Category Archives: Television

Harry & Meghan live: reaction as highly anticipated Netflix documentary launches

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First chapter of what has been described as an ‘unprecedented’ look behind the scenes at conflict in British royal family arrives at 8am UK time

“I just really want to get to the other side of all of this” Meghan says during the opening montage of the documentary, which includes a voiceover by Harry, and starts at the point where the couple have performed their last royal engagements having announced they were stepping back from royal duties. “I think anyone else in my situation would have done exactly the same thing” Harry says. There is clearly a lucrative role in playing sad piano music for Netflix documentaries out there.

I’ve no idea how many people will be tuning in as soon as the documentary arrives – 8am does seem an odd time to launch a prestige series – but I, and presumably a load of other journalists, have just pressed play.

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Aacta awards 2022: Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, Mystery Road and Heartbreak High win big

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Mandy Walker became the first female to win best cinematographer for Elvis, which beat out the Drover’s Wife and the Stranger in most film categories

Baz Luhrmann’s $127m biopic extravaganza Elvis has scooped the 12th annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) awards, collecting a total of 11 gongs including best film, best director, best lead actor for Austin Butler in the title role and best supporting actress for Olivia DeJonge, for her role as Priscilla Presley.

The film also made history, with Mandy Walker winning for cinematography at an earlier ceremony this week: a first for female cinematographers at the Aactas. No woman has ever won for cinematography at the Oscars or the Baftas.

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Matt Lucas to leave The Great British Bake Off

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Comedian who has co-hosted Channel 4 show for three series to focus on other projects including Fantasy Football League

Matt Lucas has announced he is stepping down from his presenting role on The Great British Bake Off.

The 48-year-old comedian, who has hosted the popular Channel 4 show alongside Noel Fielding for three series, explained he was leaving as he could no longer commit to the programme’s schedule alongside his other projects, including his new hosting role on the revived comedy show Fantasy Football League.

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Kirstie Alley, Cheers and Look Who’s Talking actor, dies aged 71

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Alley’s children say the actor died ‘after a battle with cancer, only recently discovered’

Kirstie Alley, the TV and film star known for her roles in Cheers, Veronica’s Closet and Look Who’s Talking, has died at the age of 71.

Alley’s death was confirmed on Monday night in a statement from her children, William “True” Stevenson and Lillie Price Stevenson, which was posted to her social media account. Her manager also separately confirmed her death.

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ABC News pulls hosts TJ Holmes and Amy Robach off air after romance revealed

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US network says the anchors, who are married to other people, will be temporarily pulled from GMA3 as their romance is ‘an internal and an external distraction’

Two TV anchors working for ABC News in the US have been pulled from air after their workplace romance came to light, amid a storm of public gossip and tabloid coverage.

TJ Holmes and Amy Robach, who have worked as hosts on Good Morning America spinoff talkshow GMA3 since 2020, were revealed to be in a relationship last week after paparazzi photos of the pair were published online. Both Holmes and Robach are married, but after the photos were published a representative for the pair said they had both separated from their spouses and the relationship only began recently.

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Her dark materials: Tim Burton’s Wednesday sparks a gothic fashion revival

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Take a crisp white shirt, layers of black tulle and lace, and team with a sullen stare. Now you’re tuned in to Netflix’s new take on the Addams family

If you are seeing a lot of Gen Z wearing black, plaiting their hair into pigtails and giving you a Kubrick Stare, it’s all because of their new anti-heroine heroine, Wednesday. It has been just over a week since Tim Burton’s new series Wednesday debuted on Netflix but already tweens and teens are channelling the sullen and sardonic daughter of the Addams family.

Defined by the deadpan Christina Ricci in the 90s films, this time round Wednesday has been given a Gen-Z makeover. The series follows a now teenage Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) as she is banished to Nevermore Academy, a creepy boarding school, after an incident involving a school swimming team and a bag of piranhas. What ensues is an action-packed melodrama fusing the genres of murder mystery with horror and a dollop of teenage angst. It has swiftly become Netflix’s most popular show, beating the last series of Stranger Things.

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Russian army ‘came knocking’ to recruit son of slain spy Alexander Litvinenko

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The poisoned agent’s son Anatoly tells of the visit to his Moscow flat, as ITV prepares to screen a drama about the killing of his father, played by David Tennant

Anatoly Litvinenko: How the Kremlin tried to conscript me

The Moscow home of the son of Alexander Litvinenko, the defector killed with polonium-210 in London in 2006, has been visited by recruiting officers from the Russian army hoping to sign him up.

Anatoly Litvinenko, 28, has revealed that he was called up for military service in Ukraine a few weeks ago by soldiers who seemed unaware of his tragic history with Vladimir Putin’s regime.

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Matt Hancock broke government rules over I’m a Celebrity stint, says watchdog chair

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Eric Pickles says former health secretary did not consult Acoba before appearing on reality TV show

Matt Hancock breached the government’s business appointment rules by not consulting the watchdog before appearing on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, the chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) has said.

In a letter to the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Dowden, Eric Pickles wrote: “I am writing to you in my capacity as chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments to bring to your attention a breach of the government’s business appointment rules.

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Jason David Frank, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers star, dies at 49

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Cause of death wasn’t immediately released, though multiple reports indicated Frank died by suicide

The actor and mixed martial artist Jason David Frank, who starred on the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, has died, his representatives confirmed to the entertain news outlet Geek Ireland. He was 49 years old.

Frank attained fame in the early 1990s as the green power ranger, Tommy Oliver, who then becomes the white power ranger on a children’s television show about superheroes who are particularly skilled in martial arts. The show generated spin-off movies, action figures and other toys.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.

