Wildlife film pioneer has died aged 74 ‘immersed in nature and surrounded by friends’, his representatives have said
An award-winning wildlife cameraman renowned for his work with David Attenborough has died aged 74 while trekking in Nepal.
Doug Allan, described as a “true pioneer” of wildlife film-making, won several Bafta and Emmy awards and was principal camera operator on a number of BBC series including Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and The Blue Planet.
Continue reading...Venezuelan-born dancer posts emotional video saying she plans to take on new projects in other areas
Strictly Come Dancing’s longest-serving female professional dancer, Karen Hauer, has quit the show after 14 years.
In a video posted on Instagram, Hauer said it was “the right time to close this chapter and take on new projects in other areas I’m passionate about”.
Continue reading...The Woman’s Hour host, who has died aged 75, could talk about hydrangeas, campaign against domestic abuse, then tear a strip off a politician – all within a few minutes
Before she took over Woman’s Hour in 1987, Jenni Murray was a presenter on the Today programme. She had joined the BBC in Bristol in 1973, and became a TV reporter and presenter for South Today, so arrived with solid news credentials. But Today in the 1980s was inveterately sexist – the guys took the politics, the women mopped up the rest – that the format was just too small for her.
Woman’s Hour, on the other hand, was absolutely reshaped in her image: there was no preconception of tone, and nothing was too serious or too light for it. Murray, who has died at the age of 75, could tear a strip off a politician, talk about hydrangeas, then campaign against domestic abuse, all within a few minutes. She was instinctively open and generous about her personal experience, but never solipsistic – an incredibly fine balance.
Continue reading...Lindo speaks out after man with Tourette syndrome shouted slur while actor was on stage with Michael B Jordan
British-American actor Delroy Lindo expressed gratitude for “the support and love” he and Michael B Jordan have received after a man with Tourette syndrome (TS) shouted the N-word as the two men presented a Bafta award.
“We appreciate all the support and love that we have been shown,” Lindo – who, like Jordan, is Black – said on stage at the annual NAACP Image awards in Los Angeles. He called it “a classic case of something that could be very negative becoming very positive”.
Continue reading...Former PM to examine issue of trust in politics and Oscar-winning actor’s show will discuss AI
The former prime minister Theresa May is to guest edit Radio 4’s Today programme and use it to explore the issue of dwindling trust in politics.
May, who resigned in 2019 with a tearful statement about the honour she felt in holding the office, will edit Today on New Year’s Eve.
Continue reading...Labour MP calls government’s asylum plans ‘dystopian’ as home secretary announces measures in Commons
Momentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:
The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.
Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.
Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.
The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.
Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:
Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers.
Continue reading...One Day author leading writing team bringing one of the best-known literary creations of the 1980s to life
A writing team led by the One Day author, David Nicholls, and that includes Caitlin Moran is bringing Sue Townsend’s The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ to the small screen in a 10-part BBC One adaptation of the classic tale of teenage life in British suburbia.
Nicholls, who described the book as “a classic piece of comic writing and an incredible piece of ventriloquism on Sue Townsend’s part”, will adapt the book that produced one of the best-known literary creations of the 1980s.
Continue reading...Fallout continues over budget income tax U-turn, with Treasury saying expected fiscal gap has dropped to £20bn
This is from Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, on the market reaction to the chancellor’s reported budget U-turn.
Investors will have 2 broad concerns about news that Chancellor won’t increase income tax rates
1. Does it signal less willingness to do politically difficult things
Britain’s long-term borrowing costs were sent soaring as reports suggested the latest U-turn would leave Rachel Reeves scrambling to fill a gaping black hole in the nation’s finances just two weeks before the 26 November budget.
Yields on 30-year UK government bonds, also known as gilts, jumped as much as 14 basis points in early trading, and the yield on 10-year gilts also shot up 12 basis points – rising the most since July.
Continue reading...Text messages released by US House show convicted sex offender coaching Maga influencer on political messaging. Plus, readers’ favourite photo booth moments 100 years after its invention
Good morning.
The convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein apparently served as a behind-the-scenes adviser to the former Trump official and Maga influencer Steve Bannon during an August 2018 media campaign to defend Trump and his agenda, and to promote Bannon’s media ventures.
