Category Archives: Television & radio

Cillian Murphy: ‘I was in awe of how Helen McCrory lived her life’

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The star of Peaky Blinders on his late colleague, how he convinced the producers to cast him rather than Jason Statham as Tommy Shelby – and returning to the monster-movie genre in A Quiet Place Part II

Cillian Murphy, star of the new horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II, is something to behold: X-ray eyes at once penetrating and ethereally blue, cheekbones so pronounced you could stretch out and go to sleep on them. Unfortunately, the beholding will have to wait. We have barely exchanged greetings over Zoom when his voice breaks up, the screen freezes and the room falls silent. A quiet place, indeed.

We switch to phones. We can do this, I tell him. “I have faith,” he replies, in a soothing Cork accent that compensates for the lack of visuals. Murphy’s gift for intensity has made him a natural fit for characters damaged (Dunkirk, The Edge of Love) or outright villainous (Batman Begins, Red Eye), but today he is quick to laugh and keen to talk. He is speaking from a flat in Manchester, where he is staying while he shoots the sixth and final series of Peaky Blinders. That stylish crime drama, which rocketed from BBC Two cult success to global phenomenon, revolves around a 1920s Birmingham gang led by Murphy as the vicious Tommy Shelby. With his eyes, looks could kill – although he keeps razor blades in the brim of his cap, just in case.

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‘I had to find them’: kidnapped filmmaker Mellissa Fung on her mission to find the Boko Haram girls

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After being abducted on assignment in Afghanistan, journalist Mellissa Fung shares an intense bond with the teenage girls who were held captive by Boko Haram

The journalist and filmmaker Mellissa Fung is showing me her wound – or to be precise, the scar where her wound once was. It’s from the struggle with one of the Afghan rebels who, 12 years ago, kidnapped Fung near Kabul and held her in a pit in the ground for a month, a place she refers to simply, and rather chillingly as, “the hole”.

“In combat training they teach you not to fight back, but I played ice hockey as a kid so I couldn’t help it,” Fung says. “The guy had a knife so I learned my lesson.”

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BBC interview did not harm Diana, claims Martin Bashir

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Journalist defends 1995 Panorama special saying he and Diana stayed friends after the broadcast

Martin Bashir has said he “never wanted to harm” Diana, Princess of Wales with the Panorama interview, adding: “I don’t believe we did.”

The journalist’s reputation is in tatters following Lord Dyson’s report that he used “deceitful behaviour” to land his world exclusive 1995 interview.

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Eurovision 2021: follow all the action from Rotterdam – live

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Good evening, Europe! The song contest is back at last. Join us on a glorious ride through every performance, every vote ... expect pyrotechnics, dry ice, green screen gimmicks and one giant Russian dress

I keep thinking that the pods the artists are sitting in look like the galactic senate from Star Wars: Phantom Menace but I can’t find a picture where we won’t have to pay Lucasfilm a zillion galactic credits to use it so I can prove it to you. So just imagine that I have.

I’m just taking a breather while they do this recap. After this we are going to get – I believe – loads of performances from former winners on the rooftops of Rotterdam, some weird orchestra/DJ mash-up, and also a spectacular dancing countdown. I mean, why not? It’s Eurovision. I’ve honestly loved it, it has been a really strong final this year so far. I just said in the comments, there’s about eight or nine songs that if they won, you’d think, “Yep, sure, it was always on the cards”.

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Billie Piper: From vulnerable teen pop star to director of an ‘anti-romcom’

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The characters she plays do not match her own life, the actress insists, but it’s hard not to see parallels with her own journey

Billie Piper has occupied a near continual, if shifting, position in the public imagination for almost a quarter of a century. That’s a notable achievement by any reckoning of a performer’s career, but it’s also rather alarming, given that she’s still only 38.

Having started out as 15-year-old chart sensation, she walked away from the pop music treadmill, enjoyed a boozy marriage with the DJ Chris Evans, returned to frontline fame in Doctor Who, struck out on a path of acclaimed dramatic performances on TV and the stage, and has now made her directorial debut with the feature film Rare Beasts.

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Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown – style icon of the pandemic

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The Pennsylvania detective’s unvarnished realness has hit a fashion nerve with viewers

The style icon everyone is talking about wears drab flannel shirts with flat shoes and crumpled jeans. She has frown lines and dark roots. She might wear mascara if she’s going out to eat but if she’s going to work she doesn’t bother. As a Pennsylvania detective in Mare of Easttown, the Oscar-winning actor Kate Winslet bucks the trend for high fashion on the small screen that has given us a string of glossy shows such as Succession, Queen’s Gambit and Halston, with a character whose unvarnished realness has hit a nerve.

