Say Nothing, about 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville, is horrendous, says Michael McConville
The son of Jean McConville, a woman who was murdered and buried in secret by the IRA, has condemned a new Disney series on her death as “horrendous” and “cruel”.
The series is based on the acclaimed book Say Nothing, about McConville and the wider role of the IRA during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, written by the US journalist Patrick Radden Keefe.
Continue reading...Items up for auction from Eric Morecambe’s family home show Ernie Wise had doubts about pair’s future
They became arguably the greatest comedy duo Britain has ever produced but if Eric Morecambe had listened to a young and despondent Ernie Wise they would have split up before ever getting properly started.
A poignant 1950 letter from Wise to Morecambe is part of a remarkable treasure trove of memorabilia to be auctioned in the new year.
Continue reading...Plan is forming for digitally focused show to expand and grow the brand in a fractured media landscape
When the BBC confirmed the news this week that Gary Lineker was leaving Match of the Day at the end of this season, the presenter’s official reaction was limited to a terse 21-word statement that he was “delighted” at signing a new contract to cover the FA Cup and 2026 World Cup.
The former England striker was – unsurprisingly – more expansive about leaving the BBC’s flagship football programme after 25 years on his own podcast, the Rest is Football, on Thursday. “All things have to come to an end,” he mused. “I think the next contract, they’re looking to do Match of the Day slightly differently. So I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.”
Continue reading...Actor ‘honoured’ to recite story and hopes it ‘brings warmth and encouragement’ to children and families
The British actor and Hollywood star Gary Oldman has said he is “very honoured” to read a special CBeebies bedtime story for Children in Need.
The 66-year-old Oscar and three-time Bafta winner will recite the story during Friday night’s 2024 edition of the charity fundraising show. The story of “warmth and encouragement and hope” has been written specifically for Children in Need by Claire Taylor and is based on a true story, with illustrations from Tim Budgen.
Continue reading...Star of Korean dramas Moon Embracing the Sun and Queen Woo was found dead at his home in Seoul
Song Jae-lim, a South Korean actor known for his roles in dramas Moon Embracing the Sun and Queen Woo, was found dead at his home in Seoul. He was 39.
Officials at Seoul’s Seongdong district police station didn’t immediately comment on the cause of death.
Continue reading...Corporation says presenter will quit highlights programme at end of 2024-25 season but will cover 2026 World Cup
Gary Lineker is to step down as the presenter of Match of the Day at the end of the season, the BBC has said.
The BBC confirmed earlier reports that Lineker would stay with the broadcaster to cover the FA Cup in 2025-26 and the 2026 Fifa World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico, but step back from its flagship highlights programme at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Continue reading...Spokesperson says Dowden will not take part in the rest of the competition owing to foot injury
The professional dancer Amy Dowden will not be continuing with this year’s season of Strictly Come Dancing to recover from a foot injury.
The development was revealed on the spin-off show Strictly It Takes Two on BBC Two on Monday and comes after a period of absence from the show for Dowden.
Continue reading...TV chef, who has signed up for bakery chain’s first ever festive advert, says she is a fan of its sausage rolls
Nigella Lawson has issued an impassioned paean to the Greggs sausage roll, amid reports of a banger-based dust-up that threatened to cast a shadow over her appearance in the bakery chain’s first ever Christmas advert.
Greggs confirmed on Sunday that the celebrity chef and cookbook author had agreed to star in its inaugural Christmas promotion, in which Lawson will purr over such delicacies as vegan festive bakes.
Continue reading...GB News to challenge decision and watchdog will not enforce sanction until proceedings are concluded
Ofcom has fined the rightwing broadcaster GB News £100,000 for “breaking due impartiality rules” after an interview with the former prime minister Rishi Sunak earlier this year.
The media regulator said it chose to impose a fine over the programme titled People’s Forum: The Prime Minister because it considered the breach serious, and because of GB News’s track record of breaking impartiality rules.
Continue reading...Former Top Gear host, 64, says he had stent fitted for blocked artery after ‘sudden deterioration’ in his health
Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he had a heart procedure after waking up feeling “clammy” with a tightness in his chest and pins and needles in left arm.
The 64-year-old former Top Gear host said he was taken to hospital by ambulance before having a stent fitted to open up a blocked artery, which left him thinking: “Crikey, that was close.”