What else has been released in the flood of recent Epstein emails? Among many, many other things, one email shows an exchange between him and an associate in which they discuss “girls” and travel. The justice department continues to downplay the possibility that other men were involved in Epstein’s abuse of teen girls.
What’s happening with rest of the Epstein files? Trump is facing the prospect of a politically damaging congressional vote to release the files, after attempts to press two members of Congress to withdraw their backing for it appeared to have failed.
What exactly is climate finance? Who pays it? And who gets it? Sixteen years ago, at the climate summit in Copenhagen, rich and polluting countries pledged to provide $100bn (£76bn) each year by 2020 so that poorer countries could cut their emissions and adapt to a hotter world. Last year, they set a new target of $300bn (£227bn) a year by 2035.
Continue reading...Culture secretary also condemns MPs who dismiss BBC as ‘institutionally biased’ in swipe at Badenoch and Farage. This live blog is closed
Here is a round-up of what various lawyers and commentators have been saying about Donald Trump’s legal case against the BBC.
Joshua Rozenberg, the legal commentator and a former BBC journalist, has said in a post on his A Lawyer Writes Substack that the corporation should settle. He explains:
Given what Brito is claiming, the lawyer is unlikely to be impressed with the BBC’s assertion that “the purpose of editing the clip was to convey the message of the speech made by President Trump so that Panorama’s audience could better understand how it had been received by President Trump’s supporters and what was happening on the ground at that time”.
So the BBC would be well advised to draft a retraction and apology in terms that the president’s lawyer finds acceptable. Brito is also calling for this to be broadcast as prominently as the original programme. And the corporation will have to pay compensation.
George Peretz KC, chair of the Society of Labour Lawyers, says on Bluesky, commenting on Rozenberg’s blog, that the BBC might be better off with a more robust approach.
So at the moment, despite @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social’s piece, I wonder whether a better BBC response would be the Arkell v Pressdram one. proftomcrick.com/2014/04/29/a...
(At least to the extent he’s seeking more than a formal apology limited to the obvious mistake and a very modest offer of compensation.)
There is, after all, the risk of a dangerous precedent here. The BBC will often offend foreign leaders – some worse than Trump. Sometimes it will make factual mistakes in reporting on them. Yield to Trump now, and who next?
Mark Stephens, a media lawyer, told BBC Breakfast that a court case could reflect badly on Trump. He said:
Every damning quote that he’s ever uttered is going to be played back to him and picked over – not great PR.
Trump risks turning what’s currently a PR skirmish with the BBC very much on the back foot into a global headline that the court finds Trump’s words were incendiary …
George Freeman, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center in New York and a former lawyer for the New York Times, told the BBC that Trump “has a long record of unsuccessful libel suits – and an even longer record of letters like the one you received that don’t end up as lawsuits at all”.
Christopher Steele, the former MI6 officer who is trying to recover costs from Trump after the president sued him unsuccessfully in the UK, says Trump’s latest threat is preposterous.
Donald Trump’s threat to sue the BBC in London is preposterous. He remains in breach of English High Court orders in a case he brought and lost against Orbis 18 months ago. So any further abuse of the UK courts by him for such legal tourism and intimidation should be prohibited.
Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, says the BBC has been told Trump does not have a case.
The legal advice to the BBC I am told is that President Trump was not meaningfully damaged by Panorama’s manipulation of his 6 January speech, and that therefore there is no legal necessity to pay him compensation. The BBC board is therefore likely to resist and fight his demand to be “appropriately compensated” out of court, and will risk him carrying through on his threat to seek $1bn in damages by going to court.
These times are difficult for the BBC but we will get through it. We will get through it and we will thrive. This narrative will not just be given by our enemies. It’s our narrative. We own things.
I see the free press under pressure. I see the weaponisation. I think we have to fight for our journalism.
We have made some mistakes that have cost us but we need to fight for that.
Continue reading...Senior insiders admit concern about big editorial errors and fear attacks are part of ongoing campaign to undermine the broadcaster
There is a joke regularly deployed by BBC staff that “deputy heads must roll” over big mistakes because they rarely appear to have any impact on those at the top of the organisation. That all changed on Sunday, when Tim Davie and Deborah Turness both quit their jobs.