A grizzled detective with a complicated personal life; a naked female corpse; a sleepy small town squirrelled with secrets. The set-up of HBO’s hit show, Mare of Easttown is familiar TV fare, but the transformation of serial Vogue cover star Kate Winslet into Mare Sheehan provides an unexpected plot twist. Nowhere to be seen are the blow-dries of Big Little Lies or the silk blouses and velvet coats of The Undoing. Instead, the first episode sees Detective Sheehan dressed in nondescript denim and sack-adjacent plaid, one woolly-socked foot up on her kitchen table, drinking a bottle of beer while using a bag of frozen oven chips as an improvised ice pack for a sprained ankle.

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Will you get douze points? Take our fiendish Eurovision quiz

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From Abba to Bucks Fizz, dancing grannies to French diplomacy, our quiz requires some serious song contest chops to get 12 points – or a perfect 20

Vampires, naked apes and free booze! The wildest Eurovision performances ever

After last year’s hiatus, the Eurovision song contest is finally back on Saturday night at 8pm on BBC One, with all the glitz, glamour and camp delight that entails. To get you in the mood, take our fiendish Eurovision quiz. Can you avoid the dreaded nul points? Let us know how you do in the comments below …

Good evening, Europe! This is London calling! Can you spot the winner of the last contest to be held, in 2019? His name was Duncan Laurence

This one?

This one?

This one?

Or this?

Which of these acclaimed international stars has competed in Eurovision? Madonna, Celine Dion, Vanessa Paradis or Kate Bush?

Madonna

Celine Dion

Vanessa Paradis

Kate Bush

When was the very first Eurovision song contest held?

24 May 1956

12 March 1958

29 March 1960

23 November 1963

James Newman is the UK entry in 2021. But what is his song called?

Firefly

Flames

Embers

Dragonfire

For many years Norway was cursed as the only country to have scored the dreaded "nul points" on four separate occasions. But in 2015, another country equalled this dismal record. Who?

United Kingdom

Netherlands

Austria

Germany

Which country sent a bunch of grannies to represent it in 2012?

Russia

Albania

Armenia

Azerbaijan

“Be it a mug, a goblet, a cup, a glass, or flute, raise it and toast the memory of the man who was and always will be the voice of Eurovision … the late great, Sir Terry Wogan." In the UK, during which song is it a tradition to toast Terry?

Third

Fifth

Seventh

Ninth

Waterloo by Abba is arguably Eurovision's most famous winning song. Which year did it win?

1971

1972

1973

1974

In the year that Abba won with Waterloo, the French entry was withdrawn from the contest. Why?

The death of the French president, Georges Pompidou

A dispute with the EBU over the competition being hosted in the UK

French broadcasters were concerned the entry could be seen as propaganda for a referendum campaign taking place

Because the song had been associated with signalling an attempt at a military coup

Bucks Fizz won the contest in 1981 with Making Your Mind Up. How many number one singles did the original Bucks Fizz line-up have in the UK in the 1980s?

None

One

Two

Three

Which original member of Eurovision-winning band Bucks Fizz stood in the 2019 UK general election to be an MP for the Brexit Party?

Jay Aston

Cheryl Baker

Bobby G

Mike Nolan

Verka Serduchka has become a Eurovision icon. But which country did they represent in 2007?

Belarus

Ukraine

Austria

Poland

Which is the most eastern city to have ever hosted the Eurovision final?

Helsinki

Tashkent

Baku

Moscow

In what year did Australia first compete in the Eurovision song contest?

1997

2009

2015

2017

Australia isn't the only country not from Europe to have competed in the contest. Which African nation competed for its one and only time in 1980?

Morocco

Algeria

Egypt

South Africa

Which of these – among Europe's smallest competing countries – has won the Eurovision song contest?

Malta

San Marino

Cyprus

Luxembourg

By the time he represented the UK in 1968 with Congratulations, Cliff Richard had already scored more than forty Top 40 hits in the UK. Where did Congratulations finish in the Eurovision song contest that year?

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Which country had its entry for this year disqualified?

Belarus

Ukraine

Armenia

Bulgaria

The United Kingdom has hosted the contest in five different cities. Which of these has not had the honour of holding the final?

Brighton

Birmingham

Glasgow

Harrogate

This lot won Eurovision in 2006 for Finland with Hard Rock Hallelujah. What were they called?

Loki

Lordi

Kinda

Kooki

18 and above.

So close to a perfect score, but basically you are Cliff Richard coming 2nd in 1968

20 and above.

"Douze points!" – well, vingt points, but you get the point. Well done.

14 and above.

Excellent Eurovision knowledge – c'est une magnifique victoire

8 and above.

Good effort

0 and above.

"Nul points!" – you are the Norway of this quiz

1 and above.

