Heated Rivalry will be retuning to Sky next year for UK audiences with two new leads
Fans will likely recognise Justice Smith already(Image: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Smash hit romance series Heated Rivalry will be returning to screens and there is one face that will be surprisingly familiar.
Having first been aired on Canadian streaming service Crave back in November 2025, it was then picked up by HBO Max in the US and was renewed for a second series just a month after it became a huge hit around the world.
Based on the bestselling book by Rachel Reid, it follows two elite professional hockey players who have a secret love affair. According to Sky: “The first season told the story of rival hockey players Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie).
“Bound by ambition, rivalry and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understood, what began as a secret fling between two fresh-faced rookies evolved into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery.”
Confirmed to return to Sky and NOW in Spring 2027 in the UK, it was today announced (August 7) that Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie have also been confirmed as new cast additions playing Harris Drover and Troy Barrett.
Justice Smith may already appear familiar to some fans, but who is the star and where have you seen him before?
Who is Justice Smith?
Justice Smith is an American actor well known for his role in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom as well as I Saw the TV Glow and Pokemon Detective Pikachu.
Aged 30, Justin made his on-screen acting debut back in 2012 with thriller Trigger Finger and some television programmes before his first major role as Radar in Paper Towns in 2015.
Fans may also recognise the star from his appearance in Every Day (2018) as well as Sharper in 2023 and more recently, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.
Writer, director, and executive producer Jacob Tierney and executive producer Brendan Brady said about the cast announcement: “Rachel Reid has given us two beautifully layered characters in Harris and Troy who you can’t help but root for.
“From the start of the casting process, we knew we were looking for actors who could create something truly special together and bring that same depth and heart to the screen.
“Justice and Charlie do exactly that. They immediately connected with the vulnerability and resilience at the core of these characters, bringing an instinctive understanding of who Harris and Troy are.”
Heated Rivalry season 2 will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW in Spring 2027.
Love Island winners Lorenzo Alessi and Julia Majchrzak kissed and made up on a night outCredit: Click News and MediaIt comes after the couple’s awkward TV and radio interviewsCredit: Click News and Media
The champions were joined on a night out at London’s 100 Shoreditch.
Former Casa bombshell Julia looked stunning in an all-black dress made up of mesh and lace panelling.
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With her hair slicked back, she looked every inch a TV star as she smooched her man.
Lorenzo looked slick in an open shirt with a blazer and slacks.
Joining them for the reunion night were ex islanders Ellie Chadwick and Finley Maddock.
Ellie looked summer ready in a short yellow outfit with a feather bottom as she held hands with her fella.
They were joined by ex islanders Ellie Chadwick and Finley MaddockCredit: Click News and MediaCharleen Murphy and Martha Rothwell were dressed to impressCredit: Click News and Media
Julia, 26, admitted she found his online wandering eye ‘not funny’ and was ’embarrassed’ by his behaviour.
She told the hosts: “Guys, this is not funny. He’s already embarrassed me online.
“He had no time to arrange a date in five days, but was sat in bed liking other girls’ Instagram pictures.”
Aidan Murphy and Priya Jaswal have grown closer since leaving the villaCredit: Click News and MediaLola Deal and Seán Fitzgerald joined the partyCredit: Click News and Media
But an unimpressed Julia grilled Lorenzo over why he had failed to organise a date and had barely seen her since they won Love Island together.
Viewers also claimed Lorenzo appeared distracted by former flame Jasmine, who was sitting just inches away with Kavan.
The2026 matchmaking show champ, who scooped his share of a £50K cash prize during the final, has finally removed his profile fromHinge.
Also at the event were Priya and Aidan – who weredumped from the villadays before the final.
The reunion saw familiar faces return including pretty-in-pink Lola Deal and Seán Fitzgerald, Mica Harris and Samraj Toor, and hand-holding singletons Charleen Murphy and Martha Rothwell.
Julia and Lorenzo beat runners-up Jasmine Muller and Kavan Murphy, and third place stars Angelista Gunda and Simba Kudyiwa.
The series has a star-studded cast list, including John Hannah, who plays burned-out ex-police officer Dennis, and newcomer Carolina Bécquer, you can find out more about the rising star here, who takes on the role of his unlikely sidekick Rosa.
Other permanent players include Ariadna Cabrol who stars as DS María Hernandez, Brian Bovell who plays Archie, Damian Schedler Cruz who takes on the role of PC Jesús Ballesteros, and Eva van der Gucht in the role of Jackie. You can see the cast list and where you recognise them from in full here.
But Benidorm is Murder also has an incredible roster of guest actors, two of whom will join for the second episode. Channel 5 has confirmed Coronation Steet star turned Loose Women Denise Welch will play Ziggy, the owner of Benidorm Palace, while comedian and actor Alistair McGowan will step into the shoes of faded 90s game-show star Vince Starky.
Denise Welch plays Ziggy
Denise plays Ziggy, owner of Benidorm Palace.
Writer and creator Ian Jarvis said of Denise in the role of Ziggy: “Denise Welch is amazing. We felt like we had TV royalty when we got Denise. She is brilliant in the role. She didn’t need much steering about this character. Ziggy is this low-rent showbiz queen, an agent in the stand-up comedy world. Denise is also just loads of fun to be around. She loves a chat. We spent a lot of time chatting about everything.”
Denise is best known for playing Natalie Barnes in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, in which she appeared in over 400 episodes.
She also starred as Steph Haydock in Waterloo Road, and Trish Minniver in Hollyoaks. Viewers might also recognise Denise from Spender, Soldier Soldier and Down to Earth. She is also a regular panellist on the ITV chat show Loose Women.
Alistair McGowan plays Vince Starky
Alistair McGowan plays faded 90s game-show star Vince Starky. His character appears in the Laughter Lounge alongside his younger wife, Vienna.
Alistair is a comic, actor, pianist, poet, and writer. He provided voices for eight series of Spitting Image and earned a BAFTA for his BBC One television series The Big Impression, with Ronni Ancona.
He is also known for All Quiet on the Preston Front and has been a regular on Radio 4 dramas and comedies, including Elvenquest and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen? He took the lead role in BBC One’s detective series Mayo, and has appeared in many stage roles over the years.
What is Die Laughing about?
A synopsis for the instalment reads: “At the Laughter Lounge, veteran comic Frank Mann is emceeing when his old friend, faded 90s game show star Vince Starky, blows in with younger wife Vienna. Vince’s comeback dates are tanking and owner Ziggy, drowning in debt, needs them to work…
“But the next morning, doorman Paco finds a dead body on the club roof. Maria begrudgingly asks Dennis to look at the scene, where he notes the head wound, scuff marks round the access door and, below, a fire extinguisher buried in a car windscreen.“As Rosa helps retrace the movements of everyone connected to the club, old grudges, financial pressures and buried secrets come bubbling to the surface. Has the killer been hiding in plain sight all along? And can Dennis convince Maria to reopen a case she’s so eager to keep closed?”
Benidorm is Murder continues on Thursday at 9pm on Channel 5.
Emmerdale is reportedly losing some familiar faces and gaining both old and new characters on the ITV soap, but are Dawn Taylor, Vinny Dingle and Jimmy King leaving?
Emmerdale fans are wondering who is really leaving the ITV soap (Image: ITV)
Emmerdale fans are wondering who is really leaving the ITV soap and who’s staying put.
In recent months, a handful of names have been reported as cast members leaving the show. As it stands, both cast and the show have yet to comment on the claims.
There are some confirmed returns to the village however, and some teased ones too. We’ve had loads of new faces, temporary and permanent, in recent months too, so could there be more on the way? This is all we know so far about upcoming cast changes and news, including FOUR exits and two returns…
Who’s leaving Emmerdale?
Dawn Taylor
It’s been claimed Dawn Taylor is leaving the show after eight years. Actress Olivia Bromley was said to be written out of the show, while the soap has not confirmed this.
She’s centre stage on the show at the moment, with possible feelings for her ex Billy Fletcher ahead of her wedding to Joe Tate. Dawn is pregnant with Joe’s baby, and now fans think she might flee Joe and the village like she had planned to months earlier.
Jimmy King
A shocking exit rumour is that Jimmy King will leave the show after more than 20 years. It was reported recently that actor Nick Miles has been axed from the show after two decades.
Fans have been left furious by the reports, that have not been backed up by the show. It’s claimed Jimmy will be killed off in devastating scenes later this year, while onscreen at the moment it’s teased he might split from his wife Nicola King.
Vinny Dingle
Another unexpected exit announcement claimed Vinny Dingle is leaving the show after seven years. Actor Bradley Johnson is another cast member said to be axed from the show, while this has not been confirmed.
Vinny only recently embarked on a romance with Lewis Barton, amid a huge storyline months earlier that saw Vinny struggling with his sexuality. So the news that Vinny could be leaving left fans baffled.
Noah Dingle
Fans were also stunned when it was reported that Noah Dingle will leave the show after 22 years. Actor Jack Downham has played him since 2009.
It’s claimed writers have axed Charity Dingle’s son from the show, and onscreen Noah has told some family members he plans to work abroad. Again this is not an exit confirmed by the show or its cast, but it’s thought Noah will leave soon.
Who’s returning to Emmerdale?
A Tate?
Just weeks ago, soap boss Laura Shaw teased a Tate was heading to the show. She didn’t specify whether it was a brand new character entirely, or a past Tate character.
There’s still no news on this, while Mirror will be dropping some new hints very, very soon so stay tuned. For now, fans have been speculating whether it’s a new character like Serena Sugden, or if we might see Jamie Tate return to the show, amid Serena targeting Kim Tate.
Sadie King
The big return coming up is Sadie King, who will return to the village very soon first the first time in 20 years. Actress Patsy Kensit is reprising the role, and the Mirror caught up with her recently – so keep an eye out for that interview!
Sadie left in dramatic fashion in 2006, so what has brought her back after all these years? There’s trouble, secrets and plenty of drama on the way!
Victoria Sugden
Victoria Sugden is heading back to the show at some point, after she fled earlier this year. Actress Isabel Hodgins is currently on maternity leave after welcoming her first child this year.
Isabel was recently spotted on the set, sparking return claims. That said, Isabel previously stated she would like to return around September time, but she’s not completely sure when she will be ready – but she definitely is going back at some point.
Are there any new characters joining?
There’s been no news about some new characters joining soon. That said, there’s not always an announcement, while there was for the likes of Kev Townsend and Serena Sugden.
Recently, Kev’s pal Steve, played by actor Jason Done, joined temporarily. Then there was Kev’s old flame Kylie too, and some other guest roles along the way.
So, there’s new faces all the time and we can expect more. Whether there’s an actual new character joining remains to be seen. If the Tate arrival is a new Tate, then that will be a new character!
