Week of « Prev | Next »
1-20 of 84 items « Prev | Next »
Lauren Laverne raises eyebrows with Radio 4's Late Night Woman’s Hour
7 hours ago
Night-time version of BBC show offers the chance for in-depth discussion – although some of the language has surprised even the presenter
Woman’s Hour has long been considered to be a safe, if slightly worthy, staple of the daytime Radio 4 schedule.
Until now, few would have described it as cool, and nobody would expect it to turn the airwaves blue. All that has changed now Lauren Laverne has taken the helm of a new late night version of the long-running show that is shaking up some of the cosier conventions of BBC speech radio.
Love that a guest said the F word on Late Night Woman’s Hour. Radio 4 listeners the world over are still in shock #Lnwh
Late-night woman's hour is a little different to daytime one. Isn't "hooking-up" via dating app a euphemism for the word one of guests used?
Continue reading »
- Alasdair Glennie
Claire Foy: an actor bringing a subtle talent to majestic roles
7 hours ago
Her steely, understated approach won praise when playing Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall and now Foy is taking on the role of Queen Elizabeth II in a new drama
Some castings seem so obvious in retrospect. Pictures released this week show Claire Foy playing Queen Elizabeth II on her wedding day in 1947, and just as you cannot picture the older Elizabeth as anyone other than Helen Mirren, when The Crown, an ambitious 60-part Netflix drama, comes out next year, the younger version will probably be forever linked with Foy.
It is not just in the facial similarities; they both have the same tiny physical stature, but with a steely, slightly terrifying core, a thousand words summed up in a single glance.
I’m never going to be a film star, and I’m not chasing it. I’m very happy playing interesting parts
Related: Claire Foy: Wolf Hall's »
- Emine Saner
Londongrad: Russian comedy series trailer - video
8 hours ago
Teaser trailer for the new Russian comedy detective series Londongrad, which premieres on Russian television next month. The series is unusual in that rather than a portrait of Russians through the eyes of London, it is a portrait of London through the eyes of its Russian inhabitants. The writers hope it ‘reminds Russians that the west is not populated by dog-headed monsters’
Continue reading »
- Guardian Staff
Letter: David Nobbs as a mentor
9 hours ago
David Nobbs was happy and willing to mentor new writers. He read my first novel and emailed me a full critique. It was mostly positive, but also made valid criticisms and gave me much-appreciated advice on how to improve.
When I sent him my latest book, A Cat Called Dog, he immediately declared that he didn’t like animal books – “apart from Winnie the Pooh” – but did single out one joke as being “brilliant”. To receive such praise from one of the best comic writers of the last half century was a real boost.
Continue reading »
- Jem Vanston
Londongrad: TV comedy shows London through eyes of its Russian inhabitants
9 hours ago
Russian comedy detective series centres around a ‘fixing’ agency set up to troubleshoot problems for rich Russians in London
A Russian official’s daughter is on the loose in London, threatening to ruin her father’s “patriotic” image and impending government promotion. Meanwhile, a young violin prodigy has been sent by pushy parents to play at the Royal Albert Hall, but all he really wants to do is visit Harry Potter sites. And a dubious Russian lawyer needs someone to sneak into a London office block and extract compromising files from the computers before police get hold of dirty business secrets.
It’s all in a day’s work for Misha Kulikov, the main character in the new Russian television show Londongrad, part comedy part detective series, which premieres on Russian television next month.
Our version is a kind of fantasy London of grifters and hustlers
Continue reading »
- Shaun Walker in Moscow
Coming up Trumps: could a British TV star do a Donald and enter politics?
10 hours ago
Having a media profile could be seen as an aid to getting into office. So Lord Sugar for prime minister – or Jeremy Paxman as a Tory MP?
Some analysts of Donald Trump’s status as the early front-runner in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination have attributed his success to his televisual history: a dozen seasons as a reality TV host, it’s argued, have bestowed the twin advantages of instant recognition and ease in the televised debates that form the earliest hustings. Although an apprentice in high-level politics, The Apprentice has made him a veteran of media tricks.
And while it can be counter-argued that the billionaire’s main trump-card might be a general electoral trend towards unlikely outsiders – Alex Tsipiras in Greece, Jeremy Corbyn in the UK – Trump’s run raises the question of whether, in an era when electoral politics increasingly plays out on a variety of shiny flat devices, »
- Mark Lawson
TV's herd mentality: reindeer to be Norway's next slow-burning hit
10 hours ago
Broadcaster that previously screened a fire and a jumper being knitted plans to show live footage of animals herded by indigenous Sami people
Norway’s public service broadcaster, which screened a 12-hour programme showing a fire burning and another of a jumper being knitted, has announced plans for its next slow TV hit – a reindeer migration.
Producers at Nrk are searching for a family from Norway’s indigenous Sami people willing to be filmed on their annual task of herding thousands of reindeer 350 miles from the Finnmark tundra, in the far north-east of the country, to their summer pastures near Hammerfest, with footage broadcast in real time.
