City beat 19 others to host 67th contest after Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed staging event in Mariupol was not possible
The Eurovision song contest will be hosted by Liverpool next year after it beat 19 other cites to stage the event on behalf of war-torn Ukraine.
The annual extravaganza will be held in the UK for the first time in 25 years on 13 May as Ukraine is unable to host the event due to the Russian invasion.
Continue reading...Scrubs and Californication producer accused of using ‘his Hollywood credentials’ to sexually assault women during photo shoots
Eric Weinberg, a veteran television producer and writer who worked on shows including Scrubs and Californication, has been arrested and charged with 18 counts including rape, sexual battery and false imprisonment by violence.
The 61-year-old was initially arrested at his Los Angeles home in July and released on $3.2m bond. On Tuesday, he was arrested again and later released on $5m bond.
Continue reading...Streaming service going ahead with 10 episodes, with Kelsey Grammer reprising his role as Frasier Crane, but other original cast members remain unconfirmed
Tossed salad and scrambled eggs are back on the menu (with a glass of sherry, of course): the much-anticipated Frasier sequel is officially going ahead.
One of television’s most successful sitcoms, Frasier ran for 263 episodes between 1993 and 2004, winning 37 Emmy awards. When it was announced in February 2021 that a sequel was in development, it was revealed that Kelsey Grammer would be returning to the title role and serve as executive producer.
Continue reading...DJ, whose last track on his ‘big show’ was Queen’s Radio Ga Ga, will continue to broadcast on the BBC
Steve Wright has signed off from his final Radio 2 afternoon show with the DJ thanking his listeners for tuning in for the last 23 years.
He played out with Queen’s Radio Ga Ga and its final lyrics: “You had your time, you had the power, you’ve yet to have your finest hour.” As the music faded, Wright said: “Those are the closing moments of Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio 2.”
Continue reading...Canadian actor had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder over shooting near Vancouver
The actor Ryan Grantham – featured in the CW show Riverdale and the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid – has been sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting his mother in their home in Canada.
Grantham, 24, was sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder, which carries an automatic sentence of life in prison, reported the New York Times.
Continue reading...Royal drama, which will star Imelda Staunton as the Queen and Jonathan Pryce as Philip, will be streamed from 9 November
The fifth series of Netflix’s royal drama The Crown will launch on 9 November, it has been announced.
The date was shared during Netflix’s Tudum global fan event, which showcased upcoming series and films from the streamer – including a sneak peek at the third series of Bridgerton and a first look at Shonda Rhimes’ Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, a prequel centred on Queen Charlotte’s rise to prominence and power.
Continue reading...Richard Dimbleby commentated on the Queen’s coronation 69 years ago and the funeral of George VI in 1952
The veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby has commentated on the BBC’s coverage of the Queen’s committal at Windsor Castle, in an echo of his father from 70 years ago.
As the procession gradually made the mile-long journey to St George’s Chapel, Dimbleby calmly and clearly described for BBC viewers the “extraordinary scenes” that unfolded at Windsor over the past few days, the royal standard that covered the Queen’s coffin and the understandable restlessness of the horses moving at the slow place.
Continue reading...Brothers of Italy’s Federico Mollicone urges state broadcaster not to show episode with co-parenting polar bears
A senior member of a far-right Italian political party tipped to win general elections this month has appealed to state broadcaster Rai not to screen an episode of the globally popular children’s cartoon series Peppa Pig over the inclusion of a same-sex couple in its cast of characters.
The episode, called Families, was shown for the first time in the UK on Tuesday, and features two co-parenting lesbian polar bears. A character called Penny announces: “I live with my mummy and my other mummy. One mummy is a doctor and one mummy cooks spaghetti.” The family then sit down for a meal together.
Continue reading...The Teacher’s Pet helped solve a 40-year-old murder but the popularity of real crime dramas raises questions and legal concerns
For the makers of The Teacher’s Pet, the result could not be better: an Australian man who murdered his wife 40 years ago was convicted after a detailed reinvestigation of the case by the true crime podcast.
It uncovered flaws in the original police investigation and an unwillingness by prosecutors to charge Chris Dawson with the murder of his wife, Lynette.
Continue reading...Show offers young men insight into female counterparts, says Kevin Lygo, as channel adds Big Brother to roster
Cynics have suggested Love Island’s popularity is built on the opportunity to watch contestants walking around a villa in swimwear. But according to ITV’s boss, the show’s real appeal for young men is the insight it offers into the mentality of women.
Kevin Lygo, who oversees ITV’s programme output, said the hit dating show allows straight men to hear conversations that they are usually excluded from.