Samantha Morton didn’t mean to start humming during that scene in “The Odyssey,” the scene everyone is talking about, when, as the sorceress Circe, she turns Odysseus’ men into pigs, literally molding them into their true savage selves.
It wasn’t in the script. It just happened. And when Morton was done, she looked over to director Christopher Nolan, waiting for him to say something like, “Maybe try it without the humming, Samantha.”
But Nolan didn’t say anything, so Morton did it again and the music that was swirling inside her head, which she remembers now as a symphony of glass harmoniums and theremin, kept coming out as Circe went about her witchy business, altering her gluttonous guests, who are busy slurping and gulping down her stew.
“These are sounds that can make you go mad, apparently,” Morton, 49, tells me, reclining on her bed at the Hotel Chelsea in New York. “So to transform the men, the magic came not just from my hands but from my sounds.”
Samantha Morton as Circe in “The Odyssey,” directed by Christopher Nolan.
(Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures)
Morton unabashedly believes in magic. How else, she asks, can you explain how a girl who was shuttled between children’s homes and a dozen foster families, only to be living on the streets of Nottingham, England, at the age of 14 with a criminal record, be here talking with me now, sipping green tea at the Chelsea?
“That’s got to be guardian angels and love — and not that I suddenly became good at acting and got a job,” says Morton, a veteran who’s been at it for 35 years, dazzling audiences and stealing scenes for the likes of Steven Spielberg, Jim Sheridan and, now, Nolan. “I’ve always believed that anything is possible and there’s no doubt in here,” and she pats her heart, “because I’ve always felt this immense love for me from another entity.”
When Morton heard that Nolan wanted to meet her for “The Odyssey,” she says she wept. If that sounds dramatic, she makes no apologies. She likens it to being an athlete who qualifies to represent their country at the Olympics. She’d spent decades honing her craft for that phone call. When it came, she flew to Los Angeles in January 2025 during the wildfires, embarking on what would become the best job interview of her life.
I ask her what she remembers about that meeting.
“I think it went really well,” Morton answers, laughing.
Morton told Nolan she hadn’t read “The Odyssey,” which, when you quit school at the age of 12, makes sense. Flying back home to England — she and her husband live in East Sussex with their children, 18-year-old daughter Edie and 12-year-old son Teddy — she recalled that, yes, she knew a bit of “The Odyssey” from having seen it parodied on an episode of “The Simpsons.” (“We’re ‘Simpsons’ mad in our house,” she says. “Like, mad.”)
But Morton doesn’t believe in bogging herself down in research, not since starring in a British TV production of “Jane Eyre” when she was 19 and carried around a heavily highlighted copy of the Charlotte Brontë book, despairing whenever the adaptation deviated from the novel. From that point on, she stuck to the script and her own imagination.
“That’s got to be guardian angels and love — and not that I suddenly became good at acting and got a job,” says Morton of her career. “I’ve always believed that anything is possible.”
(Ebru Yildiz / For The Times)
Thinking about Circe, Morton recalled going to the library with her dad (“We had nothing and were beyond poor, but he always had a library card,” she says) and finding the Howard Pyle fairy-tale book “King Stork.” She remembers being mesmerized by the story’s wicked witch. She recalls other witches from folk tales like Baba Yaga, frightening characters but also, she says, “women possessing an innocence that had been eroded over the years by the harshness of life.”
Morton does a playful verbal evasion when discussing the nuts-and-bolts aspects of shooting the scene where Circe transforms Odysseus’ men, saying that back in the day when behind-the-scenes features were prevalent on DVDs, she routinely declined to participate.
“I didn’t mean to be tricky, but it was like: This is my private moment. This is for me,” she says. “I do like the idea of a little mystery.”
But then a beat later, she laughs it off and dives in, remembering that her husband showed her an Instagram post from Nolan’s set revealing how the movie’s Cyclops was, in fact, a puppet.
“Oh my gosh — I love puppets!” Morton raves, and off she goes, telling me how much she adores Jim Henson and how “The Dark Crystal” is one of her all-time favorite films.
What she will say about her “Odyssey” scene is that there were no digital effects. Everything was real and “in camera” and that she was so in the zone that she barely remembers any of it, only flashes.
“That’s not CGI,” Morton says. “That’s human brilliance and a connectivity of me as a performer, almost dancing and feeling one. And not to say that it was sexual, but I wanted it to be very sensual when she’s with the men and the animals, just like, you know, that she’s almost one with them.”
“What was lovely about that,” Morton begins and then stops, wondering if she should draw back the curtain on the creative process. She goes ahead. “There was a day on set when Chris was like, ‘OK,’ and he put his hand in because I was a little scared. It’s like that scene in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ where he puts his hand in the thing, and you’re like, ‘Oh no!’ I was a little nervous, but Chris did it first. I think he actually cut his finger.” She giggles. “You know, he’s going to go in first, like getting into the cold water in the sea. I felt protected and supported in that whole process.”
When Odysseus’ men arrive at Circe’s home, hungry, asking to be fed, Circe seems frightened — understandably so. She’s alone, and these soldiers have a history of pillaging and taking what they want. And yet, she’s a powerful sorceress. Is Circe really scared or tricking them to lure them in?
“I played that like she was genuinely frightened because she was caught off-guard,” Morton says. “I also wanted to play somebody that was all ages, so I played her like a 16-year-old girl in that scene. And then in other scenes, I’m playing her as a 90-year-old woman or a 49-year-old woman or a sister or a mother, a grandmother. I just wanted her to be ageless.”
Morton, looking out for Circe, stresses that transforming Odysseus’ men was not purely vengeful.
“It’s not just hate,” she says. “It’s not just harm. It’s not just anger. It’s almost like a Zen master within the goddess role of the teaching as well. ‘Be careful what you wish for,’ gluttony, greed, all of these things.”
There’s a righteous feminist rage underneath the scene as well, a modernization that brings “The Odyssey” fiercely and disturbingly up to date. It’s another reason why people leave are leaving the theater talking about Morton.
“In some weird way, the film lived or died over that character,” says director Nolan of Morton’s Circe, a creation of pure acting and no digital sorcery. “She was the fulcrum.”
(Ebru Yildiz / For The Times)
Nolan thinks “The Odyssey,” in some weird way, “lived or died over that character — she was the fulcrum.” He told The Times that “after one of her takes, the crew gave her a great round of applause.” Emma Thomas, Nolan’s producing partner and wife, later recalled that the last time that had happened was with Heath Ledger on “The Dark Knight.”
Morton makes a point of telling me how much Ledger meant to her, having been cast opposite him (and Odysseus himself, Matt Damon) more than 20 years ago in Terry Gilliam‘s 2005 fantasy adventure “The Brothers Grimm.” Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein overruled Gilliam, dropping Morton from the film because, in his eyes, she wasn’t attractive enough.
“And Heath fought for me with such kindness and compassion,” Morton says. “He’s up there with Philip Seymour Hoffman for me. There’s something otherworldly personal about what they gave, such sincerity and vulnerability and an absolute dedication to craft. They leave a mark on your heart.”
It’s not the first time Morton has invoked the heart in our conversation. She brought her son, Teddy, to New York for the premiere of “The Odyssey” because she wanted to show him the place where her creative spirit was born. Morton first came to New York as a teen to do press for “Emma,” returned a year later to promote “Jane Eyre” and then couldn’t bring herself to leave, “sofa-surfing” at friends’ apartments so she could immerse herself in the city.
“New York stole my heart,” Morton says. It’s where she first got into literature, devouring Charles Bukowski, roaming the aisles at the St. Mark’s Bookshop, checking out movies from Kim’s Video and gobbling hash browns and eggs over easy at the Waverly Diner.
Not long after, Morton scored the role that would land her the first of two Oscar nominations (for now, at least), playing the mute laundress in Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown.” The production put her up in a Greenwich Village apartment and when it ended, she moved to the East Village.
Only the diner remains but Morton still plans on touring the Village with Teddy, showing off all of mom’s old haunts and, yes, having a cup of soup at the Waverly.
“Life is good right now,” Morton says, smiling. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll indulge in some hash browns.”
Bergerac is back for a “modern reimagining” of the iconic 1980s detective show.
Hayley Anderson Screen Time TV Reporter
22:30, 24 Jul 2026
This Morning: Bergerac cast discuss reboot
Bergerac has returned more than 30 years on with fans questioning what happened to its original cast.
BBC has given hit detective series Bergerac a fresh new look with troubled DCI Jim Bergerac (played by Damien Molony) back and ready to investigate head-scratching crimes months after the death of his wife.
The first episode sees Bergerac dive back into the world of policing after a woman from one of Jersey’s wealthiest families is murdered.
But as the reboot drama debuted tonight, Friday, July 24, fans could not help but wonder what happened to the original stars who made Bergerac a hit.
Where is the Bergerac original cast now?
Jim Bergerac – John Nettles
Actor John Nettles led the way as heartthrob detective Jim Bergerac for nine seasons in the 1980s series, launching the now 82-year-old’s career.
When the show came to an end, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company before taking on his next iconic role in 1997 as DCI Thomas Barnaby in ITV’s Midsomer Murders.
He remained in the detective drama until 2011 and later went on to have a recurring role as Ray Penvenen in BBC period drama Poldark.
Nettles has since retired from acting and, according to The i Paper, he turned down a cameo role in this latest Bergerac reboot stating “I’m too old and I’d just get in the way.”
Susan Young – Louise Jameson
Taking on the role of Jim Bergerac’s estate agent girlfriend Susan Young is actress Louise Jameson.
She previously played Doctor Who companion Leela in the late 1970s and regularly appeared in Bergerac between 1985 and 1990.
Jameson starred as Rosa di Marco in EastEnders from 1998 to 2000 but since 2022, she has been best associated with Mary Goskirk in Emmerdale.
Charlotte – Annette Badland
Charlotte was the secretary in the Bureau des Etrangers in the first three seasons of Bergerac.
She is played by actress Annette Badland who has been in shows such as Cutting It, Coronation Street and EastEnders as Babe Smith.
Fans will also recognise her as Mae the landlady in Ted Lasso and Nanny Bingo in Big Boys.
Deborah Bergerac – Deborah Grant
Actress Deborah Grant portrayed Deborah Bergerac, Jim Bergerac’s ex-wife.
She played receptionist Carol Johnson in ITV medical drama Peak Practice, Leonora in BBC sitcom Bread and the mum of Tim and Lucy in the Lee Mack comedy Not Going Out.
Marianne Bellshade – Celia Imrie
Actress Celia Imrie starred in the first two seasons of Bergerac as Jim’s girlfriend Marianne Bellshade.
The 74-year-old actress has starred in an abundance of iconic films throughout her career, including Calendar Girls, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and the Bridget Jones franchise.
