dark

DENVER — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called right fielder Kyle Tucker into the visiting manager’s office at Chase Field a week and a half ago, just to catch up.

Roberts had run into Tucker’s wife Samantha and their 5-month old baby that morning in Arizona. And he saw it as a good time to check in.

“When you start to struggle and you internalize … you find yourself going dark, and that’s a lonely place,” Roberts said Tuesday, before the Dodgers’ 7-6 win against the Rockies. “So I think that for me, trying to proactively pull conversations out of him, talk about life, talk about baseball, it just kind of opens things up, and I think that it’s freeing.

“He’s a cerebral guy by nature, internalizes a lot. But still, for me, he’s with a new ballclub, he’s scuffling, so I want to get that out of him.”

Scuffling is a mild way of describing Tucker’s struggles this season. He described it as the “first time in [his] life” that he’s had a season with so many offensive false starts. After being named an All-Star in each of his previous four seasons, Tucker is on pace for the worst offensive year since his 2018 debut season with the Astros.

On Tuesday, he finally ended his career-high hitless streak at seven games, with a double up the right-field line in the fourth inning (although he grounded out once and struck out twice in his other plate appearances). He’d gone 26 straight at-bats without a hit.

So much about Tucker’s year has been head-scratching.

Take his plate discipline, for example. Traditionally known for his strike-zone control, Tucker’s chase rate has been up this season. But even when he trimmed it to 21.6% in July (not as low as the last two years but even with his 2023 season), his production at the plate didn’t respond accordingly.

One of the biggest mysteries has been his extreme home/road splits. Entering Tuesday, he had a solid .822 OPS on the road and a paltry .558 OPS at Dodger Stadium.

Asked about the contrast earlier this week, he said he didn’t have a theory.

“If I knew, I’d probably have figured it out by now,” he said. “But that’s just kind of how it’s gone.”

Recently, his woes have followed him into the outfield. The day after he failed to reel in a flyball in the right-field corner at Dodger Stadium, he had a far worse drop Monday at Coors Field.

In the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 11-5 victory against the Rockies, Tucker seemed to camp right under a shallow fly. But as it fell, he twisted and put one knee down before dropping the ball.

“There’s indecision, and catching a baseball at your ankles kind of speaks to where his head is at right now,” Roberts said. “It’s not from lack of effort, or care. It’s just right now, I think he’s kind of fighting. So we’ve got to keep supporting him.”

Tucker isn’t the only player who’s struggling. Mookie Betts has been hot and cold at the plate. Teoscar Hernández hasn’t been slugging the way he’s accustomed to. And before arriving in Colorado, the team was in a collective slump.

Tucker, however, is in the first year of a four-year, $240-million contract. And so far the Dodgers haven’t seen the version of him that elevated the Cubs’ offense in the first half of last year and was a steady part of the Astros’ lineup during a run of sustained success.

“Whether it’s my first year or 10th year with a team, I think it’d be frustrating regardless,” Tucker said. “But it’s not like I’m frustrated just because I’m playing at home or anything. Whether it’s on the road or at home, it would be frustrating, just not helping the team win games.”

He slid into his most recent slump during the Dodgers’ last homestand, but the Colorado altitude didn’t immediately work its magic when the team went back on the road.

During Monday’s SNLA broadcast, analyst Eric Karros suggested sending Tucker to Arizona for a reset.

The less extreme version would be sitting Tucker for several games in a row.

“I’m not at the point where it’s like a three-day, three-game reset situation, something like that,” Roberts said Tuesday afternoon.

He did, however, give Tucker a day off Saturday, saying he saw Tucker’s frustration as he continued to struggle offensively at Dodger Stadium. And Tuesday, he said he hadn’t decided whether to start Tucker against Rockies left-handed starter Kyle Freeland the next day.

“It’s tough because, I mean, I feel like I’ve tried just about everything,” Tucker said. “And every time I feel like I’m turning a corner, I get hit with a roadblock. But, you can’t stop. You just got to keep going, try and at least pick out the positives, and just try and ride with that. Just keep on moving to the next day and hope for something to build.”

Ruby Franke is at the heart of tonight’s BBC true crime doc The Devil in the Family.

A BBC true crime doc investigates the truth behind the case of Ruby Franke.

The Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke aired this evening, Thursday, August 6, on BBC Two, with the three-part special investigating the life and crimes of Franke.

Speaking to those who knew the 44-year-old best, this third episode delves into the truth which “proves far worse than anyone imagined”.

Who is Ruby Franke?

Ruby Franke is an American former family vlogger who ran the controversial YouTube channel 8 Passengers.

She started the channel in 2015 and ran it with her then-husband Kevin, documenting their lives with their six children with 8 Passengers attracting almost three million subscribers.