This is the kind of score that is going to get you relegated to the semi-final for next year

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Martin Bashir used ‘deceitful behaviour’ to secure Diana interview, report finds

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BBC chief Tim Davie apologises after investigation identified ‘clear failings’ in tactics used by journalist to secure interview

The BBC has been forced to make a humiliating apology after an investigation found that Martin Bashir used deceitful tactics that were later covered up by senior executives to secure his sensational 1995 interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.

The inquiry, conducted by the former supreme court judge John Dyson, was withering of both Bashir and the corporation’s former director general, Tony Hall, who was accused of overseeing a flawed and “woefully ineffective” internal probe into the issue.

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Vampires, naked apes and free booze! The 20 wildest Eurovision performances ever

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Baffling stunts and bizarre lyrics are de rigueur at europop’s premier competition – so it takes quite something to make this list

At Eurovision, you have three minutes to impress the world. While an unforgettable song and stonking vocals are key to getting douze points, how else can you make your performance stand out? With bewildering stunts, surreal lyrics and distracting props, of course! With the biggest event in europop returning this week, let’s revisit some of the weirdest performances over the years – the ones that really made Terry Wogan and Graham Norton wince.

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Eurovision 2021: the good, bad and weird songs to look out for

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Amid the German ukuleles, anti-colonial Dutch anthems and Ukrainian folk-techno, can the UK’s James Newman reverse a long run of disappointment?

Future scholars of camp will pen entire counterfactuals about the great cancelled Eurovision of 2020 and what might have been: while the majority of last year’s contestants are back for 2021, they must all perform different songs. It feels especially cruel to Daði Freyr, the Icelandic act who would surely have won with viral hit Think About Things, a charming study in nerdish twee full of homemade keytars and school-play dance moves. But led by Freyr himself – imagine fey Scandi singers such as Jens Lekman or Erlend Øye crossed with Napoleon Dynamite – the group are back and pretending that last year never happened, with more of the same disco-pop, if lacking maybe 10% of 2020’s magic.

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‘I can’t believe someone’s written this’: the Muslim punk sitcom breaking new ground

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Raucous comedy We Are Lady Parts follows an all-female group’s journey on to the toilet circuit. Its cast believe it’s time for new voices to be heard

It is loud when I enter the virtual room. Raucous laughter and excited chatter fill the air, and for a moment I feel like a teacher quieting an unruly class. It is a fitting start, given that I’m here to interview the cast of Channel 4’s new musical comedy, a six-part series following the exploits of an anarchic all-female, all-Muslim punk band setting out to make some noise.

Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips

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Trailer released for Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey TV series

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Footage suggests Harry will revisit trauma of his mother’s death in Apple TV+ series on mental health

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex feature in an emotional trailer for Harry’s mental health documentary series with Oprah Winfrey, and footage hints that he will revisit the trauma he experienced after his mother’s death.

The two-minute trailer includes archive film from the 1997 funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, showing Harry, then 12, standing with his head bowed as his mother’s coffin passes by, alongside the Prince of Wales, who then turns to speak to his son.

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Prince Harry appears to criticise way he was raised by his father

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Duke of Sussex also speaks of ‘genetic pain and suffering’ in royal family in new interview in US

The Duke of Sussex has appeared to criticise the way he was raised by Prince Charles, discussing the “genetic pain and suffering” in the royal family and stressing that he wanted to “break the cycle” for his children.

In a wide-ranging 90-minute interview, Prince Harry, who is expecting a daughter with Meghan and is already father to Archie, two, likened life in the royal family to a mix between being in The Truman Show and being in a zoo.

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Ellen DeGeneres: toxic workplace allegations are ‘misogynistic’

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In her first interview since announcing the end of her talkshow, the daytime star has called reports of behind-the-scenes bullying ‘orchestrated’

In her first on-air appearances since announcing the end of her eponymous daytime talk show, Ellen DeGeneres called the press cycle around allegations of toxicity at her workplace “orchestrated” and “misogynistic”, and elaborated on her reasons for stepping down after 19 years.

Related: The end of Ellen’s show signifies how celebrity culture has shifted | Adrian Horton

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‘Stop drinking fake coffee!’ Your most annoying things about TV

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We asked you to name your pet peeves of the small screen. Here are the things that rile you up – from empty cups to far too easy parking

‘Cliffhangers should be illegal!’: the most annoying things about TV

Empty coffee cups. You can tell from the way people hold them that there’s no liquid in them, never mind hot coffee – surely they could at least fill them with water?

Ditto suitcases – how many times do you see a character lifting suitcases with effortless ease, not wincing or bumping them off their leg as they lug it to the taxi. mikebhoy

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‘You’re toxic!’ Can TV shows survive when their star becomes a scandal?