Continue reading »
- Helen Russell in Aarhus
Game of Thrones's Maisie Williams: TV and film must create better roles for women than 'the hot piece'
11 hours ago
The actor has called for more substantial female roles, and for women to stop playing one-dimensional characters
Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams has criticised the way female characters are written in television and film, calling on the industry to create better roles than “the girlfriend” or “the hot piece”, and for women to “stop playing those characters”.
In an interview with the Evening Standard, the 18-year old actor also praised her Game of Thrones character Arya Stark, whom she described as “a great female character” and “a fantastic role model for girls”.
Related: Zoë Kravitz: ‘Why do stories happen to white people and everyone else is a punchline?’
Continue reading »
- Guardian TV
Nicholas Lyndhurst: my family values
13 hours ago
The actor talks about his father leaving, the poverty of his childhood and his grandfather who was a silent film pioneer
I don’t know if I’m like my father, but there are qualities I hope I have and others I hope I haven’t got. I inherited his manners. He was charming – a chivalrous, well-mannered man … considering he buggered off and started another family. My parents, Joe and Liz, separated when I was very young, got back together and separated permanently when I was a bit older. By the time I was eight, he’d begun an affair and had children with another woman.
I didn’t apportion blame to anyone. My mother found out dribs and drabs and finally confronted him. I remember thinking, when he went, I’m glad the fighting’s stopped. That sounds selfish, but I thought, I don’t feel bitter or sad. »
- Interview by Katherine Hassell
K-pop against Kim: the radio broadcasts that have incensed North Korea
14 hours ago
Buddhism, weather advice and music feature among programmes that sparked latest escalation of tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang. Nk News reports
Kim Jong-un puts troops on ‘war footing’
South and North Korea are engaged in a high-volume propaganda war, with the recent resumption of radio broadcasts across the demilitarised zone setting off a chain of events that have led to Kim Jong-un to threaten military action.
But what exactly is in these broadcasts that have so upset fragile relations between the two Koreas?
Related: Kim Jong-un puts troops on 'war footing' after two Koreas exchange artillery fire
Related: Ask a North Korean: do you love K-pop too?
Related: Two South Korean soldiers injured in apparent landmine explosion on border
Continue reading »
- Ha-young Choi for NK News, part of the North Korea network
We can't let increased transgender visibility lead to more vulnerability | Harmony Rodriguez
14 hours ago
Trans women are now more likely to be positively represented in the media. This visibility should help push for greater respect and freedom from violence
It’s an unprecedented time in society. Trans women are appearing in the media as Hollywood actresses, writers, innovators and advocates. Increased positive representation of trans people is one of the greatest things that could have happened to trans women as a group. But, in this moment of celebration, we need to ensure that more visibility doesn’t lead to more vulnerability.
The lack of representation made such an impact on me, that for a long time I had no idea how to parse my feelings about gender, my body, my sexuality and how I could exist in the world. In my childhood, any trans or gender non-conforming person on television or in film was almost always treated as a villain or a dead body. »
- Harmony Rodriguez
Ben Fogle to seek great white sharks in UK waters – with a dead whale as bait
14 hours ago
ITV documentary seeks to prove notorious predators live off British coastline
Adventurer Ben Fogle has embarked on an expedition to hunt for great white sharks in UK waters, using the carcass of a 30ft whale as bait.
The investigation will reveal the hidden creatures lurking in British seas for an upcoming ITV documentary fronted by the presenter. It is believed to be the first whale-fall experiment to take place in the UK, recreating what happens when a whale drops to the bottom of the ocean once it dies.
Continue reading »
- Press Association
Patti Smith records tribute to cartoon characters made out of fast food
18 hours ago
Smith marks the finale of Aqua Teen Hunger Force with a specially recorded ballad about the show
Patti Smith has marked the approaching end of the cartoon series Aqua Teen Hunger Force with a special song, paying tribute to the show.
In her heartfelt ballad Aqua Teen Dream, posted online, Smith sings plaintively: “I’d never dreamed I’d be in Aqua Teen / 13 seasons, what did it mean?” “A Master Shake, Meatwad, a floating head / And now you’re dead and it’s the end of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”
Continue reading »
- Guardian music
Mythbusters redux, Top Gear Pd Blue – which factual shows would work as dramas?
18 hours ago
Pop-science series Mythbusters, which deconstructs urban myths and other half-truths, is set for a remake as a scripted drama series. Just consider the possibilities if we did the same with British shows …
I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it until I go blue and die: I love Mythbusters. In fact, I don’t just love it, I rely upon it. Because it’s always on, and it’s always entertaining, Mythbusters has become a televisual safety net for me, a mechanism that stops me tumbling down into the dark wastelands of the Epg that consist of nothing but milf porn and Gems TV. Until today, I assumed that Mythbusters was about as good as it got.
