guide to the World Snooker Championship
5 hours ago
Glacial pace, ridiculous hair and a sepia-tinged Dennis Taylor reciting poetry – here is what to look out for as the World Snooker Championship begins this weekend at the Crucible in Sheffield
The Crucible theatre. The eighth wonder of the modern world. The Pantheon for quiet men in Clarks loafers who spend their lives sipping bottled water in dark rooms. As spring rolls in and the nights draw out, a quiet cavalry of television cameras descends upon Sheffield.
The 78th World Snooker Championship starts this weekend. Legions of viewers will spend the next two weeks becoming intimately acquainted with the curvature of our settees, nodding along in terse agreement with the analysis of Steve “Nugget” Davis and marvelling at the incredible non-receding hairline of John Parrott.
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- Hayden Woolley
A gorgeous, ambitious epic: have you been watching Indian Summers?
7 hours ago
With no clear hero and lots of touristy establishing shots, Indian Summers may have started slowly, but it has built pace to become one of the most narratively satisfying dramas on British TV
Indian Summers had everything to lose before it even arrived. There were enormous advertising banners hanging everywhere, accompanying TV trailers, and journalistic speculation about it being Channel 4’s most expensive ever commission. Airing in the Sunday night slot, it was clearly intended to be a Downton rival, while its subject, the last days of the British Raj, was last covered in the seminal 1980s series The Jewel in the Crown. However were they going to land this £16m fish?
Carefully, it turned out. Indian Summers started slowly. Sooo slowly. It introduced us to a large cast, with no obvious hero. Set in the Himalayan hill town of Shimla, where the civil servants who run India relax on holiday, »
- Rhik Samadder
Can Caroline Flack and Olly Murs bring the X factor back to The X Factor?
9 hours ago
Caroline Flack is a natural presenter full of quick wit; Olly Murs has a hat. Together, can they recapture The X Factor’s lost youth?
So it’s official: this year’s season of The X Factor will be presented by Olly Murs and Caroline Flack. This isn’t really a surprise – the pair have been favourites for the job ever since Dermot O’Leary’s sudden exit last month – but is it a good decision? I’d argue that it’s half of one.
Related: Olly Murs and Caroline Flack to co-host The X Factor
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- Stuart Heritage
Spotlight – Ed Miliband: Tonight review: ‘personality’n’politics, easy over’
10 hours ago
Ed’s working too hard at looking relaxed – until he gets to the pool table
The leader of the opposition, his wife Justine, and their two sons are going to the park. With Tom Bradby, because this is Spotlight – Ed Miliband: Tonight (ITV). What can we read into the trip? Well, that Ed’s been put on red alert for TV slip-ups, bacon sandwich moments. The seesaw’s out, for a start. “I’m very tempted to sit on this, but I think on balance …” says Ed not-Margery-Daw Miliband. On balance! Was that intentional?
Swings and roundabouts then – literally, not as in the pros and cons of the location. Ed pushes one of the boys on the swing (seat), counting as he does it, 11, 12, 13 … Actually that’s 14, Ed, you missed one out. Your son may benefit, get an extra push out of it; but can a man who can »
- Sam Wollaston
Friday’s best TV
11 hours ago
Warwick Davis escapes to a vacuum cleaner museum for the weekend, Britain’s most promising dancers take to the floor, Diarmaid MacCulloch considers sex and the church, and music-biz types decide what makes a No 1 hit
A second series of weekend wanderlust for Warwick and family, as they smooth out their AA Road Atlas and set the satnav for adventure. First, a quest to unlock the hidden escapades lurking within the Midlands, leading to a mountain rescue course that soon has the Davis patriarch realising his derring-do is more derring-don’t. That high anxiety is offset by an excursion back to the Downton era and a visit to Derbyshire’s leading vacuum cleaner museum. Mark Jones
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- Mark Jones, Ben Arnold, Andrew Mueller, Jonathan Wright, Ali Catterall, David Stubbs and Hannah J Davies
Olly Murs and Caroline Flack to co-host The X Factor
19 hours ago
Simon Cowell asks former hosts of spin-off show The Xtra Factor to replace Dermot O’Leary on TV talent contest suffering long-term ratings decline
Simon Cowell has turned to Olly Murs and Caroline Flack to present the new series of ITV’s The X Factor, replacing Dermot O’Leary after eight years in the role.