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From Jeffrey Tambor to Joss Whedon, high-profile accusations of improper behaviour are a minefield for TV makers – especially if the A-listers go rogue

In 2018, HBO breathlessly announced a brand-new drama from one of television’s most celebrated auteurs. The network was, it said, “honoured” to be providing a home for The Nevers, Joss Whedon’s long-awaited return to the small screen. A complex Victorian-era fantasy led by tormented female protagonists with supernatural powers, it had the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator’s fingerprints all over it. Whedon would be writer, director and executive producer, and described his “odd, intimate epic” as “the most ambitious narrative” he had ever created.

Then, in November the same year, Whedon abruptly abandoned his passion project. He attributed his exit to tiredness (“I am genuinely exhausted, and am stepping back to marshal my energy towards my own life”). In a statement, HBO said: “We have parted ways with Joss Whedon. We remain excited about the future of The Nevers and look forward to its premiere.” But behind the scenes, a reputation-destroying storm appeared to be brewing. In July last year, the actor Ray Fisher claimed Whedon had been abusive while directing the blockbuster Justice League. Then he was accused of being “casually cruel” and perpetuating a “toxic” atmosphere on the Buffy set by the actors Charisma Carpenter and Amber Benson. Michelle Trachtenberg, who was 14 when she was cast as Buffy’s younger sister, claimed that Whedon was not allowed to be in a room alone with her. (In February, HBO’s chief content officer Casey Bloys said that the company had received “no complaints or no reports of inappropriate behaviour” against Whedon. Representatives for Whedon did not immediately respond when approached for comment for this piece.)

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It’s not just racism and sexism. The Golden Globes have been sunk by sheer stupidity

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The preposterous Hollywood Foreign Press Association gravy train might have chugged on for ever if its members had just swallowed their pride and done more for diversity

An investigative report by the Los Angeles Times into the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, that notoriously rackety organisation which administers the Golden Globes, has shown an eminently corruptible body drenched in antediluvian attitudes; this has resulted in NBC cancelling its TV coverage of next year’s ceremony and Tom Cruise handing back the three Globes he has personally won over the years.

Related: Golden Globes backlash: Tom Cruise hands back awards and NBC drops broadcast

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A bad call: why do characters never say bye on the phone?

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Watch any film or TV show and you’ll notice that nobody ever says goodbye. Are they too busy – or just rude?

In the Guide’s weekly Solved! column, we look into a crucial pop-culture question you’ve been burning to know the answer to – and settle it

I absolutely hate talking on the phone. I am one of those infuriating friends who’d rather have a long, winding text conversation than speak on the phone to arrange a simple plan. People under the age of 60 who still leave voicemails? Seek help. And unknown numbers? I follow Dua Lipa’s first rule (don’t pick up the phone!). But it seems as if there’s a group out there who loathe the inconvenience of talking on the phone even more than me: screenwriters.

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Italian public broadcaster asked to stop promoting ‘intolerable’ content

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Activists claim Rai regulary breaks its own code of ethics when it should be setting example to rest of industry

Activists opposed to racism, homophobia, antisemitism and sexism in the Italian media have written to the public broadcaster, Rai, urging it to stop promoting “intolerable” content.

Rai apologised recently for the use of blackface in its shows, and advised editors to stop airing productions in which performers wear makeup to imitate black people, but stopped short of an outright ban.

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Barry Jenkins: ‘Maybe America has never been great’

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The Moonlight director on how making his epic TV adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer prize-winning The Underground Railroad compelled him to fully confront the history of slavery, as well as his own damaged childhood

Barry Jenkins first heard the history of the Underground Railroad from a teacher when he was six or seven years old. The school lesson described the loose network of safe houses and abolitionists that helped enslaved people in the American south escape to free states in the north in the 19th century. Jenkins as a wide-eyed kid imagined an actual railroad, though, secret steam trains thundering under America, built by black superheroes in the dead of night. It was an image, he recalls, that made “anything feel possible”. “My grandfather was a longshoreman,” he says. “He came home every day, in his hard hat and his tool belt, and his thick boots. And I thought, ‘Oh, yes, people like my granddad, they built this underground railroad!’”

That childhood image returned to Jenkins, now 41, when he read an advance copy of Colson Whitehead’s novel about that history, which builds on that same seductive idea. That was in 2016. Both Jenkins and Whitehead were on the edge of career-defining breakthroughs: Jenkins’s film Moonlight was about to be released (and would go on to win the Oscar for best picture) and Whitehead’s book The Underground Railroad was about to be published (going on to receive the National Book Award and the Pulitzer prize). All this was to come, though, when the pair met. “I was familiar with Colson as an author,” Jenkins told me last week on a screen from his home in Los Angeles. “And once I read his book, I knew for sure I absolutely want this. And I’m not that guy. Usually I’ll read something and I go, well, that might make a great film, and then I’ll just leave it. But this one, it’s all hands on deck, we have to get this.”

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