While it was popular, 8 Passengers received plenty of online criticism as it promoted strict parenting rules and harsh disciplinary tactics. When the channel started to decline, and was eventually suspended, Franke teamed up with mental health counsellor Jodi Hildebrandt.

Together, they launched their joint Instagram profile and podcast Moms of Truth which similarly talked about extreme parenting but also the idea that children who didn’t follow their rules were possessed or acting under dark influences.

Franke and Hildebrandt were also business partners who ran an online life-coaching service named ConneXions.

In August 2023, Franke was arrested after her 12-year-old son escaped a home in Utah, now known to be Hildebrandt’s, and asked a neighbour for help.

Police discovered that her two youngest children were extremely malnourished with physical injuries and bondage wounds.

Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse and was sentenced to four prison terms of one to 15 years each to run consecutively.

This means she will serve a total prison sentence of four to 30 years which was the maximum penalty under Utah law. Hildebrandt also received this sentence for her involvement in the abuse.

The Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Cassie Plummer could be about to face a “really dark” exit from Coronation Street after worrying scenes aired on Friday night’s episode of the long-running soap

Cassie Plummer could be about to face a “really dark” exit from Coronation Street. The former drug addict, played by Claire Sweeney, was introduced when bosses of the long-running soap decided to completely rewrite history and install her as the long-lost biological mum of Tyrone Dobbs, and initially came to blows with Tracy Barlow when she set about poisoning Ken for financial gain.

With all that seemingly swept under the carpet, now Tracy has sparked a romance with Ross, who is Tyrone’s long-lost biological dad. Cassie was underage when Tyrone was conceived, and it emerged earlier this week that Ross had paid her for the sex they had all those years ago.

When it looked as though Ross was sticking around having got a job at the local prison, Cassie tried to get him out of their lives once and for all by crushing painkillers up into his flask that he was about to take to his new place of employment, hoping that he would fail the drugs test and then clear off out of Weatherfield. It backfired when Ross figured out what Cassie had done so, in a cruel twist, he poisoned Tracy with the drink and now she is in hospital. But because Cassie has got form, Tracy has now got completely the wrong end of the stick.

Sitting up in her hospital bed on Friday night’s episode of the ITV soap, she raged: “If I have been spiked, I know who I’m pointing my finger at. How else have I got this much codeine in my system if it’s not from the local poisoner, who also happens to hate my guts?”

Steve told his ex-wife to calm down, but she shot back: “Well, I’m trying to do that, Steve, but it’s quite difficult when your girlfriend tried to kill me. She’s jealous of me because I’ve got Ross and she’s stuck with a useless lump like you!”

The taxi driver, who has been played by Simon Gregson since 1989, was convinced that Tracy (Kate Ford) was wrong, but then decided to do some investigating, and found the painkillers in Cassie’s cardigan pocket.

When he confronted her, she explained: “It wasn’t meant for Tracy. It was meant for Ross. And it was just a couple of tablets so he’d fail his pee test at his prison job and he wouldn’t be hanging around here any more.” Tyrone then knocked at the door, having been informed of the situation by Steve, and Cassie tried once again to explain but they were having none of it.

Steve said: ” I don’t get it. First of all Ken, now Tracy. I mean, are you not gonna be happy till you’ve killed the lot of us?” Tyrone then yelled that it was “a lot more” than the couple of tablets Cassie claimed she had tried to spike Ross with as Cassie cried: ” I put it in his travel cup, which I got out of his bag, so how did Tracy end up with it, eh?

“Ty, I know it was a stupid idea, but I was desperate. You’ve no idea what he’s like!” Ross then turned up at the house, having been playing the dutiful long-lost granddad and took Ruby and Hope for a game of football. Cassie warned them that he was taking them all for a fool but no one would listen and Tyrone told her to get out of the house.

Tracy headed across the road to number one, where Steve answered the door and told her as he struggled to hold back the tears: ” Believe me. If you only knew how much I wanted this to work after all the disappointment I’ve had over the last few years.”

Cassie tried to plead with Steve, but he decided to split up with her there and then. He shut the door in Cassie’s face, and she burst into tears as she wept: “But Steve, I love you!”

Reacting to the emotional scenes, one viewer wrote on X: “Tyrone shut the f**k up you mug, Cassie is better than Ross. Honestly hope Tyrone finds out the hard way his dad is a creep,” whilst another said: “Cassie shouldn’t have done it, I get why she did though. The reality was, Ross knew and deliberately spiked Tracey to frame her, just another form of manipulation.”

A third wrote: “I don’t know how Cassie is gonna get out of this one,” and a fourth simply said: “Oh, Cassie!” and added a face-palm emoji. Another wrote: “Cassie thinks she is smart, however, Ross seems to always be one step ahead. This storyline is going to get really dark #Corrie.”