Continue reading...Actor tells Radio Times of social media backlash after landing part in Game of Thrones prequel
Steve Toussaint has revealed he received racist abuse online after he was cast as Corlys Velaryon in the upcoming Game Of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon.
The 57-year-old British actor has previously starred in Doctor Who, Line of Duty and Death in Paradise.
Continue reading...Presenter also admits the reason for his departure was new BBC schedule for Sunday afternoon show
Paul O’Grady thanked his listeners and said he can now “run free” as he signed off from his final BBC Radio 2 show on Sunday.
O’Grady, 67, had hosted the Sunday afternoon programme for nearly 14 years, before a schedule shake-up meant he shared the hosting role with comic Rob Beckett, swapping every 13 weeks.
Continue reading...PM marks public broadcaster’s 90th birthday with a defence of its importance and thinly veiled attack on former government
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Only a government ruled by ideology or fear would attack the ABC, Anthony Albanese has said at the 90th birthday celebration of the public broadcaster in Sydney.
In a thinly veiled attack on the former Coalition government’s fraught relationship with the ABC, the prime minister on Friday evening said a strong independent broadcaster was vital to democracy and brought Australia together as a nation.
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Continue reading...Rise in listening hours down to BBC budget cuts and rivals’ investment in marketing
Radio fans spent more time listening to commercial stations than the BBC over the first part of the summer – for the first time since the 1990s – as deep-pocketed rivals invest heavily in marketing, poaching talent and launching new services.
Continued budget cuts at the BBC have hampered the corporation’s ability to invest in its own services and retain talent with big names from Chris Moyles, Chris Evans, Eddie Mair and, more recently, Andrew Marr, Jon Sopel and Emily Maitlis signing lucrative deals to move to commercial radio rivals.
Continue reading...Turkish actor and Italian business owner, both 27, share £50,000 prize after poll among viewers
Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti have been crowned the winners of Love Island 2022, winning the £50,000 prize money after a public vote.
Cülcüloğlu, a Turkish actor from Essex, 27, and Italian business owner, Sanclimenti, also 27, arrived in the Love Island villa early on in the series as bombshell contestants and won over viewers with their fiery but passionate relationship.
Continue reading...The comedy actor, who started out as a regular on variety shows and became a prolific voice actor, died at home on Saturday of pneumonia
Pat Carroll, the Emmy award-winning actor and voice of the memorable Disney villain Ursula in The Little Mermaid, has died aged 95.
Carroll died on Saturday of pneumonia at her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, her daughter Kerry Karsian told the Hollywood Reporter.
Continue reading...Winner took 25% of the vote, with Doctor Who in second place and Line of Duty and Sherlock tying in third
Call the Midwife has been voted the best show of the last 25 years in a poll.
The BBC period drama, which is loosely based on real events, follows a group of midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s as they cope with the pressures of their everyday lives as well as the changing times they are living through.
Continue reading...Poldark creator among writers and film-makers lining up to reconstruct spat between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney
A big-budget drama featuring major characters in the Wagatha Christie case is to join the slew of documentaries already in production, as the race to bring to the small screen the rancorous details of the high court battle that ended on Friday hots up.
The row between two high-profile footballers’ wives, which ended last week when the judge ruled in favour of Coleen Rooney, is to be turned into television serial by one of Britain’s leading screenwriters. Debbie Horsfield, who adapted Poldark for the 2015-19 BBC series, is to write a drama chronicling the notorious public row between Rebekah Vardy, wife of leading Leicester goal scorer Jamie Vardy, and Coleen Rooney, wife of Wayne, the renowned former England player and, until last month, manager of Derby County.
Continue reading...The popularity of ‘boy-love’ series sends fans from home and abroad flocking to filming locations across the country
There is a table in Soontaree Thiprat’s Phuket cafe that is always fully booked. Most of her customers at the Dibuk restaurant want to sit in the corner, at the spot with the red tablecloth and purple flower.
It is the table where the male student characters Teh and Oh-aew, played by the actors Putthipong “Billkin” Assaratanakul and Krit “PP” Amnuaydechkorn, would sit together and flirt in I Told Sunset About You and its sequel, I Promised You the Moon, a romantic Thai series that has proved hugely popular in its home country and abroad.
Continue reading...Australian soap ends after nearly four decades with double-episode special on Channel 5
Three million viewers tuned in to say goodbye to Ramsay Street as Neighbours came to a close after almost four decades of constant drama.
The final episode of the Australian soap aired on Friday night in the UK on Channel 5, with stars including Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce and Margot Robbie making one last appearance on the show that brought them fame.
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