Category Archives: Television & radio

US court reinstates Adnan Syed murder conviction in Serial podcast case

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Maryland court orders conviction reinstated and new hearing held but ruling suggests Syed, 41, will not remain convicted for long

A court in Maryland has reinstated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, the Baltimore man whose alleged involvement in the 1999 murder of 17-year-old Hae Min Lee was the subject of the hit podcast Serial.

Syed, 41, was convicted of murdering Lee in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison, though he always maintained his innocence. In September last year, state prosecutors revealed they had uncovered new evidence they said undermined Syed’s conviction and pointed to two alternative suspects.

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BBC accused of ‘hiding’ Oxbridge bias on University Challenge in deepening elitism row

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Corporation rejects freedom of information request from campaigner who claims show is ‘rigged’

The BBC has been accused of “hiding” the extent of its Oxbridge bias on University Challenge in a deepening row about alleged elitism on the show.

The Guardian revealed that Frank Coffield, a Durham-based emeritus professor of education at University College London, is campaigning for fairer entry rules for the show for what he says is a rigged contest.

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Mexican children’s entertainer Chabelo dies aged 88

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Comic, real name Xavier López, fronted children’s TV show that ran from 1967 to 2015

The Mexican children’s entertainer Xavier López, better known by his stage name Chabelo, has died at 88, Mexico’s president has said.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador tweeted that his eldest son “woke up early to see him [on television] more than 40 years ago”.

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BBC’s Race Across the World stirs Canadian hopes of UK tourist boom

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British viewers are showing an interest in travelling to Canada after launch of reality show’s third series

Canada’s tourism industry this week expressed hopes for a rise in UK visitors after the third series of BBC’s Race Across the World launched in the UK to rave reviews.

The reality show, in which five couples travel 10,000 miles (16,000km) from one side of Canada to another on a shoestring and without flying, could be a boon to the country’s recovering tourism sector. Arrivals were down 40% in 2022 from their high in 2019, but there are hopes for an increase with UK viewers inspired by the epic scenery and charmed by helpful Canadians.

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Rick and Morty’s Justin Roiland cleared of domestic violence charges

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Roiland says he ‘never had any doubt that this day would come’ after authorities say there was ‘insufficient evidence’

Felony domestic violence charges against Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland have been dismissed, two months after he was dropped from the show.

Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the Orange County district attorney’s office, confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday, saying: “We dismissed the charges today as a result of having insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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Whoopi Goldberg apologizes for using Romani slur on ABC’s The View

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‘I’m really, really sorry,’ the actor said, a year after she was suspended from show for saying the Holocaust ‘isn’t about race’

Whoopi Goldberg has issued an apology following her use of a racial slur during an episode of ABC’s The View.

On Wednesday, Goldberg used a derogatory term associated with Romani people while discussing former president Donald Trump, saying that his supporters are “people who still believe that he got gypped somehow in the election”.

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BBC to air Match of the Day without presenters after Gary Lineker’s suspension

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Decision taken after corporation takes its highest-paid presenter off air and his fellow broadcasters refuse to appear in solidarity

Match of the Day will be broadcast without any presenters or pundits this weekend, after the main host, Gary Lineker, was suspended from the BBC for breaching impartiality guidelines over his criticism of the government’s asylum policies.

In a dramatic and unexpected escalation of a crisis that has been brewing all week, the corporation took the decision to take its highest-paid presenter off its flagship football show after he was criticised by Tory MPs and the rightwing media.

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BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of ‘rightwing backlash’

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Exclusive: Decision to make episode about natural destruction available only on iPlayer angers programme-makers

The BBC has decided not to broadcast an episode of Sir David Attenborough’s flagship new series on British wildlife because of fears its themes of the destruction of nature would risk a backlash from Tory politicians and the rightwing press, the Guardian has been told.

The decision has angered the programme-makers and some insiders at the BBC, who fear the corporation has bowed to pressure from lobbying groups with “dinosaurian ways”.

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Producers feared David Attenborough would catch bird flu and die during filming

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Plans to film veteran broadcaster close to birds for Wild Isles series pulled over concerns about his health

Television producers feared David Attenborough would catch bird flu and die during filming for his latest series – likely to be the veteran broadcaster’s last job on location.

Wild Isles, which premieres on Sunday, will be Attenborough’s first landmark series on the natural history of Britain and Ireland. Filmed over the course of three years, the five-part series aims to shine a light on the challenges affecting the British Isles and celebrate nature that exists on our doorsteps.

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Screen Actors Guild awards 2023: Everything Everywhere All at Once breaks record for wins

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The multiverse adventure picked up four major categories, while The White Lotus and Abbott Elementary won big for television

Everything Everywhere All at Once reigned supreme at this year’s Screen Actors Guild awards, winning four major awards and breaking the record for most wins for a single film.

The multiverse fantasy film picked up the night’s biggest award for ensemble in a motion picture, female actor for Michelle Yeoh and both supporting actor awards, for Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan.

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Lavish Flemish epic grips Belgians – but is it history or propaganda?

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The Story of Flanders, spanning 38,000 years of the region’s history, is funded by the nationalist government and is accused of stretching the truth

It is blockbuster TV, with Romans and Vikings, knights and Neanderthals, trains and the trenches of the first world war – and a hefty dose of political controversy.