She is also one of the mains stars of Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club and appeared in other shows like Dinner Ladies, Kingdom and Cranford. She proved a hit in the first UK edition of BBC gameshow Celebrity Traitors.
Charlie Hungerford – Terence Alexander
Charlie Hungerford, Bergerac’s former father-in-law and dad of Deborah Bergerac, was played by actor Terence Alexander.
He starred as Dr Ian McLaren in Bless This House, Sir Greville Macdonald in The New Statesman and featured in films like The Seven Dials Murder and The Day of the Jackal.
Alexander made his last TV appearance in 1999 in Casualty before retiring due to poor health.
He died 10 years later in 2009 at the age of 86.
Barney Crozier – Sean Arnold
Officer in charge of the Bureau des Etrangers Barney Crozier was portrayed by actor Sean Arnold.
He starred as Mr Llewelyn in children’s show Grange Hill, Harry Fisher in medical drama Doctors and the chief constable in the BBC series Merseybeat.
Arnold passed away at the age of 79 in 2020.
Bergerac is available to watch on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
Singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell first wrote the numbers for “Hadestown,” a folk musical based on Greek mythology, in 2006. Twenty years later, the Tony-winning smash musical comes to the big screen in a version filmed on the West End in 2025, directed by Brett Sullivan. The production reunites the original Broadway cast — André De Shields, Patrick Page, Reeve Carney, Eva Noblezada and Amber Gray — six years after the show debuted and swept the Tonys in 2019.
There is a timelessness to Mitchell’s work, thanks in large part to the ancient source material, the myths of Orpheus, Eurydice, Hades and Persephone. Developed in partnership with Rachel Chavkin, who directed the Broadway show, the action is set around the 1930s in the American Deep South. The story expresses evergreen themes of love, sacrifice, oppression, addiction and devotion, juxtaposing the tragedy of the way things are against a hope of the way they could be.
There are moments when Mitchell’s songs feel eerily prescient: The show’s villain, Hades (Page), rules the underworld of Hadestown as a fascistic industrialist; his Act I closing number is titled “Why We Build the Wall.” Factory workers sing back to him, “We build the wall to keep us free,” a chorus that foretells the Trumpian rhetoric of 2016 and a reminder that these patterns of division and otherization are the eternal tools of the oppressor.
“Hadestown” is a love story first and foremost, set in a joyous juke joint, the band ringing the stage. The camera follows our narrator, Hermes, played by American theater legend De Shields, as he takes the stage, kissing the heads of his company.
But the show doesn’t start until the 79-year-old De Shields nattily flips his jacket open, to the approving roar of the audience. He introduces doomed Orpheus (Carney), “touched by the Gods themselves,” a born yearner with a gift for song. When Eurydice (Noblezada), a scrappy, skeptical slip of a girl, rolls into town, Orpheus instantly falls head over heels. They have nothing except each other, their love symbolized by a red flower that Orpheus offers.
Party girl Persephone (Gray) brings the summer fun, but her jealous lover Hades wants to keep her all to himself in his domain, trapping the world in a long winter. Orpheus promises to write a song to summon spring again, but a struggling Eurydice is seduced by Hades’ promises of security in Hadestown, and she descends with him, signing her life away to work in his factory. Orpheus tries to rescue his love, but his faith in her is tested on their return to the top — if he turns back to see if she’s there, she’ll be banished to Hadestown forever.
Real-life couple Carney and Noblezada married several months after this production; they met at Noblezada’s audition. Their chemistry makes the emotional devastation of this tragedy that much more real: Every main actor sheds a real tear over the course of the show. Carney’s unique tenor ranges from Jeff Buckley to Freddie Mercury; his rock background and skill with the guitar is required for Orpheus’ lyre-playing and lends to the folk roots of Mitchell’s songs.
Cinematographer Clayton Jacobsen captures unexpected camera angles that a theatergoer wouldn’t get (even one with decent seats), both from down below in the circular pit and above it. He sends the camera soaring over the heads of the audience into intimate medium shots. Sullivan makes the animated and often rowdy crowd an integral part of the cinematic experience, including an extended curtain call with De Shields toasting the audience, sending them out with the warmth with which he brought them in.
There is such a temporal quality to theater, a shared moment in time and space. This production feels like a fleeting moment — a reunion of friends and collaborators retelling a myth that is recounted over and over again. “It’s a sad song, but we sing it anyway,” Hermes reminds us, and it’s a sentiment worth repeating. There may be tragedy, but the summer will inevitably return.
Today, Friday 24 July, sees the second episode of The Hairdresser Mysteries air where a synopsis teases: “When a celebrity weather reporter is found dead, Lily investigates if his zero-star reviews of all the local businesses have driven one of their own to murder.”
Sally Phillips plays main character, Lily Petal, who is forced to turn from hairdresser to amateur detective when crimes keep happening on her doorstep in the sleepy village.
She is helped in her investigations by brilliant analytical hair salon assistant Clary Coombs, played by Charlotte Jordan, and eager PC Adam Watson, played by Ben Castle-Gibb.
On Friday’s episode, viewers were introduced to Gloria Crudd, who is another newcomer to the village hoping to make a fresh start with her ice cream parlour but soon finds her old life catching up with her.
On the show, Wendi looks worlds away from Cilla as her character Gloria has a pastel pink copper coloured curly beehive hairdo adorned with jewellery pieces.
However, Wendi isn’t the only Coronation Street star in the new series as she is joined by fellow Weatherfield favourite Charlotte Jordan who is playing Clary Coombs – Lily’s ‘bright and analytical assistant and the Watson to her Shear-lock Holmes’.
Charlotte, 32, is best known for playing Daisy Midgeley on the cobbles from 2020 to 2025, where her character was involved in several huge storylines including the hard-hitting acid attack plot.
Viewers have already shared their praise for the new series as one person said on Twitter, now X: “Watching the first episode of #TheHairdresserMysteries and I absolutely love it! So many talented actors I recognise, such a cosy atmosphere too. And it’s filmed in the beautiful West Midlands! More plans!”
To which another account put: “Loved today’s #TheHairdresserMysteries premiere, great stuff from @CharlieJordanxo Sally Phillips, @elisabethdw @sarker guy Henry and Ben castle- Gibb, can’t wait to see what’s coming up.”
The Hairdresser Mysteries airs on Fridays at 2pm and all episodes are available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
BBC sitcom The Power of Parker, which featured a cast made up of Conleth Hill, Sian Gibson and Benidrom star Sheila Reid, has been axed after two series on air
The Power of Parker has been axed after two series on air(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Boffola Pictures)
The Power of Parker has been axed after two series on air. The sitcom starred Conleth Hill, best known for his role as Varys in Game of Thrones, as wannabe business guru Martin Parker, whose seemingly successful life is in fact all built on lies.
All set in Stockport in 1990, the programme also stars creator Sian Gibson, best known for her role in Peter Kay’s Car Share, and Sheila Reid, known to fans of Benidorm as Madge Harvey, in the cast.
The final episode of series two saw Martin bracing himself for arrest on a charge of attempted murder, and along with his mistress and his wife pushed business rival Sandy (Steve Pemberton) into the back of a bin wagon. But Sandy then turned back up with video evideoce and threatened to go to the police if they did not pay up. However, viewers will never get to see just what happened now that the show has been pulled.
A source said: “Losing any series will feel like a crime for its fans. But for the two million who watched The Power Of Parker, its axe with so many loose ends is a major felony.
Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “The ratings just didn’t deliver enough bang for buck and it was decided the series would be chopped to make way for new formats.”
Over the years, the BBC has been responsible for comedies such as Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley and Fawlty Towers amongst a whole host of other sitcom staples.
A spokesperson said: “There are no plans for a third series of The Power Of Parker. We’d like to thank Paul Coleman, Sian Gibson and the team at Boffola Pictures for bringing the show to our screens.”
Whilst promoting what turned out to be the last series, which focused what happened after Martin after losing his electrical goods store over an affair with Kath (Sian Gibson) – the sister of his wife Diane (Rosie Cavaliero), Conleth revealed to presenters Alex Jones and Roman Kemp on The One Show that his character had experienced a “huge fall from grace” with things being exacerbated by Kath.
However, his co-star then chimed in and told fans that there would be plenty of “twists and turns” coming up as she said: “Kath makes everything worse but there’s lots of twists and turns and there’s a huge twist in one of the episodes which means that Kath and Diane, her sister, played by lovely Rose Cavaliero, and Martin all have to work together.”
Conleth previously explained that his family weren’t too impressed with the character when the first series aired. He said: “My older relatives didn’t like him because he was an adulterer,” he shares.
“I based him on a mate of mine back home who wears cowboy boots and suits. When he doesn’t, he looks like a dumpy middle-aged man but transforms in the suit and cowboy boots,” he admits. “It’s just something about the choice of ‘I’m going to give myself a couple more inches’ in the boots that I liked immediately.”
Fans of the beloved medical sitcom will be seeing some characters leaving
Donald Faison and Zach Braff in the new Scrubs revival series (Image: GETTY)
The Scrubs reboot is returning for another outing but there’s been a cast shakeup.
The forthcoming Season 11 of Scrubs, which marks the second outing for the revival series, is bidding farewell to two cast members.
Joel Kim Booster, who plays Dr Park, and X Mayo, who starred as Charge Nurse Raymond won’t be returning, Deadline reported.
Instead, The O.C. star Rachel Bilson will be getting more screen time as Rachel, along with original Scrubs cast member Neil Flynn as The Janitor.
Additionally, Scrubs newcomer Ava Bunn has been promoted to a series regular as intern Sam Tosh.
Scrubs’ beloved trio of John ‘JD’ Dorian (played by Zach Braff), Christopher ‘Turk’ Turk (Donald Faison) and Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke) will be again leading the series.
HBO’s Rooster star John C. McGinley will be reprising his iconic role as Dr Perry Cox and Judy Reyes returns as Carla Espinosa while also working on ABC’s High Potential.
Meanwhile, the cast playing the newbie interns will be back in the frame, including Jacob Dudman as Asher Green, David Gridley as Blake Lewis, Layla Mohammadi as Amara Hadi, and Amanda Morrow as Dashana Trainor.
ABC renewed the comedy drama not long after the first season of the reboot finished airing in April this year.
The Scrubs revival focuses on JD helping to train up a new group of interns and learning lessons along the way.
The new series holds a 8.3/10 rating on IMDB and has been praised by many Scrubs fans, who feared that the revival wouldn’t match up to the original series and follow a similar path to the disastrous Season 9 which was the last outing before the show got cancelled.
Many have praised the new series on IMDb, with one person posting in their 10/10 review: “I didn’t expect this season to be half as decent as the old seasons, yet, I’m shocked at how well they’ve pulled this off.”