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Charlene White first to be eliminated from I’m a Celebrity

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Loose Women presenter got the fewest votes on Friday night and follows Olivia Attwood, who left for medical reasons, out of the show

Charlene White has become the first contestant to be eliminated from I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! after a public vote.

The Loose Women presenter accrued the fewest votes on Friday night after 14 days in camp.

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Millie Gibson revealed as Time Lord’s new sidekick in Doctor Who

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Coronation Street actor will appear as companion to Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th incarnation of the Doctor late in 2023

Millie Gibson has been unveiled as the Time Lord’s new sidekick in Doctor Who, in an announcement made live on BBC Children in Need on Friday evening.

The Coronation Street actor, 18, will play the role of Ruby Sunday, companion to the new Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, when the programme returns towards the end of 2023.

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Former Top Gear presenter and motoring journalist Sue Baker dies aged 67

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One of the original line-up of the BBC’s car show, Baker had been suffering from motor neurone disease

Sue Baker, one of the original presenters of BBC’s Top Gear and the Observer’s former motoring editor, has died aged 67. Baker, who joined the original format of the TV series in 1980, died on Monday morning after suffering with motor neurone disease (MND).

She appeared on more than 100 episodes of the car programme until 1991. She then left to continue her work as a motoring journalist.

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TV property presenter Jonnie Irwin reveals he has terminal cancer

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A Place in the Sun and Escape to the Country host hopes he can inspire others to ‘make the most of every day’

The TV presenter Jonnie Irwin has revealed he has terminal cancer, saying he hopes sharing his diagnosis will inspire others to “make the most of every day”.

The 48-year-old, who presents Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun and the BBC’s Escape to the Country, said he had lung cancer that had spread to his brain, and that he did not know how much time he had left to live.

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I’m a Celebrity: MPs and peers voting for Hancock to do ‘grim’ tasks, says minister

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Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, claims ‘quite a lot’ of politicians downloading TV show app

A large number of politicians in parliament are voting for Matt Hancock to perform “grim” tasks on I’m A Celebrity, a senior minister has suggested.

After the former Conservative health secretary was pelted with sludge and insects on his first night in the Australian jungle, a former cabinet colleague said even technophobic peers back home in Britain were downloading an app used to vote contestants into performing gruesome “bushtucker trials”.

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Matt Hancock squeals as he is showered with sludge on I’m a Celebrity debut

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Former health secretary crawls through dark tunnels in Beastly Burrows first trial

In the run-up to Matt Hancock’s appearance on I’m a Celebrity, it was widely speculated that he would be subjected to all the most gruesome challenges. In that respect, his first episode did not fail to deliver.

The hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly – and probably much of the nation – could barely contain their delight as the former health secretary was forced to crawl through tiny, dark tunnels where he was showered with bugs and sludge.

I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! continues on Thursday at 9pm on ITV and ITV Hub.

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Serious concerns raised in NZ about environmental impact of major productions including Amazon’s Rings of Power

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In response to workers’ claims of high emissions and waste, Amazon says it complied with all laws and ‘either met or exceeded industry standards’

Picture three scenes: in a sheltered clearing, a stand of trees stretches skyward, trunks pale against the dark soil, leaves dappling the ground like golden dollar coins. In another, a maelstrom of white flakes is carried in eddies by the wind. In a third, sheer cliffs are slick with snow, icicles hanging like shards of glass.

Scenes like these have formed the visual signature for onscreen adaptations of the Lord of the Rings, including Amazon’s latest, monster-budget offering, The Rings of Power. That association has helped form the bedrock of a decade of New Zealand tourism campaigns, showcasing the country’s pristine environments to the world.

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Matt Hancock loses Tory whip after agreeing to appear on I’m a Celebrity

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Action taken by party against former minister after it emerges he is to appear on reality TV show

The former cabinet minister Matt Hancock has had the Tory whip suspended after it emerged he was entering the jungle for I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!

The politician will be the 12th contestant to enter the show, which features famous faces performing gruelling tasks such as being smothered in insects or eating kangaroo penis.

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Griff Rhys Jones criticises M&S plan to raze and rebuild Oxford Street store

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Comedian and campaigner tells planning inquiry retailer is failing to use landmark building imaginatively

The comedian Griff Rhys Jones is the latest high-profile name to weigh in against Marks & Spencer’s plan to raze and redevelop its main London store, accusing the retailer of not making the most of its landmark building.

Jones, who presented the BBC TV series Restoration in the 2000s, which identified significant buildings in need of repair, told an inquiry into the development of the store on Oxford Street near Marble Arch that, having shopped there, he “would venture that M&S are not using the space in a very imaginative way compared to the possibilities old buildings offer. I wonder if the ‘unsuitability’ has more to do with the desire to create a much bigger floor space and offices.”

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Actor Leslie Jordan dies at 67 in car accident

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Reports suggest that the character actor appears to have suffered a medical emergency before crashing his car in Hollywood

Actor Leslie Jordan has died after a car accident in Los Angeles on Monday at the age of 67.

Law enforcement sources told TMZ and then the Los Angeles Times that they suspected the beloved actor suffered a medical emergency before crashing his BMW into the side of a building in Hollywood.

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Richard Harris archive donated to Cork University

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Late Irish actor’s poems, photos, plaques and even his wedding list among items handed over by family

Richard Harris blazed through life as an actor, singer, boozer and womaniser but few knew he was also a hoarder.

Poems, photos, letters, script notes, artefacts, documents, rugby plaques, his wedding guest list – he kept it all. After his death in 2002, the trove spanning 50 years of cinema and theatre gathered dust in a lock-up in Oxford, known only to his family.

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