Murs and Flack, the programme’s first co-hosts, will present a new-look X Factor when it returns in the autumn following successive revamps that have failed to halt a long-term ratings slide.
Related: X Factor final 2014 ratings slump to 10-year low
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- John Plunkett
What exactly is the ‘special game’ Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell play?
23 hours ago
The Britain’s Got Talent judge has alluded to the ‘career-destroying’ fun she and her fellow judge play backstage. The mind can only boggle …
Lost in Showbiz professes itself transfixed by an interview in Hello! magazine with Amanda Holden, in which she discusses what goes on backstage at Britain’s Got Talent: “I can’t even give you a hint of a clue about what Simon Cowell and I get up to. It’s a little game we play, but if it came out it would ruin me. It’s career-destroying – but fantastic fun.”
A “little game” that’s “career-destroying, but fantastic fun”: Lost In Showbiz’s mind has been working overtime since it read those words. Who knows what kind of “little game” it might take to excite Cowell, jaded as his appetites doubtless are after years of wealth and luxury? Russian roulette? Forcing interns to undergo a »
- Alexis Petridis
Olive Kitteridge box set review – a darkly knotted mess of lust, crime, affairs and heartbreak
16 April 2015 8:00 AM, PDT
Frances McDormand is coldly convincing in this painful tale of a woman’s life unravelling in picturesque New England
Olive Kitteridge takes a walk in the woods and loads a handgun with a single bullet. Just as you’re moving to the edge of your seat, the action suddenly skips back 25 years – and we begin a journey deep into the mind of this stoic maths teacher with a sharp tongue, played by Frances McDormand. We meet her family and, as the series unfolds, discover how in the opening scene she has ended up with that pistol in her hand, her target clearly not the birds flapping in the distance.
Set in the picturesque New England region of Maine, Olive Kitteridge is a darkly knotted mess of lust, crime, affairs and heartbreak, all of which lurk beneath the seemingly sedate lives of Olive and her husband, Henry. Stern Olive’s life »
- David Renshaw
New TV documentary criticised for graphic Robin Williams suicide scenes
16 April 2015 7:39 AM, PDT
Britain’s Channel 5 defends decision to depict actor’s death in forthcoming episode of their ‘Autopsy’ series centred Robin Williams
Britain’s Channel 5 has come under fire for its soon-to-be-aired documentary about the death of Robin Williams as initial reports have suggested it features a “graphic” reconstruction of the actor’s suicide.
The forthcoming episode of Autopsy, a show which focuses on the tragic deaths of celebrities, will feature a lookalike of the actor, played by adult movie star Alain Robin. In the past, the show has covered the deaths of Michael Jackson and Michael Hutchence.
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- Benjamin Lee
TV debate: Miliband condemns Pm's failure to 'turn up for job interview'
16 April 2015 6:28 AM, PDT
Labour leader attacks David Cameron’s decision not to appear in Thursday night’s BBC debate between leaders of five challenger parties
Ed Miliband has accused David Cameron of applying to be prime minister and then failing to turn up for the job interview before Thursday night’s BBC leaders’ debate which will only feature the challenger parties.
The Labour leader will face the Snp’s Nicola Sturgeon, Ukip’s Nigel Farage, the Green party’s Natalie Bennett and Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood in a live contest hosted by David Dimbleby at 8pm on BBC One.
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- Rowena Mason Political correspondent
Good Morning Britain fails to outshine Daybreak, one year on
16 April 2015 6:03 AM, PDT
ITV breakfast show pulls in fewer viewers than its predecessor, despite £1.5m revamp and hiring of Susanna Reid
Almost a year on since the £1.5m launch of Good Morning Britain figures show that ITV’s new breakfast show has pulled in fewer viewers than its much-maligned predecessor Daybreak.
And despite high-profile signings such as Susanna Reid from the BBC, Gmb is still being regularly beaten by rival BBC Breakfast.
