Programme uses simpler sentences and explains topics slowly for people who struggle with Dutch language
The Dutch public broadcaster NOS has launched an evening news programme using “easy language” aimed at 2.5 million people in the Netherlands who struggle with the language.
English speakers may joke about “double Dutch”, but foreigners are not the only ones who sometimes fail to comprehend the west Germanic language of long words, convoluted sentences and guttural sounds.
Continue reading...Broadcaster says episode will ‘celebrate gift of giving’ after news revealed in a cryptic teaser trailer for medical drama
Casualty is to return to TV screens for an “innovative” Christmas special, the BBC has revealed. The news was announced in a cryptic teaser trailer, which followed Saturday’s season finale on BBC One.
The BBC says the Christmas special will “celebrate the gift of giving” and be told in an “innovative, format-breaking way”. A teaser image for the trailer showed a hospital ward covered in snow, with a fluorescent jacket on the ground.
Continue reading...Former gameshow host reportedly signs £1m deal with ITV for show in same vein as global hit Clarkson’s Farm
It seems to be turning into a rite of passage for former Top Gear hosts who have been the subject of public opprobrium.
Noel Edmonds is set to follow in the footsteps of Jeremy Clarkson by presenting a new TV series from his country retreat. The presenter, 75, who began working as a DJ in the late 1960s, has reportedly signed a £1m deal to return to television after a six-year gap by presenting a series from his park and vineyard in New Zealand.
Continue reading...Tributes paid to writer, actor and presenter, who also worked on Chorlton and the Wheelies and The Wind in the Willows
The Danger Mouse writer Brian Trueman has died at the age of 92, his representative confirmed to the PA news agency.
His son Jonathan announced the death in a Facebook post, saying he died in Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport on Sunday night “after a short illness”.
Continue reading...Netflix’s Boy Swallows Universe wins big at Australian television’s biggest night, as ceremony broadcaster Seven takes a battering from host Sam Pang
The Morning Show presenter Larry Emdur has reflected on once being “television’s most axed man” after winning the Gold Logie at the Logie awards on Sunday night.
“I’ve never done anything else, and I’ve never wanted to do anything else,” said Emdur, after winning his first Logie in a 40-year career in which he has fronted everything from The Price Is Right to Celebrity Dog School.
Continue reading...Emmy-nominated actor says she would catch herself ‘doing a lot of head tilting’ after finishing Netflix series
The Crown actor Elizabeth Debicki took a long time to shake off the mannerisms of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, whom she portrayed in the award-winning Netflix series.
The 33-year-old Australian found herself imitating Diana “for a long while” after the filming of the series’ sixth and final season, she said.
Continue reading...Mural featuring disgraced presenter also painted over in his home village of Llangennech, Carmarthenshire
A plaque honouring Huw Edwards at Cardiff Castle has been removed after the disgraced presenter pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.
Cardiff council took away the wall-mounted plaque after Edwards admitted to having 41 indecent images of children, sent to him by another man on WhatsApp.
Continue reading...Broadcaster removes image and voice from content as Welsh organisations erase disgraced presenter from websites
Huw Edwards’s image and voice are being urgently removed from hours of BBC archive footage, starting with family and entertainment content on iPlayer, the Observer has learned.
Photographs of the disgraced Welsh television news anchor are also being removed by prominent institutions and charities, and from websites throughout Wales, where he was a national figurehead.
Continue reading...Author’s long-running high school book series sold more than 200m copies and led to a hit TV show
Francine Pascal, creator of the long-running Sweet Valley High book series, has died at the age of 92.
According to the New York Times, the author died in New York City as as result of lymphoma. The news was confirmed by her daughter Laurie Wenk-Pascal.
Continue reading...Production workers at Strictly Come Dancing allege BBC refused to take their complaints seriously
Production staff who formerly worked on Strictly Come Dancing have complained of a toxic work culture and accused the BBC of failing to take their complaints seriously, in a fresh blow to the corporation’s primetime show, the Observer can reveal.
One former staff member alleged they had been subjected to sexist and sexualised comments, including intrusive questions about their sex life, while another claimed they witnessed “talented co-workers treated with cruelty”.
Continue reading...Writer Russell T Davies says drama The War Between the Land and the Sea ‘will shake the Whoniverse to its foundations’
Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are to star in a Doctor Who spin-off called The War Between the Land and the Sea, it has been announced.