Davie oversaw no shortage of scandals during his five years as director general – in recent months these included rows over a Gaza documentary and Glastonbury coverage – and was nicknamed “Teflon Tim” by BBC insiders because nothing seemed to stick.
Continue reading...Full text of director general’s note to staff and the resignation statement from head of news Deborah Turness
Davie resigns as BBC director general after accusations of ‘serious and systemic’ bias in coverage
BBC bias row: how a week of hostile headlines from rightwing media led to resignations
Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, and the head of BBC News have resigned after a former adviser to the corporation accused it of “serious and systemic” bias in its coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights.
This afternoon Davie sent the following note to staff:
Dear all,
I wanted to let you know that I have decided to leave the BBC after 20 years. This is entirely my decision, and I remain very thankful to the Chair and Board for their unswerving and unanimous support throughout my entire tenure, including during recent days.
Dear all,
I have never been more proud of the work that you do every day. You really are the best of the best.
Continue reading...Corporation has faced accusations of ‘serious and systemic’ bias in its reporting
Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, is expected to resign after a former adviser to the corporation accused it of “serious and systemic” bias in its coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights.
In a shock move, the Guardian understands that Davie is to imminently announce his departure. It comes with the BBC preparing to apologise for the way the broadcaster edited a Donald Trump speech.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson and White House criticise the corporation, but some journalists say criticism is part of campaign to destroy the BBC
The BBC is expected to apologise on Monday for the way in which a speech by the US president, Donald Trump, was edited in an episode of Panorama. The show is one of a number of examples highlighted by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, who detailed his concerns about the broadcaster’s impartiality in a memo published by the Telegraph.
Continue reading...French-Turkish actor appeared in a string of high-profile films, as well as hit BBC series The Missing
Tchéky Karyo, who appeared in some of director Luc Besson’s biggest hits and a string of international films, died on Friday at the age of 72, his family have announced.
A statement from his wife and children sent to AFP said he had “succumbed to cancer”.
Continue reading...BBC ‘deeply concerned’ for journalist’s wellbeing after Vietnamese police withhold their ID card and passport
Vietnamese authorities have barred a BBC journalist from leaving the country and subjected them to days of interrogation, in a press freedom case that comes to light during a high-profile visit by Vietnam’s leader to the UK.
The journalist, a Vietnamese citizen who lives and works in Thailand, had returned to their home country in August to renew their passport, according a source with knowledge of the situation.
Continue reading...Director general says it is inappropriate for a journalist who may be covering that issue ‘to be campaigning in that way’
BBC journalists cannot wear T-shirts in the newsroom supporting the anti-racist movement Black Lives Matter, the corporation’s director general Tim Davie has said.
Davie said the BBC stood against racism but it was “not appropriate for a journalist who may be covering that issue to be campaigning in that way.
Continue reading...Tributes paid to ‘consummate pro’ and ‘rock solid’ presenter of Newsnight, Watchdog and GMTV’s News Hour
Tributes have been made across the world of television to the “rock solid broadcaster and ultimate gentleman” John Stapleton, who has died at the age of 79 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2024.
Stapleton’s agent, Jackie Gill, said on Sunday: “John had Parkinson’s disease, which was complicated by pneumonia. His son Nick and daughter-in-law Lise have been constantly at his side and John died peacefully in hospital this morning.”
Continue reading...Move comes after claims earlier this month that two stars of the TV dance show used cocaine
The BBC has asked the police to investigate Strictly Come Dancing amid fresh allegations, according to reports, after claims two of its stars used cocaine.
The Sun on Sunday reported that the corporation has alerted the Metropolitan police to new allegations about the dance competition show, the details of which it does not specify.
Continue reading...Leicester-born producer was editor of BBC children’s show for more than 20 years and introduced Blue Peter badge
Biddy Baxter, the pioneering television producer who transformed Blue Peter into a national institution, has died at 92, according to the BBC.
As editor of the children’s programme between 1965 and 1988, she introduced viewer engagement segments including the national appeals and the famous Blue Peter badge, encouraging children to send letters, pictures and programme ideas.
The show’s former presenter Peter Duncan remembered her as “a true force of nature”.