Continue reading...Unique experiment in German-language public broadcasting 3sat faces pressure from populist right
In many countries around the world, breakfast TV means celebrity interviews, soap operas and last night’s football highlights. On the German-language channel 3sat this Sunday morning, it means a one-hour philosophical discussion on trauma psychology, followed by a book review programme and a classical concert by the Munich Radio Orchestra.
The collaboration between public broadcasters in Austria, Germany and Switzerland is a unique experiment in pan-European broadcasting that has defied doubters for almost four decades: highbrow television.
Continue reading...Former One Direction member died after falling from hotel balcony in Argentina on Wednesday
Liam Payne’s family and stars from across the music world have led tributes to the former One Direction star after his death at a hotel in Argentina.
“We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul,” his family said in a statement issued on Thursday.
Continue reading...Appearing alongside Evans on BBC spin-off show It Takes Two, Jones insists incident was ‘a silly joke’
The professional dancer Katya Jones has defended her Strictly Come Dancing partner, Wynne Evans, saying he has been “portrayed as someone he is not” after an incident during Saturday’s show when she moved his hand from her waist.
Appearing on BBC spin-off show It Takes Two on Monday alongside Evans, Jones said she wanted to “get something out of the way that I feel overshadowed our performance for absolutely no reason”.
Continue reading...Former BBC host, with millions of social media followers, was arrested in Australia following alleged attack on woman in Perth hotel room
The British rapper, YouTuber and television personality Yung Filly has been arrested in Australia and charged with rape and assault.
The 29-year-old, born Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos, who was on tour in the country, was arrested in Brisbane and taken to Perth where the alleged incidents occurred.
Continue reading...Hugely successful Netflix show has been a boon to French tourism but latest season takes events to Rome
It is shameless fantasy, from high heels on cobblestones to sanitised streets free of litter and dog poo, a suspiciously blue River Seine, no homelessness and a main character so cut off from reality that French media refer to her as “the overdressed American”.
But the hugely successful Netflix series Emily in Paris – for all its stereotyping about a Chicago marketing executive’s culture clashes in France – did bring hordes of tourists to the country, boost trade and increase inquiries to estate agents in the capital. So now its departure to Rome for series 5 has become a political issue, with the president, Emmanuel Macron, announcing he’ll fight hard to keep it in France.
Continue reading...Populist leader alleged to have ‘copied word for word’ a monologue by TV show’s fictional president Jed Bartlet
Argentina’s rightwing populist president, Javier Milei, has been accused of plagiarising a chunk of his recent speech to the United Nations general assembly from the political drama The West Wing.
“It seems like fiction, but it isn’t,” the left-leaning Buenos Aires newspaper Página 12 reported on Friday, claiming Milei had “copied, word for word, a monologue” by the television show’s fictional president, Josiah “Jed” Bartlet.
Continue reading...Former This Morning presenter says he was ‘so, so close’ to taking his own life after scandal that saw him quit ITV
Phillip Schofield has said he will be “forever sorry” in his first television appearance in more than a year since his shock downfall.
Schofield, now 62, quit ITV and admitted to having lied about an “unwise, but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague at This Morning last May. His agent parted ways with him and he has stayed out of the spotlight since.
Continue reading...Former ITV presenter will appear in Channel 5’s Cast Away, which follows a celebrity stranded off Madagascar
Phillip Schofield is returning to television 16 months after quitting This Morning over what he called an “unwise, but not illegal” affair.
The 62-year-old, who stepped down from presenting the ITV daytime show in May 2023 after 21 years, will appear in a Channel 5 special called Cast Away, which follows a celebrity stranded on an island off the coast of Madagascar for nearly two weeks.
Continue reading...Julia Roberts and Chris Rock tune in as vice-president attacks Trump on abortion and pledges to sign border bill
Kamala Harris sat down with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday for a “virtual rally” that included a wide ranging sit-down interview, during which Harris attacked her opponent’s stance on reproductive rights and pledged to sign a border security bill thwarted by Senate Republicans, but largely kept her guard up with the legendary television interviewer.
The event, helmed by one of the all-time masters of the television talkshow, was filled with celebrity cameos and heart-wrenching personal stories. It was live-streamed from Michigan, a key battleground state.
Continue reading...Period epic is first non-English language series to win for best drama as Netflix’s controversial breakout hit takes home four awards
Shōgun has made Emmys history as the first ever non-English language series to win for best drama.
The historical epic, based on the 1975 novel, picked up four awards during the evening, including Emmys for lead stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, the first Japanese actors to win their respective awards.
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