Category Archives: Television & radio

Johnnie Walker, BBC radio DJ, dies aged 79

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Pioneering presenter was best known for hosting Sounds of the 70s and the Radio 2 Rock Show

The veteran BBC DJ Johnnie Walker has died at the age of 79, it has been announced.

Walker, who hosted Radio 2’s Sounds of the 70s and the Radio 2 Rock Show, began his career as a pirate DJ in the 60s on the offshore station Swinging Radio England, then Radio Caroline, before joining Radio 1 in 1969. He left the station after causing controversy by describing the Bay City Rollers as “musical garbage” and clashing with his bosses over an insistence on playing album tracks.

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Sadiq Khan, Stephen Fry and Emily Thornberry make new year honours list

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Mayor of London ‘truly humbled’ to be made a knight as authors, actors and sporting stars receive honours

Sadiq Khan and Stephen Fry received knighthoods along with the former England manager Gareth Southgate while Emily Thornberry became a dame in the first new year honours list since Labour’s general election win.

The mayor of London, who secured a record third term in City Hall this May, said he was “truly humbled” by the honour. Fry, who first made his name as one half of a double act with Hugh Laurie in the late 1980s, said he had felt “startled and enchanted” on receiving the news.

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TV bosses should dare to flout Ofcom rules, says Grange Hill creator Phil Redmond

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Producer says ‘courage has gone out of broadcasting’ and audiences want to see grittier issues

The creator of some of Britain’s best-loved soaps has said the “courage has gone out of broadcasting” and suggested that television bosses should not be afraid to flout Ofcom rules.

Phil Redmond – the brains behind Hollyoaks, Grange Hill and Brookside – said there was “too much risk aversion” in television, with producers afraid to upset regulators even if it meant pleasing audiences.

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What are the allegations against MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace?

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A slew of accusations have emerged of inappropriate remarks and behaviour dating back as far as 19 years

Gregg Wallace has been accused of making sexualised jokes and other inappropriate remarks towards a range of women dating back nearly two decades.

The 60-year-old MasterChef presenter announced last week that he was stepping back from the BBC show amid an investigation into his conduct. Wallace’s lawyers have said it is entirely false to suggest he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.

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Son of woman killed by IRA condemns ‘cruel’ Disney series

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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.

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Wise told Morecambe he wanted to split up comedy act in 1950, letter reveals

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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.

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How will BBC revamp Match of the Day when Gary Lineker leaves?

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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.”

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Gary Oldman to read CBeebies bedtime story for Children in Need

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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.

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South Korean actor Song Jae-lim dies aged 39

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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.

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BBC confirms Gary Lineker’s departure from Match of the Day

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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.

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Injury forces dancer Amy Dowden to leave this year’s Strictly

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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.

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Greggs scoffs at reports of snub by its Christmas ad star Nigella Lawson

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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.

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Ofcom fines GB News £100,000 for breach of impartiality rules over Sunak interview

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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.

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‘Crikey, that was close’: Jeremy Clarkson reveals he needed heart procedure

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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.”

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‘We leave viewers smarter’: fears over plans to close ‘world’s most highbrow’ TV station

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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.

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‘Heartbroken’: family, friends and fans pay tribute to Liam Payne

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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.

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Strictly’s Katya Jones defends dance partner Wynne Evans over ‘hand incident’

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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”.

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British musician and broadcaster Yung Filly charged with rape and assault

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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.

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Emmanuel Macron: We will fight hard to keep Emily in Paris in France

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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.

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Argentina’s Javier Milei accused of plagiarising UN speech from West Wing

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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.

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