The Story of Flanders, a 10-part history series airing in Belgium’s northern region until March, has been a cultural landmark. But the apparently lavish funding from the region’s government, run by the separatist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party, which seeks to make Flanders independent from Belgium, has led to accusations of propaganda.

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Richard Belzer, Detective John Munch in TV hits, dies aged 78

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Standup comedian played police role in Homicide: Life on the Streets, Law & Order: SVU and other series

Richard Belzer, a stand-up comedian who became one of TV’s most indelible detectives as John Munch in Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU, has died. He was 78.

Belzer died on Sunday at his home in Bozouls in southern France, his longtime friend Bill Scheft told the Hollywood Reporter.

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Wallace and Gromit maker warns UK animators may have to move abroad

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Exclusive: head of Aardman studio blames Brexit as UK falls behind on skills and tax relief

The head of Aardman, the Oscar-winning British studio behind Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, has warned that the nation’s animation productions for children’s television will have to be made overseas because acute challenges are taking their toll on the UK sector.

Sean Clarke, Aardman’s managing director, said the company is struggling with everything from serious competition from other countries on tax relief to a dire skills shortage.

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Jane Hill and Ben Brown among anchors axed as BBC merges news channels

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Insiders say departure of popular BBC News presenters – with Martine Croxall also going – could prompt ageism row

Some of the BBC News channel’s most famous faces, including Jane Hill, Ben Brown and Martine Croxall, have been axed before the launch this spring of a channel that combines international and domestic news.

The trio have become familiar to UK viewers during times of political and economic turmoil and their departure could prompt a row about ageism, according to BBC insiders.

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Annie Wersching, best known for role in TV series 24, dies at 45

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Actor appeared in two series of the thriller as well as Star Trek: Picard, and was reportedly diagnosed with cancer in 2020

The actor Annie Wersching, best known for playing FBI agent Renee Walker in the TV series 24, has died at the age of 45.

Wersching died on Sunday morning in Los Angeles following a battle with cancer, her publicist told the Associated Press. The type of cancer was not specified.

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Netflix crackdown on password sharing to begin in coming months

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Sharing accounts across multiple households likely to attract additional fee as streaming giant looks to recoup subscriber losses

Streaming giant Netflix will begin its crackdown on password sharing in the first quarter of this year, after the release of its company earnings report to shareholders last week.

The practice of sharing passwords with people outside the subscriber’s household will become more complex and is likely to involve an additional fee to share a single subscription across multiple locations.

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Justin Roiland dropped from two more TV shows after domestic abuse charges

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Roiland, who has pleaded not guilty, will no longer work on Hulu shows Solar Opposites or Koala Man, as well as being dropped from Rick and Morty

Justin Roiland has been dropped from two more animated shows, Solar Opposites and Koala Man, after being charged with felony domestic violence against a former girlfriend, a day after he was dropped from hit series Rick and Morty.

US network Hulu announced on Wednesday that it had “ended our association with Justin Roiland”, a day after Rick and Morty distributor Adult Swim released a similar statement saying he would no longer voice the titular characters or work as showrunnner.

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‘Soho grifter’ Anna Sorokin developing Delvey’s Dinner Club reality TV series

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Convicted fraudster and inspiration behind Inventing Anna is creating a series in which she hosts dinner parties in her apartment

Anna Sorokin, the convicted con artist who went by the name Anna Delvey, subject of a viral New York magazine story and inspiration for the Netflix series Inventing Anna, is reportedly working on her next act: a reality TV series.

The Russian-born former “Soho grifter”, who is currently under house arrest after overstaying her visa, will host “celebrities, moguls and glitterati” for dinner parties in her Manhattan apartment for an unscripted series tentatively titled Delvey’s Dinner Club, according to a statement from producers on Wednesday. Sorokin, who just turned 32, was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention last October after overstaying her visa; she already completed her sentence for her 2019 conviction for attempted grand larceny.

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John Lydon hopes to highlight ‘torture’ of Alzheimer’s with Eurovision bid

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Former Sex Pistol competing to represent Ireland with love letter to wife of 44 years who is living with the illness

John Lydon has said he is competing to represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision song contest primarily in order to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease. The former Sex Pistols frontman (once known as Johnny Rotten) will appear with his band, Public Image Ltd, on the Late Late Show on 3 February, performing Hawaii, a love letter to his wife of 44 years, Nora Forster, who is living with the illness.

“I’m doing it to highlight the sheer torture of what Alzheimer’s is,” said the singer, who holds an Irish passport as well as US citizenship. “It gets swept under the carpet, but in highlighting it, hopefully we get a stage nearer to a cure.” Lydon insisted that spreading this message was much more important than competing to win, so he isn’t listening to the five other entrants.

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Joan Sydney, Neighbours and A Country Practice actor, dies aged 83

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The English Australian actor, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, died at home in Sydney in December

Neighbours and A Country Practice actor Joan Sydney has died at the age of 83.

The English Australian actor, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, died at her Sydney home on 28 December. Her long-time friend and fellow actor Sally-Anne Upton confirmed the news on social media on Friday.

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