A second top rated review noted: “There are not many shows that were amazing in the original run, then come back after more than a decade with the same magic but Scrubs has pulled it off.”
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A third echoed similar sentiments in their top-tier review: “This reboot has everything you wanted and everything you didn’t know you needed. They captured what we loved about the original cast while introducing new characters in a way that feels natural, not like they’re trying to recreate J. D. and Turk.”
IT WAS must-see viewing for Britain’s teenagers slumped on the sofa on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The cool young cast of T4 delivered zany segments and upbeat links between popular programmes including Hollyoaks and Shipwrecked.
And now as a former teen telly icon is given a peer by Keir Starmer we reveal where some of the other popular TV presenters are now.
Vernon Kay, June Sarpong, Steve Jones, Miquita Oliver and Anthony Crank on T4 in 2005Credit: Getty
June Sarpong (2000-2007)
June Sarpong was made an OBE for services to broadcasting in 2021Credit: Getty
SHE was a working class immigrant kid who grew up on a council estate but now TV star June Sarpong is taking a seat in the House of Lords.
The proud honour marks a meteoric rise for June, 49, who first appeared on our screens as a host of MTV before joining the iconic Noughties show T4 way back in 2000.
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She was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting and has made a name for herself as a high profile equality campaigner.
As she celebrated the political honour yesterday, June said: “Words cannot even begin to describe how truly honoured and humbled I feel to have been appointed to the House of Lords by Keir Starmer on his final Honours list.
June with co-host Vernon Kay 25 years agoCredit: Channel 4
“As a working class immigrant kid from a council estate in East London it is not lost on me what this means.
“As I embark on this next chapter, I look forward to being able to use this role to further champion the causes and issues that are dear to my heart.”
But June is not the only former member of the T4 gang who has gone on to bigger and better things.
It was a hugely successful launchpad for many of the most familiar faces on TV today.
Dermot O’Leary (1998-2001)
Dermot moved from T4 to Big Brother Little BrotherCredit: E4
A baby faced skinhead, Dermot was part of the original presenting line up when T4 first launched.
Before that he had been a DJ on Radio Essex but Dermot, now 53, proved such a success with the viewers that Channel 4 swiftly selected him to front spin off show Big Brother’s Little Brother until 2008.
He has since landed a string of high profile presenting gigs including The X-Factor which he hosted for 11 years.
Now Dermot has a Radio 2 show and fronts This Morning on Fridays, as well as publishing a string of hugely successful children’s books about Toto The Ninja Cat.
Margherita Taylor (1999-2001)
Dermot O’Leary and Margherita Taylor in 2000Credit: Alamy
She was a DJ at Birmingham based radio station BRMB when she took part in a radio contest and moved to Capital Radio.
From there Margherita landed a spot on T4’s starting line-up alongside Dermot and Vernon Kay and never looked back.
Ben Shephard got his big break on the teen telly hitCredit: Handout
Ben, 51, was a regular host of Channel 4’s spin-off morning show The Bigger Breakfast when bosses decided to put him on T4.
Just two years later he joined ITV’s GMTV as an entertainment host, then as a main presenter in 2005.
He quit the show in 2010, weeks before it was axed anyway, but returned to ITV in 2014 to front the newly-launched Good Morning Britain, where he remains as one of the country’s most recognisable presenters.
Now the much loved millionaire dad of two is rarely off the box, having swapped his seat at the Good Morning Britain newsdesk for the sofa at This Morning alongside Cat Deeley.
Ben has also hosted hit gameshows including The Summit, Tipping Point and Ninja Warrior UK.
Vernon Kay (2000-2005)
Vernon at the 2005 T4 Honours AwardsCredit: GettyVernon and Tess Daly called time on their marriage this yearCredit: Alamy
Hunky Bolton lad Vern was working as a model when he was scouted by TV bosses to front T4 and soared to stardom.
After quitting the show All Star Family Fortunes made him a household name.
His 23 year marriage to Strictly’s Tess Daly has crumbled but this week he was named as one of the BBC’s best paid presenters, raking in a staggering £450,000 a year for his Radio 2 mid-morning show, Alternative Dance Sounds of the 90s and other appearances.
Steve Jones (2003-2010)
A naked Steve Jones playing guitar with June SarpongCredit: Channel 4Former T4 presenter Steve Jones in 2007Credit: PA:Press Association
Welsh lad Steve, 49, – who stripped off several times on the show, was one of T4’s best loved presenters when Simon Cowell chose him to present the American version of The X Factor.
But the show bombed and Steve was axed after just one series.
The former model went on to present a property show called Perfect House, Secret Location and appeared on This Morning before landing a full time gig in 2016 to lead the presenting team for Channel 4’s F1 coverage.
Miquita Oliver (2006-2010)
Miquita Oliver and former co-host Simon AmstellCredit: Channel 4
While most of the original T4 crew were newbies, Miquita already had five years of telly experience under her belt having fronted Popworld with Simon Amstell.
But she was suspended from T4 in 2010 after being overheard insulting singer Kesha.
She has also claimed she lost a job on Radio 1 for “saying silly things”.
Since then fashion favourite Miquita, 42, has been on a string of TV programmes, including Celebrity Gogglebox alongside her mum Andi, and has a hit podcast with her pal Lily Allen.
Rick Edwards (2007-2011)
Nick Grimshaw, Rick Edwards and Jameela Jamil at T4 On The Beach in 2011Credit: Getty
Rick, 47, was performing stand-up comedy at Cambridge University when he was spotted by T4 producers who gave him his first TV job.
Since then he went on to land a string of presenting gigs including Tool Academy, Made in Chelsea, Freshly Squeezed, E4 Music, and much of Channel 4‘s 2012 Paralympics coverage.
Rick has also hosted a BBC One quiz show called !mpossible and now he can be heard on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Breakfast Show every morning, as well as Fighting Talk on Saturdays and their Premier League review on Sundays.
Alexa Chung (2008-2009)
Nick Grimshaw and Alexa ChungCredit: Not known, clear with picture deskAlexa Chung was a familiar face on the show in 2008Credit: Splash News
Fashion icon Alexa, 42, began working as a model after she was scouted at the Reading Festival at the age of 16. She joined Popworld alongside Alex Zane in 2006 before joining T4 two years later.
She famously inspired the Alexa handbag by British designer Mulberry, and has dated big names like Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner and actor Alexander Skarsgard.
She pivoted back to style and lifestyle content on TV for shows like Gok’s Fashion Fix, Next In Fashion and now runs her own lucrative fashion label.
Jameela Jamil (2009-2012)
Alexa Chung and Jameela Jamil at V Festival 2010Credit: Getty – Contributor
London born Actress and activist Jameela, 40, was working as a school teacher when she was scouted by a TV producer in a bar.
She followed Alexa on to music show Freshly Squeezed alongside Nick Grimshaw and became a DJ on Radio 1 and the event circuit – with her first show being at Elton John’s birthday party.
In 2016 she moved to LA to become a screenwriter but ended up landing a role in American hit comedy The Good Place as Tahani Al-Jamil.
She’s also become an outspoken campaigner for equality and is dating pop star James Blake.
Nick Grimshaw (2010-2012)
Breakfast show star Nick GrimshawCredit: Alamy
Grimmy started out in student radio before landing a job on Radio 1’s Switch youth programme in 2007.
His career really kicked off the following year when he landed the station’s weekend breakfast show, before moving to a late-night presenting slot.
In 2010, Nick, 41, added T4 to his roster, fronting it until he was promoted to the Beeb’s breakfast show, replacing Chris Moyles.
Hold the Bat Signal — “The Batman Part II” has been delayed yet again.
The DC Studios film is now set to hit theaters Feb. 18, 2028. The sequel to Matt Reeves’ 2022 reboot “The Batman” was previously slated to bow Oct. 1, 2027 after it was pushed back from its original release date of Oct. 3, 2025.
Reeves took to social media Wednesday to share the new date along with camera test footage from the film. The video, the first proper look at Robert Pattinson’s return as the Caped Crusader, shows him in a new Batsuit, turning toward the camera as what appears to be snow falls around him. There are also some flashing lights in the background.
The filmmaker has previously shared “The Batman Part II” casting news as well as a glimpse of the Batmobile in social media posts.
Many details about “The Batman Part II” have been kept under wraps, but here is everything we know about the upcoming sequel.
Which characters are returning?
In addition to Pattinson’s return as Bruce Wayne, “The Batman” alumni Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis and Colin Farrell will reprise their roles as James Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth and Oz Cobb (a.k.a. the Penguin), respectively. Zoë Kravitz is not expected to return as Selina Kyle/Catwoman.
Other actors confirmed to come back include Jayme Lawson as Gotham’s mayor, Bella Reál, and Gil Perez-Abraham as Gotham City Police Dept. officer Martinez.
Barry Keoghan, whose character was briefly teased at the end of “The Batman,” is also reportedly likely to return as the Joker.
Who are the new cast members?
The newcomers venturing into Gotham for this next installment include Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Charles Dance, Sebastian Koch and Brian Tyree Henry.
While their roles have yet to be confirmed, a number of outlets have reported that Stan is expected to portray Harvey Dent, a Gotham district attorney who is perhaps better known as the villain Two-Face, while other rumors say the Marvel star will play the sadistic killer Victor Zsasz. According to other rumors, fellow Marvel alum Johansson could be playing Gilda Dent — Harvey’s wife — or Poison Ivy.
What is ‘The Batman Part II’ about?
Details around the sequel’s plot have yet to be revealed, but the movie is expected to take place after the events of the HBO series “The Penguin,” which was set after “The Batman.” A number of Reeves’ social media teases have included glimpses of snow.
Over the years, the director has mentioned that the sequel will see the young Dark Knight struggling with his understanding that the world is more morally gray than his previous worldview, and that the film’s big villain will be someone who hasn’t appeared on the big screen before.
The synopsis reads: “Britain looks almost normal, but the flags are different, the news is careful, and nobody says certain things out loud anymore. But everyone can feel it. Somewhere beneath the surface of ordinary life, something has gone terribly, quietly wrong.
“Out of the shadows emerges a former soldier known only as Berry, who starts building a secret resistance network. He knows one thing above all else: don’t act before you’re ready.”
An unlikely band of individuals, comprising a soldier, student, journalist and radiographer, gradually gathers around him as they conclude they can no longer turn a blind eye.
The synopsis continued: “Ordinary people, with ordinary lives, making an extraordinary and irreversible choice. Against them: a state with unlimited reach, a ruthless minister who’ll do whatever it takes to maintain “order”, and an American intelligence operative called Jessie, who is very, very good at her job.
“Army of Shadows is a tense, propulsive thriller about what resistance actually costs. If your country were occupied, what would you do?”
The broadcaster has confirmed that production has kicked off across Liverpool, Manchester, London and Paris.