Related: Susanna Reid apologises over swearing in Piers Morgan's Good Morning Britain debut
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- Tara Conlan
Gay audiences are still short-changed by Hollywood, Glaad survey suggests
16 April 2015 6:02 AM, PDT
Last year saw a marginal improvement in film but shows such as Looking and Orange is the New Black have led the way on the small screen
The film industry is still falling behind television in its depiction of gay characters, according to a report published yesterday that found only a marginal improvement last year.
The annual analysis from Glaad (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), which covers releases from the seven major studios, found that just 17.5% of the films covered (20 out of 114) featured a character who identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual. This is a small improvement on 2013 when just 16.7% (17 out of 102) were recorded in the same category.
Related: Why is Hollywood suffering another gay panic attack?
Related: The once-mighty bromance is dead – and Get Hard killed it | Hadley Freeman
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- Benjamin Lee
Laughing all the way to the ballot: comedy’s role in a general election
16 April 2015 5:00 AM, PDT
There’s little in this campaign’s comedy roster to suggest comedians will forcefully express any opinions about politicians – which is a missed opportunity
What is comedy’s role in a general election? Over the last few weeks, a raft of telly events have been announced to tie in with the vote. We’re promised an election sitcom, Ballot Monkeys, by the writers of Drop the Dead Donkey. Set on the campaign buses of (what Channel 4 defines as) the main parties – Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, plus that of Ukip – it will be filmed only a week before transmission, to maximise the cuttingness of its edge.
Elsewhere on the wee screen, we’ve got election editions of The Last Leg, Jack Dee’s Election Helpdesk, Charlie Brooker’s Election Wipe, and – safely post-election and on iPlayer only – Frankie Boyle’s Election Autopsy. There is also Newzoids, the so-called new Spitting Image, »
- Brian Logan
Scrumdiddlyumptious! Why all the best food shows are on children's TV
16 April 2015 4:27 AM, PDT
Glad MasterChef is nearly over? Sick to the soggy bottom of Bake Off innuendo? From Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch to I Can Cook and Junior Bake Off, children’s TV is where cookery shows get an injection of glucose-crazed energy
Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch, which began this week on Cbbc, is a gateway to a glossier, better world: one where food isn’t about competition, but rather stuff that tastes nice. The Ramsay Bunch in question is Gordon Ramsay’s family, but the star of the show is his smiley 13-year-old daughter Matilda.
She’s not as pottymouthed as her famous dad, but she reckons she’s already a better chef. Sporting freakishly manicured red nails, she’s bubbling over with enthusiasm for her dishes and beneath the basic recipes lie some trademark Ramsay twists.
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- Hannah Verdier
We need to see realistic Lgbt people on our screens, not toxic caricatures | Owen Jones
16 April 2015 4:12 AM, PDT
Lgbt people are as complex and varied as anybody else, yet in films and on television they are all too often invisible or depicted as uber-camp clowns or potential sexual menaces
One-dimensional uber-camp clowns, storylines centred on “being gay”, potential sexual menaces who want to get into the pants of straight men, lesbians whose sexuality makes them a challenge for men to turn: here are how Lgbt characters often appear on our screens. But that’s if they even appear at all. According to a new study by Glaad – which campaigns for Lgbt representation in the media – there has been a small increase in films with Lgbt characters, but from a low base. Out of 114 films they looked at, released in 2014, 17.5% featured non-straight characters, up from 16.7% the year before. Many of these depictions were problematic, with only just over half passing the “Vito Russo test”, which measures the quality of the representations. »
- Owen Jones
The Jinx: ‘So hard-boiled you could be watching a Coen Brothers movie’
16 April 2015 1:00 AM, PDT
True-crime doc The Jinx: The Life And Deaths Of Robert Durst certainly spins a gripping yarn, but do we really need all that salacious slo-mo, our critic asks
I’m up to Burma in The World at War, the landmark 26-part account of the second world war made in the mid-70s and recently repeated on BBC2. It reminds us how documentaries used to be done: record witness testimony, intersperse it with archive footage where available, and hire a theatrical knight of the realm to fruitily over-pronounce the foreign names.
Not any more. The modern documentary is closer in execution to high-end drama. A case in point is HBO’s The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (Thursday, 9pm, Sky Atlantic), an addictive true detective story told in six hour-long parts and whose firsthand affidavits, court recordings and microfiche headlines are enhanced by dramatic reconstruction so hard-boiled you »
- Andrew Collins
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