They will lead the cast alongside Jemma Redgrave and Alexander Devrient in the series, which was created by Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies. He has co-written the series with Pete McTighe, who has also worked on Doctor Who.
Continue reading...Star of game-changing sitcoms The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, and Christmas comedy Elf, had period of illness
Bob Newhart, the revered US comedian and star of two classic sitcoms known for his deadpan delivery, died on Thursday at the age of 94.
The Chicago native and titular star of game-changing sitcoms The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart in the 1970s and 80s, died at his home in Los Angeles after a period of short illnesses, his publicist Jerry Digney confirmed in a statement.
Continue reading...Spokesperson for Graziano Di Prima says he accepts he ‘crossed the line’ in the incident with Zara McDermott
Graziano Di Prima was removed from Strictly Come Dancing after he kicked his celebrity partner Zara McDermott during rehearsals, his spokesperson has said.
Di Prima, who joined the Strictly lineup in 2018, announced last weekend he was leaving the programme.
Continue reading...Ad-funded streamer wades into market with offering it says will appeal to those underserved by rivals
The Wes Anderson classic Moonrise Kingdom, the Channel 4 sitcom Fresh Meat, a reality TV series about adult content creators, some Bollywood hits and a handful of shark flicks: Tubi’s home screen is not short of viewing options, just like the British video-streaming market it waded into this week.
Tubi is taking on the likes of Netflix, Disney+, ITVX and the BBC’s iPlayer with a free, ad-funded service offering 20,000 films and TV episodes, and an ambition of repeating its success in the US, where it has amassed nearly 80 million monthly users. But will it have a similar impact in the UK, where rival platforms are already well established?
Continue reading...The voice of Gaelic football and hurling for half a century, RTÉ Radio commentator’s wry, deadpan remarks were sporting folkore
When the time came for Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh to leave the field and discover if there are Gaelic Games in the afterlife, Ireland mourned a radio broadcaster who for half a century had been the voice of sport.
Sadness at news of his death on Tuesday at the age of 93 swiftly alchemised into a celebration of a singular ability to paint pictures with words, lyricism and wisecracks that made the nation laugh and entered folklore.
Continue reading...Presenter forced to improvise after track cuts out because of computer system failure
“Please don’t stop the music,” Rihanna once sang. On Thursday, producers at BBC Radio 2 scrambled to oblige as Vernon Kay was forced to use CDs to play music on the station after its digital system failed.
The radio presenter, 50, was playing Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who towards the end of his show when the issue occurred. At about 11.30am, the track cut out and he came back on air laughing. He said: “This has never happened to me, where the computer system has just failed.”
Continue reading...The news anchor, who will present the programme with Laura Kuenssberg, has spoken on Desert Island Discs about the insults and threats he has experienced as a broadcaster
Clive Myrie has detailed the racism he has experienced during his broadcasting career, as he prepares to present the BBC’s general election night programme.
Speaking to Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, broadcast on Sunday, the 59-year-old listed some of the insults and threats he has endured, including being sent faeces and pictures of gorillas in the post.
Continue reading...The lookalike actor who played the Queen for 50 years, including in Naked Gun and Austin Powers films, died on 2 June
Jeannette Charles, the British actor best known for her striking resemblance of Queen Elizabeth II that landed her roles in Naked Gun and Austin Powers, has died at the age of 96.
On Wednesday the actor’s daughter, Carol Christophi, announced her mother died on 2 June in a care home in Great Beddow, Essex.
Continue reading...The actor and his wife will be the focus of a TLC docuseries, announced just weeks before his manslaughter trial begins
Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria have announced a new TLC reality show following their family life.
The 66-year-old actor, whose films include Beetlejuice and Glengarry Glen Ross, shared a video on Instagram with his seven children.
Continue reading...Actor, who played campaigner Alan Bates in TV drama, calls Horizon scandal a ‘Hitchcockian nightmare’ at Hay festival
The post office operators prosecuted in the Post Office Horizon scandal have “extraordinary dignity” after living 20 years in a “Hitchcockian nightmare”, according to actor Toby Jones.
Jones played Alan Bates, a former post office operator and leading campaigner for justice for staff wrongly blamed for accounting shortfalls caused by faulty software, in the ITV drama that put the scandal back in the spotlight.
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