Billed as ‘provocative’, Army of Shadows draws from Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1969 film and Joseph Kessel’s landmark novel of the same name.
Penned by Ronan Bennett, Army of Shadows charts how resistance begins to take hold in an occupied Great Britain during the Second World War, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Discussing the upcoming drama, Interim Head of Drama at Channel 4, Gwawr Lloyd, expressed their enthusiasm while applauding the ‘stellar cast’ signed up for the series.
They said: “Ronan Bennett has created a gripping, provocative and action-packed drama that feels both epic in scale and strikingly relevant. Army of Shadows asks powerful questions about freedom, resistance and the choices people make when democracy is under threat.
“With a stellar cast lined up under the direction of Lisa Gunning, this is exactly the kind of thought-provoking and high-stakes drama that Channel 4 looks to bring to our viewers.
“We’re delighted to partner with STUDIOCANAL and Two Cities Television on what promises to be an unmissable event series.”
Channel 4 has confirmed that additional information regarding the show’s broadcast date will be revealed in due course.
Netflix has released its highly anticipated reboot of Little House on the Prairie – and fans of the original series have been left wondering what happened to the beloved cast
Netflix has brought out a Little House on the Prairie reboot(Image: GETTY)
Based on the iconic books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the new series promises to retell the family’s story for a new generation while staying true to its roots. Netflix’s official synopsis reads: “Part hopeful family drama, part epic survival tale, and part origin story of the American West, this fresh adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s iconic semi-autobiographical Little House books offers a kaleidoscopic view of the struggles and triumphs of those who shaped the frontier.”
Set in 1869, the reboot followed the Ingalls family as they left their cabin in Wisconsin’s Big Woods and headed to Kansas in search of a better life.
Along the way, they built new friendships, overcame hardships and worked to create a home in the town of Independence.
While the new cast steps into some of TV’s most iconic roles, many viewers have been left wondering what happened to the original stars who made the 1970s series such a success.
Here’s what became of the Little House on the Prairie cast:
Michael Landon (Charles Ingalls)
While Little House on the Prairie was based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Michael Landon quickly became the driving force behind the hit TV series.
As well as starring as Charles ‘Pa’ Ingalls, the devoted husband, father and hardworking farmer, Landon also worked behind the scenes as a producer, writer and director, helping shape the show throughout its nine-season run.
However, fans were surprised when he stepped away as a main cast member ahead of the final season, despite continuing to work behind the scenes.
Before finding fame, Landon shot to stardom as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza after landing the role at just 22 years old.
His acting career had started a few years earlier with I Was a Teenage Werewolf and several guest appearances on TV.
After Little House came to an end, Landon went on to star in the popular TV series Highway to Heaven. He was also due to write, direct and star in a new CBS drama called Us, but sadly never got the chance.
In 1991, Landon died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 57, before the show’s two-hour pilot had aired.
Away from acting, Landon was married three times. His third wife was Little House makeup artist Cindy Clerico, who he met on set.
He was also a father to nine children, including filmmaker Christopher Landon and Jennifer Landon, who is best known for playing Teeter in Yellowstone.
Karen Grassle (Caroline Ingalls)
Karen Grassle became a household name playing Caroline ‘Ma’ Ingalls, the loving matriarch of the Ingalls family and Charles’ devoted wife.
While Little House on the Prairie remains by far her best-known role, Grassle was already an experienced theatre actress before landing the part and returned to the stage after the series ended.
She later stepped away from mainstream Hollywood, moving out of Los Angeles to focus on theatre work around the US.
Although she appeared in a handful of films over the years, including Wyatt Earp alongside Kevin Costner, as well as Lasso and Not to Forget, she largely stayed out of the spotlight after Little House ended.
Away from acting, Grassle has been married three times and is mum to two children – a son and a daughter.
In 2021, she released her memoir, Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss, and Love from Little House’s Ma, which revealed she and Michael Landon had a difficult working relationship during parts of the show’s run.
However, she has since said the pair reconciled before his death in 1991.
Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Melissa Gilbert was just 10 years old when she was cast as Laura Ingalls Wilder, the adventurous, animal-loving daughter at the heart of Little House on the Prairie.
She remained on the show until it ended nine years later, by which point she was 19. Her performance made her one of the series’ biggest breakout stars, earning her a Golden Globe Awards nomination in 1981.
While starring in Little House, Gilbert also built an impressive career away from the show. She appeared in TV adaptations of The Diary of Anne Frank and Splendor in the Grass, while her portrayal of Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker earned her an Primetime Emmy Awards nomination.
After Little House came to an end, Gilbert remained a familiar face on television for decades, starring in numerous TV films and series. She also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 2001 to 2005 and even launched an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2016.
She later returned to her Little House roots by taking on the role of Ma Ingalls in the touring production of Little House on the Prairie, The Musical, before appearing on Dancing with the Stars.
More recently, Gilbert made headlines in 2025 after responding to comments from Megyn Kelly about Netflix’s upcoming Little House reboot, after Kelly said she hoped the streaming giant wouldn’t “wokeify” the beloved series.
Gilbert replied: “Ummm… watch the original again,” arguing the show had always tackled difficult subjects including racism, addiction, misogyny and domestic abuse.
Away from acting, Gilbert has two sons – one with her first husband, Bo Brinkman, and another with her second husband, Bruce Boxleitner.
She has been married to Timothy Busfield since 2013 and is also stepmother to his five children.
Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary Ingalls Kendall)
Melissa Sue Anderson played Mary Ingalls, Laura’s intelligent older sister whose life changed forever after losing her sight following a bout of scarlet fever.
The emotional storyline earned Anderson an Primetime Emmy Awards nomination and remains one of the most memorable moments from the series.
Mary endured some of the show’s toughest storylines, including blindness, being held hostage, suffering a miscarriage and tragically losing her baby in a fire.
Away from Little House, Anderson starred in Midnight Offerings and Happy Birthday to Me, while also appearing in TV favourites including Murder, She Wrote, The Equalizer and X-Men: The Animated Series.
In more recent years, the actress has largely stepped away from the spotlight, making only the occasional on-screen appearance.
She married TV writer and producer Michael Sloan in 1990 and the couple had two children before becoming Canadian citizens. Sloan sadly died in 2025.
Rachel Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush (Carrie Ingalls)
Identical twins Rachel Lindsay Greenbush and Sidney Greenbush shared the role of Carrie Ingalls, the youngest member of the Ingalls family until baby Grace arrived in season four.
The sisters were just three years old when they joined the show. Before landing their breakthrough role on Little House on the Prairie, the twins appeared in the TV film Sunshine.
After Little House came to an end, the pair stepped away from acting to focus on school and have largely stayed out of the spotlight ever since.
Away from Hollywood, Sidney married veterinarian and horse breeder William “Rocky” Foster in 2000 before he sadly died in 2009.
Rachel later reconnected with childhood friend Danny Sanchez – who she first met on the Little House set – and the pair married in 2014, more than 30 years later.
Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder)
Dean Butler joined Little House in season six as Almanzo Wilder, the farmer who eventually won Laura Ingalls’ heart.
Butler landed his first major role in the 1978 adaptation of Forever by Judy Blume.
After Little House ended, he went on to star in The New Gidget, performed on Broadway in Into the Woods and later appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Buffy’s father, Hank Summers.
Away from acting, Butler has been married to actress Katherine Cannon since 2001. The couple first met while auditioning for Michael Landon’s TV series Father Murphy.
Katherine MacGregor (Harriet Oleson)
Katherine MacGregor became one of Little House’s most memorable stars thanks to her portrayal of Harriet Oleson, the shopkeeper who quickly became one of TV’s most love-to-hate villains.
Harriet was originally only meant to appear as a guest character, but proved so popular with viewers that she was promoted to a series regular.
Prior to Little House, MacGregor performed on and off Broadway and she appeared in a handful of TV movies and guest starred on All in the Family and the original Ironside.
She was a convert to Hinduism and very devoted to her faith. She was unable to appear in the Little House finale because she was on a pilgrimage to India at the time.
She died in 2018 at the age of 93.
Victor French (Isaiah Edwards)
Victor French played Isaiah Edwards, the ‘rugged mountain man’ and one of Charles Ingalls’ closest friends.
Although fiercely loyal and kind-hearted, the character also battled depression and alcoholism, giving viewers some of the show’s most emotional storylines.
After Little House ended, French reunited with Michael Landon to co-star in Highway to Heaven.
He enjoyed a long television career, with roles in popular series including Gunsmoke, Carter Country and Get Smart.
French also appeared on the big screen alongside Elvis Presley in Charro! and starred opposite John Wayne in Rio Lobo.
Away from Hollywood, French was married twice and had three children. He died from lung cancer in 1989 at the age of 54.
Richard Bull (Nels Oleson)
Richard Bull played Nels Oleson, the long-suffering husband of Harriet Oleson and the patient co-owner of Oleson’s Mercantile.
While the pair constantly clashed on screen, Bull and Katherine MacGregor were said to be close friends in real life.
Little House on the Prairie was one of Bull’s longest-running television roles, alongside his stint as Doc on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Across a career spanning more than four decades, Bull appeared in countless hit TV shows, including The Fugitive, The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, Mission: Impossible and Hill Street Blues.
He also appeared in films including The Thomas Crown Affair, The Andromeda Strain, High Plains Drifter and The Parallax View.
Away from acting, Bull was married to actress Barbara Collentine for more than 65 years, from 1948 until his death.
Trying is back on Apple TV after a two-year hiatus.
Hayley Anderson Screen Time TV Reporter
23:09, 06 Jul 2026Updated 23:13, 06 Jul 2026
Trying season five welcomes Peaky Blinders star Charlotte Riley as Kat.(Image: APPLE TV)
Trying season five is arriving sooner than you might expect, continuing from that shocking cliffhanger.
Rafe Spall and Esther Smith return as couple Jason and Nikki, who have endured a rollercoaster fertility journey since the very beginning in the Apple TV and BBC comedy-drama.
At long last, they managed to adopt siblings Princess and Tyler, with the programme jumping forward to their teenage years where yet another twist emerged in season four’s closing moments.
As anticipation grows for its comeback, here’s everything you need to know before Trying season five.
Trying Season 5 release date
Trying season five debuts on Wednesday, July 8, on Apple TV with fresh episodes dropping every Wednesday.
The latest series will comprise eight episodes, with the finale scheduled to land on Wednesday, August 26.
An official BBC or BBC iPlayer release date is yet to be confirmed, though previous series have generally appeared roughly a year following its Apple TV launch.
What is Trying Season 5 about?
Trying Season 5 will pick up from the dramatic finale of series four when Princess and Tyler’s biological mother Kat turned up unexpectedly.