However, I am but a simple man, and my imagination is weak. When I watched Mythbusters, I only saw a fun, pop-factual series about two men blowing things up in the name of science. »
- Stuart Heritage
Building the Ancient City: Athens and Rome review – ‘an infectious mix of wonder and actual knowledge’
19 hours ago
Not even Boris Johnson can spoil the rosy-cheeked humour and gusto of Professor Wallace-Hadrill’s portrait of ancient Athens
No sudden moves, but if you turn slowly towards BBC2, you might catch a glimpse of a bona fide expert presenting a programme on ancient Athens. Not Joanna Lumley or David Suchet, but an actual professor of classics called Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, who infuses Building the Ancient City: Athens and Rome (BBC2) with real facts and enthusiasm.
I don’t know how producers smuggled him past commissioning editors more usually preoccupied with celebrity. But I have a feeling the trade-off here is Boris Johnson, who pops up sporadically to talk about his admiration for the Athenians’ civic organisation. Fair enough; with his classics degree he’s qualified. But the fact he isn’t presenting this two-part series is surprising. Is it an aberration or has something genuinely shifted, because I’ll happily »
- Julia Raeside
Friday’s best TV
20 hours ago
Victorian cops and killers in Ripper Street, filmed sessions of Katie Price: In Therapy and Rick Stein tastes his way From Venice To Istanbul. Plus: an assault course for the Mountain Goats and Kirsty Wark introduces Edinburgh Nights
Some of the most hazardous police operations taken on in recent years are reconstructed here to reveal the heroism displayed by our bobbies on the beat. In the first instalment of this new series, the annual Police Federation bravery awards proves to be a pretty ample source of plucky tales of courage. Meanwhile, two officers reveal how their lives hung in the balance after being called to what was thought to be a standard domestic dispute, then finding themselves unarmed and in grave danger. Ben Arnold
Continue reading »
- Ben Arnold, Hannah J Davies, Julia Raeside, John Robinson, Ali Catterall, Mark Gibbings-Jones, Graeme Virtue, Paul Howlett
Police to recommend Caitlyn Jenner face manslaughter charges for car crash
20 August 2015 11:59 AM, PDT
Los Angeles County sheriff’s department to tell prosecutors Jenner should be charged with manslaughter over February crash in Malibu that left one dead
Caitlyn Jenner could face manslaughter charges following a February car crash that killed one and injured seven.
Sheriff’s investigators plan to recommend prosecutors file a vehicular manslaughter charge against Jenner for the fatal crash on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.
Continue reading »
- Mahita Gajanan and agencies
Ta-ra to Cilla Black: it had to be in Liverpool, it had to be on TV
20 August 2015 11:05 AM, PDT
The singer and presenter’s crowd-thronged funeral featured a star-studded lineup, feelgood humour and her own spine-tinglingly dramatic voice
When the cricket legend Richie Benaud died, the Australian government offered his family a state funeral, which was refused on the grounds that he had been a private person. The three sons of Cilla Black were not presented with any such dilemma by David Cameron, but their mother received what was probably the closest Britain has seen to a celebrity state funeral.
As the singer and TV presenter was baptised and died a Roman Catholic, St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey would have unavailable to her. But Merseyside, the showbiz capital of Britain at the time Cilla achieved her first fame as a singer in the Beatles era, was the only place for her story to end. The city’s spike-crowned Metropolitan cathedral could easily have been filled, but the family »
- Mark Lawson
Cilla Black funeral: fans line streets to say goodbye
20 August 2015 10:52 AM, PDT
Fans of Cilla Black fill Woolton streets before funeral attended by stars including Sir Cliff Richard and Carol Vorderman
Two hours before Cilla Black’s coffin arrived at St Mary’s church, the streets of Woolton started to swell. There were pensioners making a day of it with flasks and biscuits; shop assistants in tabards; workmen in hard hats and high-viz jackets; wheelchairs, pushchairs and 71-year-old Tony Biggs, who had come in his leathers all the way from Stoke on his Suzuki Intruder because “Cilla was one of the lads”.
Jane Richardson had come from Huddersfield in her best dress. “I like going to celebrity funerals – I’ve been to Reggie Kray, Princess Diana,” said the 49-year-old. “But I did like Cilla. She was a good northern lass.” Val Fawcett, 71, was in her Tesco uniform with her daughter, Angela. “It feels like the end of an era,” said Fawcett. “We »
- Helen Pidd northern editor
Spoiler alert: Bake Off has a short shelf life, so cut Mary Berry some slack | Rupert Myers
20 August 2015 8:50 AM, PDT
If you can’t bear to sit through an episode of The Great British Bake Off already knowing who loses, it’s probably not great television and you should get a life
Today’s tech-savvy generation has to be the most spoilt, impatient bunch of brats the world has ever produced. You angrily tweet executives because the bento box you ordered from Amazon Prime still hasn’t arrived; you mew on Facebook about the patchy 4G coverage while you’re on a beach trying to watch a livestream of Pound Shop Wars. Never has more technology been chucked in the faces of an ever less appreciative consumer group.
Related: Spoiler Alert: Google is trying to get rid of spoilers
Bakeoff has a shelf life and you cannot sensibly expect it not to spoil
Continue reading »
- Rupert Myers
1-20 of 84 items « Prev | Next »