Her appearance throws a spanner in the works for their settled family life, with Jason and Nikki poised to confront even more fresh challenges as they navigate this enormous disruption.
Trying Season 5 cast
Under Salt Marsh star Rafe Spall and Cuckoo’s Esther Smith reprise their roles as couple Jason Ross and Nikki Newman.
They will be joined by Kat, Princess and Tyler’s biological mother, portrayed by actress Charlotte Riley, best known for her roles in Peaky Blinders, The Take and Wuthering Heights.
Newcomer to Trying for its fifth series is The Thursday Murder Club’s Celia Imrie, who takes on the role of Harriet, an “upper-class hoarder” whom Jason encounters while training for a new job.
The Paper’s Gbemisola Ikumelo steps in as Chrissy, a hard-pressed social worker, while Merlin and The Killing Kind’s Colin Morgan takes on the role of Kerry, Nikki’s easy-going colleague and confidante.
Trying Season 5 premieres on Wednesday, July 8, on Apple TV.
Adapted from Janice Hadlow’s celebrated novel, The Other Bennet Sister centred on Mary Bennet (played by Ella Bruccoleri), the frequently ignored middle sister from Pride and Prejudice.
The concluding episode saw Mary agreeing to marry Tom Hayward (Dónal Finn), though the happy couple may face some obstacles ahead.
Jane Tranter, Executive Producer, said: “We always hoped audiences would fall in love with Mary Bennet’s story, but the response to The Other Bennet Sister has exceeded even our most optimistic expectations.”
The programme’s popularity led directly to the festive special, and here’s everything we know about it thus far.
Who is in The Other Bennet Sister Christmas special?
Ella Bruccoleri is set to reprise her role as Mary, alongside “a host of other familiar faces from the series”.
After learning about the festive special, supporters rushed to social media with one unanimous request, as there was a particular breakout star they were desperate to see return.
Taking to Instagram, one fan said: “Best news ever! Please confirm Dónal being back as Tom.”
Another commented: “@donal.finn will be in it, right? RIGHT?!” A third shared: “I need confirmation that @donal.finn is part of this pleaseeeee.”
A fourth added: “Donal Finn better be there with Ella!!!!” A final viewer concluded: “Best news just hope Donal is in there with Ella too, love them both.”
Given that the Christmas special is set following Mary and Tom’s wedding, it seems highly probable that the Irish actor will make his return to the show.
He captured the hearts of viewers portraying the shy and awkward character, and has further kept fans captivated with his portrayal of the eccentric and charismatic James Moriarty in Prime Video’s Young Sherlock.
What is The Other Bennet Sister Christmas special about?
Tranter offered a tantalising glimpse of the festive episodes, saying: “These Christmas specials give us the chance to spend a little more time with characters audiences have taken to their hearts, and to explore what happens after the wedding bells fade and real life begins.
“Returning to the world of Mary Bennet with our brilliant partners at the BBC and BritBox feels like the perfect way to celebrate the success of the series and give viewers a treat this Christmas.”
While the precise plot is yet to be unveiled, the storyline will likely chart the newlyweds’ ups and downs as they adjust to married life – whether that involves navigating tricky in-laws or the prospect of starting a family – but viewers will simply have to sit tight and find out.
How long are The Other Bennet Sister Christmas special episodes?
While devotees had hoped for three feature-length episodes, the BBC confirmed the specials will follow the same format as the original series, with each instalment running at 30 minutes.
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, added: “It’s been incredibly exciting to see Mary Bennet cause such a sensation in 2026, and we could not be happier to announce this new three-part Christmas gift to her millions of fans.
“Marriage was just the beginning for the no-longer-so-overlooked Bennet sister.”
Where will The Other Bennet Sister Christmas special air?
The specials will broadcast exclusively in the UK on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Viewers in the US and Canada will be able to catch it exclusively on BritBox.
The Other Bennet Sister Christmas special will air on BBC One.
The iconic pair will be teaming up in an untitled father-daughter spy thriller, loosely inspired by author Paul Warner’s debut novel A Spy in the Blood.
What’s even more exciting is that this upcoming series will be created by none other than Jack Thorne, co-creator of Netflix’s Adolescence, as well as other hits like His Dark Materials and the Enola Holmes franchise.
Harbour and Brown will be returning to familiar territory in the new series as they will be portraying a dad and daughter, very much like the familial dynamic between Stranger Things’ Hopper and Eleven.
Watch Unchosen on Netflix
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In the freshly announced series, Harbour will be playing “disgraced FBI agent turned security expert Matt Wolfe” while actress Millie Bobby Brown is behind Rebecca, his estranged daughter and FBI agent.
However, Matt is drawn back into the world that he left behind when Rebecca “vanishes on a mission, forcing him back into a field that has evolved beyond him”.
While the spy thriller has been given a straight-to-series order by Netflix, there has been no word on when subscribers can expect the series just yet.
Netflix Head of Scripted Series, US and Canada Jinny Howe said: “We are delighted to bring this spy drama to life with an extraordinary group of talent we’ve been fortunate to collaborate with before.
“Jack Thorne’s ability to find the deeply human story inside a thriller is unmatched, and watching Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour reunite — this time as estranged father and daughter on opposite sides of a crisis — is something audiences are going to love.”
Harbour hinted at the collaboration in an interview with Variety, teasing: “You’ll see more of me and Millie. 10 years wasn’t enough,” referring to their time together on Stranger Things.
“There is a special bond there. I love her, she loves me.”
Brown also praised her former Stranger Things co-star for bringing them back together, telling the Happy Sad Confused podcast this week: “Father-daughter is where we live, but Netflix will always be our home.
“The David Harbour project is sooner than expected, and it’s David’s idea, so kudos to him.”
There are few things a Los Angeles local is less likely to do than take a Hollywood sightseeing tour on a big, garish bus. Only rush-hour traffic and $20 tacos inspire the same level of dread.
Yet nearly everyone aboard the open-air bus for a Tuesday night production of “California Gothic: A Bus Tour” was an L.A. resident. The show, which is produced by the aggressively hip New Theater Hollywood, recently wrapped its third “season” after debuting in February and returning for an April encore. Set on a moving bus, the 1.5-hour-long experience is part esoteric Tinseltown history lesson, part immersive theater. The narrative conjures meaning from the Los Angeles cityscape by fusing a hodgepodge of textbook theories about the sprawling metropolis onto the gritty reality of daily life.
“We originally organized this thinking there would be more people coming who aren’t from here,” said Oliver Misraje, the show’s writer and primary tour guide, as the bus pulled away from the curb at Santa Monica and Wilcox. “But this just goes to show how much people love the city and are from here, contrary to popular belief.”
In lieu of celebrity-hungry tourists, “California Gothic” has been packing its bus twice a night with rowdy young scenesters and in-the-know locals eager to absorb its heady mix of California history, public intellectualism and performance artistry.
While the show wrapped its latest run in mid-June, it will reopen its automated doors during the last week of October for a special “ghost tour” edition co-written by Misraje and New York it girl Ruby McCollister.
The bus arrives for New Theater Hollywood’s “California Gothic: A Bus Tour.”
My tour was far less steeped in irony than I feared. As the bus wound its way through the streets of Hollywood, starting at the New Theater’s doorstep before eventually circling the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Misraje led the audience through his take on the death of the “California dream” and the rotting carcasses of empty buildings and broken promises left in its wake. Along the way, we encountered a haunted-eyed Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Brooks Ginnan), a masked Hollywood legend known as the Duchess of Argyle (Shauna Frente) and a singing, swaggering “Rat Czar” with a lot to say about real estate developers (Loren Kramar).
Yes, it’s whimsical, and yes, it references Mike Davis’ “City of Quartz” more than any of the TMZ-type excursions it gently parodies, but it’s still, at its heart, a bus tour.
In a nod to classic Hollywood tour advertisements, the show’s winkingly all-caps poster declares, “You Will See: The Hollywood Sign, Marilyn Monroe, the Schizo City State.” There is also a stash of BuzzBallz ready-to-drink cocktails for trivia winners, but Misraje and his cast do not deliver their performances with smirks or smarm. They commit full-throatedly to playing out Misraje’s vision of a Hollywood haunted by the dreamers it’s wronged and the secrets it’s plastered over.
“Ultimately, we are trying to pay homage to the bus tour format, which is intrinsically ‘carny,’” Misraje said, likening himself to a carnival barker espousing aesthetic philosophy aboard an ever-changing “Ship of Theseus.”
Before the performers infiltrate the ship, “I’m trying to intentionally set up audience expectations to think they’re going to get this run-of-the-mill Hollywood death tour,” he explained. “I consider myself a kind of impish person, but still fundamentally sincere.”
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1.Tour guide Oliver Misraje begins the show.2.Rat Czar, portrayed by Loren Kramar, performs during the bus tour.3.Guests board the bus.
Given the show’s monologue-heavy format and bevy of literary references, it’s no surprise that the concept began as an essay. Misraje, a 27-year-old writer and self-described “Hollywood hustler” raised primarily in the Inland Empire, was inspired after the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires to stage a piece he had written bridging his love of Gothic literature with his “welfare class” upbringing in a family of seven raised by a single mother, which he considered gothic in its own right.
“We were in the Inland Empire and it was the 2008 financial crisis,” he said. “There was all this imagery of things famously California-coded, like the suburban house, the pool, the strip mall, and when we were there, it was just, like, destroyed. There were abandoned housing subdivisions rotting in the sun.”
The perfect setting, he explained, for the kind of “literature that emerges after the failure of a historical project.”
After reaching out to New Theater co-owner Calla Henkel and conceiving the project, Misraje and his producers elected to turn the funhouse mirror onto Hollywood, framing the neighborhood with historical context and Freudian theory but ultimately letting it speak for itself.
The bus passes the TCL Chinese Theatre.
The highly mutable nature of street life and the participatory character of the show means its tone can shift drastically from tour to tour, even within the same night. Sometimes, the streets appear glittering; other times, seedy and dangerous. Once, there was a showdown with another tour bus — one presumably not carrying theatergoers. At a different show, a drunk pedestrian tried to board the bus during faux-Monroe’s speech. One particularly harrowing night, someone circled the bus on an electric scooter, shouting homophobic slurs at the all-queer cast.
“It’s almost like surfing,” Misraje said. “There’s so much chaos you’re confronting, and you have to find a way to ride it and let it be a part of the show.”
The show’s high production costs make bringing in a profit difficult, but Misraje said he and the New Theater Hollywood team plan to revive it periodically, with an evolving story and cast of characters.
On my tour, no performer better represented the blurred line between theater and street life than the Duchess of Argyle, a.k.a. the Mysterious Masked Lady of Hollywoodland, a.k.a. Shauna Frente, a busty Blanche DuBois figure in an eyeless flapper mask and gartered stockings. Just three days before, she had been evicted from a home on Argyle Avenue that once allegedly belonged to Cecil B. DeMille. This happened after a lengthy legal battle, during which the show helped raise money for temporary housing.
As the Duchess spilled neighborhood secrets, our bus repeatedly passed an Extra Space Storage facility painted with images of old Hollywood behemoths: Lucille Ball, Groucho Marx and the like. The intermingling smells of sizzling hot dogs, urine and marijuana wafted through the open windows.
Hollywood may be ghostly, the Duchess told us, but it was hers to haunt.
Duchess of Argyle (Shauna Frente) tells Hollywood stories during the tour.
DISGRACED actor John Alford’s cause of death has been revealed after he was found dead in his prison cell just weeks after being caged for sexually assaulting two teenagers.
The disgraced actor died less than three months into the sentence at Category C HMP on March 13 this year – and now the cause of his death has been revealed.
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Grange Hill ran for 30 years until 2008 and launched the careers of several famous faces we know today. But where are they now?Credit: BBCPaedophile TV star John Alford was found dead in jail in MarchCredit: PA
John Alford – who played Robbie Wright in the BBC series Grange Hill – was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting two teenage girls, 14 and 15.
The victims had been at a pub before heading to the home of a pal whose dad had been drinking with Alford, real name John Shannon.
The paedophile bought £250 worth of food, booze and cigarettes from a petrol station, including vodka the girls drank later, a trial at St Albans crown court was told. Once left alone with the girls, Alford had sex with the younger girl in a garden and a toilet.
The trial heard he asked her “Do you want this babe?” to which she answered “No”. He assaulted the other teen twice while she was “dozing off” on the sofa.
The disgraced TV star made his mark on BBC school dramaGrange Hillin the 1980s and found fame as fireman Billy Ray in London’s Burning in the 1990s before his fall from grace.
Grange Hill ran for 30 years until 2008 and launched the careers of several famous faces we know today. It covered major issues from drug use to teen pregnancy, HIV and knife crime.
The show’s characters became some of the most recognisable faces on TV, but where are the actors who played its young stars now? From sex assault scandal to star who traded acting for a very ordinary job, fate has dealt the former stars varied hands.
John Alford – Robbie Wright
John Drummond as Trevor Cleaver, George Christopher as Ziggy Greaves and John Alford as Robbie Wright (right)Credit: BBC
Towards the end of his Grange Hill stint, Alford later admitted he was drinking up to 18 bottles of beer and nine spirits shots a night.
But he went on to earn a new army of fans as fireman Ray in London’s Burning from 1993 to 1998. However, this didn’t last long either, as John was sacked two years later after he was convicted for supplying cocaine and cannabis. He served six weeks of a nine-month sentence in 1999.
But this wasn’t his only encounter with the law. Back in 2019 John pleaded guilty to smashing a windscreen in a bin lorry ‘hijacking’ and resisting arrest. A hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court heard how a refuse worker spotted the shamed TV star who had broken into the Veolia lorry while it did its morning rounds near his home in Holloway, North London.
Police attended and noted that John was seemingly under the influence as he began resisting arrest. First, John argued with attending officers Police Constables Darren Baker and Miranda Narcin and claimed he was trying to stop the vehicle rolling back, but they all fell to the ground as he resisted their attempts to restrain him, Irish Mirror reported at the time.
The sick predator, who had been in a psychiatric hospital before his September 2025 trial, was found dead in his prison cell earlier in March. The provisional cause of death for Alford has now been publicly recorded as ischaemic heart disease following an inquest opening.
George Armstrong – Alan Humphries
The former child actor died aged 60 after a battle with leukaemiaCredit: TwitterHis former co-stars paid tribute to the actor, describing him as a “true legend”Credit: Unknown
He starred as Alan from the first episode of Grange Hill in 1978 until Series five in 1982.
Among Armstrong’s other roles was that of PC Driscoll in The Bill in 1989. He later gave up acting and became a theatre manager at a public school.
Unfortunately, the former TV star passed away in 2023 following a “long battle with leukaemia“. His former co-stars paid tribute to the actor, describing him as a “true legend”.
Lee Whitlock – Bevis Loveday
London-born Lee went on to appear alongside some of the biggest names in the movie industryCredit: RexUnfortunately, he passed away at the age of 54Credit: IMDB
Alan’s sad death came just months after the passing of Lee Whitlock, who played Bevis Loveday in series 16 in 1993, in February.
Prior to that, Lee launched his career in the popular TV series Shine On Harvey Moon as Stanley Moon in the 1980s.
London-born Lee, who died aged 54, went on to appear alongside some of the biggest names in the movie industry – Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter – in the 2007 film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Other film credits included Wish You Were Here, Jack the Giant Slayer, Cassandra’s Dream and Wild Bill. Lee also had cameos in Casualty, EastEnders, Lovejoy, Boon, The Bill, London’s Burning and Solider, Solider.
Paula-Ann Bland – Claire Scott
One of the show’s most iconic characters, Claire – played by Paula-Ann Bland – was a child of overprotective parentsCredit: Not known clear with Picture DeskThe mother-of-two posed topless for lads’ magazine MayfairCredit: Not known clear with Picture Desk
One of the show’s most iconic characters, Claire – played by Paula-Ann Bland – was a child of overprotective parents. Following the trailblazing drama series, Paula, now 54, continued her acting career and portrayed Kelly Brice inOnly Fools and Horses, as well as Sylvie in Vanity Fair.
The mother-of-two, who posed topless for lads’ magazine Mayfair, also moved to Los Angeles for a time before returning to London to set up a publicity firm.
Despite finding enormous success, Paula’s life was thrown upside down after she found out she had stage three triple-negative breast cancer in 2018.
In an interview in the Sunday Express at the time, Paula revealed: “When you hear the word cancer, you can’t hear anything else, everything else becomes just white noise.”
The actress, who was considered the British Kylie Minogue thanks to her version of The Locomotion, lost part of her breast during her procedure.
She added: “I understand it had to be done to save my life and this is better than the worst scenario of a double mastectomy and removal of the ovaries. But the procedure still leaves you without an important part of your identity as a woman.”
Terry Sue-Patt – Benny Green
Benny Green, played by Terry Sue-Patt, made his screen debut when Grange Hill premiered in 1978Credit: Not known clear with Picture DeskTragically, Terry was found dead at his London home in 2015 at the age of 50Credit: Rex Features
Benny Green, played by Terry Sue-Patt, made his screen debut when Grange Hill premiered in 1978. “There weren’t many black actors about on TV at that time. I had a great time, getting time off school to play football. It was a bit of a dream come ”true”, really,” he told the Daily Mirror.
After his tenure at the London school ended in 1982, Terry went on to star in Channel 4 comedy Desmond’s, set in a Peckham barbershop, and also the 1989 film The Firm. Tragically, Terry was found dead at his London home in 2015 at the age of 50.
The family of the actor released a statement revealing his struggle with personal challenges before his passing. Police feared his body may have lain there for a month before it was found.
John Holmes – Luke ‘Gonch’ Gardener
Luke ‘Gonch’ Gardener was portrayed by John Holmes, who starred in the show for four yearsCredit: BBCJohn, who is now 56, left the acting world to manage a casino
Luke ‘Gonch’ Gardener was portrayed by John Holmes, who starred in the show for four years from 1985 before wisely deciding to return to education.
He committed himself to his studies at the University Of East Anglia, where he served as president of the student union for several years.
Susan Tully, known for her role as Michelle Fowler in EastEnders, began her acting career as Suzanne Ross in the BBC seriesCredit: Not known clear with Picture DeskMillions have watched her work as a director on episodes of Line Of Duty, as well as of EastEnders and the ITV thriller Too CloseCredit: Instagram
Susan Tully, known for her role as Michelle Fowler in EastEnders, began her acting career as Suzanne Ross in the BBC series.
The 58-year-old has since applied her talents behind the camera as a successful television director of shows including Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, Lark Rise To Candleford and Getting On.
Millions have watched her work as a director on episodes of Line Of Duty, as well as of EastEnders and the ITV thriller Too Close.
Lee MacDonald – Samuel ‘Zammo’ McGuire
The class clown was at the centre of one of the most talked about storylines on the seriesCredit: BBCAfter leaving Grange Hill, Lee used sunbeds to feel more confident, but regrets using them following his pre-cancer diagnosisCredit: Rex Features
The class clown was at the centre of one of the most talked about storylines on the series when his character developed a dangerous heroin addiction in the mid-80s.
Lee, now 55, tried his hand at professional boxing after leaving the show, but a car accident in the early 90s left him unable to return to the ring.
In 2020, he got engaged to his long-term partner, Jess. Just three years later, in 2023, the former child star broke down in tears when he feared he had cancer. But although he was given the all-clear, Lee was then diagnosed with a pre-cancerous spot called keratosis after noticing another mark on his face last year.
After leaving Grange Hill, Lee used sunbeds to feel more confident, but regrets using them following his diagnosis.
He explained: “Without a shadow of a doubt, if I look back now, obviously, because of my complaints, I wish I’d never, ever gone near them if I knew now what I knew, then I would not have touched them. I would not not go near them.”
Michelle Herbert – Trisha Yates
Trisha Yates’ Michelle Herbert left the series in 1982, concluding five memorable seriesCredit: News Group Newspapers LtdShe was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy – but luckily, the 61-year-old has since received the all-clearCredit: Not known clear with Picture Desk
Trisha Yates’ Michelle Herbert left the series in 1982, concluding five memorable series. Moving her life to Dundee in the 90s, the mother-of-two and her husband manage All Glass and Glazing business.
But like many other former Grange Hill alumni, she has had her share of obstacles. While she was in a hotel room, during a family holiday in Rome, Michelle spotted a small dimple on her breast in May, 2015.
She was subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy – but luckily, the 61-year-old has since received the all-clear.
Following the ordeal, Michelle has been adamant on raising public awareness around the lesser-known symptoms of breast cancer, urging women to check for dimples.
Erkan Mustafa – Roland ‘Roly’ Browning
Roland was the lovable character who, despite horrific bullying, eventually found the strength to confront his tormentorsCredit: BBCPost-Grange Hill, Erkan Mustafa, 56, appeared in the holiday favourite Blackadder’s Christmas Carol and later captivated music fans as a host on E4 MusicCredit: Alamy
Fans of the series all adored Roland, didn’t they?
Roland was the lovable character who, despite horrific bullying, eventually found the strength to confront his tormentors after enduring years of abuse.
Post-Grange Hill, Erkan Mustafa, 56, appeared in the holiday favourite Blackadder’s Christmas Carol and later captivated music fans as a host on E4 Music. he starred in Lenny Henry’s 90s sitcom Chef! and Blackadder and also made appearances on Soccer AM and Celebrity Juice.
Sean Maguire – Terence ‘Tegs’
Sean was only 11 when he joined the cast of one of the most famous schools on TV.Sean, now 50, married police officer Tanya Flynn in 2012 and they have two sons, as well as a daughterCredit: Getty
Sean Maguire was only 11 when he joined the cast of one of the most famous schools on TV. He later starred as Aidan Brosnan in EastEnders and also had roles in The Bill, crime series Scott and Bailey, and Holby City.
In the 90s, Sean moved away from acting to kick-start his pop career with two albums and an impressive eight singles that broke into the Top 30. His venture into film, however, wasn’t as successful, with his movie, Meet the Spartans, winning a meagre 2.8-star rating on IMBd.
Undeterred by this hiccup, Sean rebounded when he secured the role of Robin Hood in the American TV series Once Upon a Time. Sean, now 50, married police officer Tanya Flynn in 2012 and they have two sons, as well as a daughter. They now live in the US where the former child star has become a citizen.
Simone Hyams – Caroline ‘Calley’ Donnington
Simone appeared in the first episode of Grange Hill and played the role of Calley in Grange HillCredit: Not known clear with Picture DeskShe then went on to star in The Bill before shifting careers to become a corporate events manager for VirginCredit: Alamy
Simone appeared in the first episode of Grange Hill and played the role of Calley in Grange Hill.
In 1991, Simone, now 54, landed a role in the film Dirty Weekend, but it wasn’t released until two years later because it was deemed too violent.
She then went on to star in The Bill before shifting careers to become a corporate events manager for Virgin.
Todd Carty – Peter ‘Tucker’ Jenkins
Todd was just 14 when he joined the BBC cast and went on to be one of the show’s most famous facesCredit: check copyrightTodd (left) also famously appeared on Dancing On Ice in 2009Credit: Instagram/ therealjohnaltman
Todd was just 14 when he joined the BBC cast and went on to be one of the show’s most famous faces.
He was so popular as the lovable rogue Tucker that he got his own successful spin-off series, Tucker’s Luck, for three years. After Grange Hill, Todd played Mark Fowler in EastEnders until 2003 before joining The Bill as evil Gabriel.
Todd, now 62, also famously appeared on Dancing On Ice in 2009 where he became an internet sensation in 2009 after losing control and skating out of the studio.
Since then, he has featured in a range of TV shows, including the comedy A Touch of Cloth, Celebrity 5 Go Caravanning, and the short film The Drive.
Following Jeremy Clarkson’s emotional cancer admission, questions are being asked about the future of Clarkson’s Farm, which has already been rocked by behind-the-scenes health battles
Jeremy Clarkson warns Clarkson’s Farm viewers of ‘difficult watch’
The latest episodes of Clarkson’s Farm have taken a devastating turn, with Jeremy Clarkson announcing his shock cancer diagnosis.
The former Top Gear host reduced farm manager Kaleb Cooper to tears as he revealed he’d known about the “aggressive” prostate cancer since May. Following treatment, Clarkson confided in Kaleb that he’d had “10 per cent” of his prostate removed via ultrasound, explaining: “The prostate, 10 per cent of it’s dead. The 10 per cent where the cancer is.”
In the season finale, Clarkson addressed viewers from his hospital bed, sharing that there had been complications during treatment. The 66-year-old told fans: “What I wanted to say was if this is all successful, I’ll see you for season six, and if it isn’t, I won’t. Take care, everyone.”
Over on Instagram, ahead of the new episodes dropping, an emotional Clarkson warned followers that a “really, really difficult watch” was in store.
Holding back tears in a candid post, Clarkson said on Tuesday: “Ordinarily, we try to keep the show bucolic and charming and cheerful. But the final two episodes, which drop in the middle of the night tonight, are none of those things really. They’re a difficult watch. They’re really, really, difficult.”
Fans of the hit farming show will know all too well that Clarkson is not the first cast member to share his health battles, with other stars being struck with serious illnesses throughout its five-year run.
Now questions have emerged about the future of Clarkson’s Farm, which has been running since June 2021, with Prime Video yet to issue a formal statement on its continuation.
At present, the show has not been officially recommissioned. In February, Clarkson himself confirmed that, while some recording for the upcoming series had already taken place, some pausing had been required due to the weather.
In his column for The Sunday Times, the presenter wrote: “There’s no filming happening on the farm at the moment. Or farming. It hasn’t stopped raining since the beginning of the year, so I can’t plant anything, and I can’t do anything with my cows either because we are still locked down by TB.”
But planning documents submitted to West Oxfordshire District Council reportedly suggest that season six is in the works. According to The Independent, part of it reads: “Season five will air this year and season six has been commissioned and will air in summer 2027.”
Clarkson’s enthusiasm for the farming show shows no sign of waning. Speaking previously with The Sun, he said: “We’ll definitely do six – Amazon want to (do series six), and I want to. I’ve got a good idea for six. I said I’ll stop doing them when there are no more ideas. But I’ve got two quite good ones, so we’ll do six, and then we’ll see…”
The beloved farm has been plagued by setbacks and personal health struggles. Back in 2024, during the show’s third series, farmhand Gerald Cooper revealed he had prostate cancer.
The fan favourite, known for his distinctive mullet, has since confirmed that he is thankfully cancer-free. Discussing his diagnosis with Prostate Cancer UK, Gerald shared: “It was a shock – but everyone has really supported me.”
He added: “I received tremendous support from family, friends and Prostate Cancer UK – which was also a lifeline. I made it through, and I’m now cancer-free.”
Wanting to do something “joyful” following his recovery, the 77-year-old went on to launch a racehorse syndicate to help raise some all-important awareness of prostate cancer. The horse itself is, of course, named ‘The Mullet’.
Then, in June 2025, it was revealed that castmate Alan Townsend – aka Alan the Builder – was awaiting heart surgery. While carrying out building work on the Farmer’s Dog Pub, Alan confirmed to Clarkson that he had a “quadruple bypass coming.”
When asked whether he had any fears about the procedure, Alan admitted: “Oh, [I’m] frightened to death. I don’t even like thinking about it. That’s why I keep going to work — keep out of the way. They told me to really just take it easy and stay at home. But if you stay, you’ll be worrying to death about it.”
In the latest season, fans were delighted to see Alan back at work after undergoing a gruelling procedure. Opening up to Clarkson about returning to normality, Alan confirmed that the op had been “very painful”, adding, “I don’t want to show you on camera, but it’s a nasty cut.”
Alan shared that he’d been hospitalised because of issues with the arteries in his heart. He explained: “One had collapsed and curled itself up, and the others were about 85-90 per cent blocked. Horrible. I had a bit of a problem with the lungs, I lost 36 per cent of the lungs.”
Coincidentally, Alan and Clarkson had been neighbours at the same hospital, with Clarkson undergoing follow-up heart check-ups at the same time.
The presenter underwent a heart procedure in October 2024, after experiencing a tightness in his chest. Medics revealed he’d been mere days away from a heart attack, in a scare that led to him having a stent fitted.
Opening up about his brush with catastrophe on the first episode of season five, Clarkson blamed his health woes on the pressures involved in launching The Farmer’s Dog. He told Kaleb, “I’m back and not dead. The Grim Reaper will have to wait. It was f***ing close, though.”
Clarkson’s Farm season 5 is on Prime Video
Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com.
The Netflix rom-com Office Romance stars Jennifer Lopez and Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein and audiences have already hailed it as “an absolute blast”
Office Romance cast as Netflix rom-com hits #1(Image: NETFLIX)
Everything you need to know about Netflix’s number one rom-com, Office Romance
Netflix’s latest rom-com Office Romance has already won over viewers with its charming workplace love story starring Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein. It’s currently the number one title on the streamer’s film chart.
Ted Lasso star Goldstein teams up with global icon JLo in this cheeky portrayal of romance between a CEO and her new British solicitor. Lopez plays AirCruz CEO Jackie Cruz, who finds herself in legal trouble with rival airline Falcon Air. When her usual lawyer is indisposed after a food truck burrito incident, enter Daniel Blanchflower (Goldstein) to save the day.
Romantic tension quickly develops between the pair, with a passionate work trip to the Dominican Republic blurring professional boundaries. One IMDB user gushed: “Well, I absolutely loved it. Romantic comedies are a dying breed, but I enjoyed this very much.”
Directed by Ol Parker of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again fame, the film also features an impressive supporting cast including Betty Gilpin (GLOW), Tony Hale (Toy Story 4), Bradley Whitford (The Handmaid’s Tale) and former Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker.
Also in the main cast are comedy icon Amy Sedaris as Julie Schatz and Blade Runner’s Edward James Olmos as Captain Jack Cruz, Jackie’s father.
The Fortune sees a woman mysteriously inherit £2 million and a country estate from a stranger.
Hayley Anderson Screen Time TV Reporter
21:15, 02 Jun 2026Updated 21:16, 02 Jun 2026
The Fortune – Channel 5 trailer
The Fortune has landed on Channel 5, with audiences eager to discover everything about the drama.
Following the unexpected inheritance of a substantial fortune from a stranger, mother and wife Amanda (portrayed by Eleanor Tomlinson) finds herself in conflict with the deceased man’s relatives.
She simultaneously starts uncovering the truth regarding her own family’s sinister history, which may shed light on why she’s been selected as the beneficiary of the enigmatic man’s estate.
Where was The Fortune on Channel 5 filmed?
Filming for Channel 5’s The Fortune occurred during autumn 2025 across Hartlepool, Northumberland, Newcastle and North Yorkshire.
The bulk of shooting took place in Hartlepool, with the historic Headland district serving as a crucial location.
Another significant filming venue was Hartlepool Marina, where the exterior alongside local establishments and eateries were utilised to depict Amanda’s everyday existence.
The programme’s principal production headquarters was also situated in Hartlepool at The Northern Studios on Lynn Street.
Certain scenes were additionally captured in Newcastle, with the drama produced by Newcastle-based Lonesome Pine Productions.
The cast and crew travelled to Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, where the mid-Victorian country residence Cleveland Lodge served as the Worrall family estate in the Channel 5 series.
The Grade II listed building was constructed between 1848 and 1851 and sits within approximately 35 acres of private parkland, featuring paddocks and a tennis court. Meanwhile, the more rural and coastal scenes were shot in and around the Northumberland region.
All Creatures Great and Small star Callum Woodhouse, who plays vengeful son Anthony Worrall in the series, hails originally from Stockton in the North East.
The Hartlepool Mail reported Woodhouse describing the experience of filming The Fortune as something of “a homecoming”.
He said: “Obviously, staying with my parents and filming in places I grew up visiting was a huge draw, but also being able to do something set in the modern day was really exciting.
“We were filming just over the road from where my mum works, so we’d meet up for lunch sometimes.”