In real life, actress Claire Sweeney, who found fame when she starred on Brookside, chose to leave so she could take on the role of Miss Hannigan in the current UK tour of the musical Annie, and replaced former Strictly Come Dancing star La Voix in the show in early July.

Claire has starred previously starred in other musicals like 9 to 5, Tell Me On A Sunday and Chicago. But she recently recently explained that she loved her time at Corrie but always wanted to take on the part of the villainous orphanage proprietress, who has previously been played on stage by the likes of her soap co-star Jodie Prenger, as well as Hi-de-Hi icon Su Pollard, the late Paul O’Grady and British acting legend Sheila Hancock.

She told The Mirror: “You’re part of a family at Coronation Street, you feel safe and protected and leaving is like stepping out into the big, wide world again. It feels like I’ve broken up with a boyfriend I’m still in love with. I’ve loved Corrie and leaving bears no reflection on the job, the people and the work.

“It was just that my phone pinged and it was the producer of Annie saying ‘right, do you want to do Miss Hannigan.’ I’d been hounding him for years for this part and I just thought – ‘if I don’t do it now, it might never come again.’ But I think it’s the hardest job I’ve ever had to leave and my exit is very sad; I had a little weep over my leaving scenes. I got quite emotional.”

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

The Crown Prosecution Service sees first-hand the impact that domestic abuse has on victims.

It says that of every five cases the police refers to it, four result in charges being brought.

Olivia Rose, the CPS’s National Stalking Lead, says it does not just see physical abuse. There is coercive and controlling abuse too.

“It’s crucial for victims to spot the signs early,” Rose said. “What our prosecutors see can include monitoring of victims’ phones and social media, often inundating them with dozens of messages.

“There’s also emotional blackmail, such as threatening to kill themselves if their partner leaves.

“It’s incredibly important that we get the message out to say that behaviour like this is not just unacceptable: it’s illegal.”

The CPS, the government department responsible for prosecuting criminal cases, say it works closely with the police and women’s charities to ensure that action is taken to stop such behaviour and to help victims to get away.

It says it needs help from communities too. And it is urging people to look out for friends, family and neighbours who could be vulnerable during the World Cup.

“If you can step in to help, you could be making a life-changing difference,” Rose said.

She also wants to get the message to victims that they will be supported if they speak out.

“We understand how difficult it can be to report domestic abuse,” she added. “But if you come forward, you will be taken seriously, and we will bring offenders to justice.

“The World Cup should bring communities together, and it should never be an excuse to fuel abusive behaviour.”

Anyone experiencing domestic abuse who is in immediate danger should always call 999. Victims can also report abuse to the police on 101.

Confidential support services are available. Anyone affected can contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 in England, or the Live Fear Free helpline on 0808 80 10 800 in Wales.

Solace’s Advice line is: 0808 802 5565.

MOST young mothers cannot fathom the agony of losing custody of their babies, but for British model Lucia Bartoli, an unimaginable nightmare has taken a dark and twisted turn after a ‘social media ban’.

The 30-year-old Luton-born mum has spent the last year fighting a desperate, David-and-Goliath legal battle against her ex-boyfriend, the £700million German fashion designer Philipp Plein.

Now, in a devastating new blow, Lucia has been silenced after a bizarre move wiped her only lifeline – her Instagram account – off the internet, leaving her isolated and on the brink of homelessness in a foreign country.

Her devoted fans have expressed concern about her internet disappearance.

With celebrity supporters such as actress Alice Evans posting: “Lucia you are SO STRONG. No mother should have to go through this. We are all here for you. Don’t break. We have a collective voice and we can speak for you.. Silence is violence.”

Since her bitter split from Philipp in 2023, Lucia had bravely used her Instagram account to document the destruction of her family and rally support from more than 300,000 followers.

The platform became a crucial tool, helping her raise over £50,000 through GoFundMe to pay her mounting legal bills in her fight to be reunited with her two young sons.

But days after a crushing blow was dealt on June 30, when her Instagram profile appeared to have disappeared.

Friends of the model claim the account was abruptly suspended after five of her own personal family posts, dating back to 2019, 2023, and 2024, were hit by copyright claims.

It is not known who is reporting the young mum’s social media accounts.

A friend of the distraught mother told The Sun: “Lucia is devastated. She is alone in Switzerland and, she has a few good friends there but her main support network is either at home in the UK or online. Losing the account has therefore been a huge blow.”

The digital wipeout has left the young mother feeling completely bewildered and targeted.

Her pal continued: “This came out of nowhere, and Lucia is very confused as to why old content that had been online for years was suddenly flagged for copyright.

“She is desperate to get the account back and has been following all the official steps to try and appeal.”

Lucia’s erasure from the internet has even followed her to other apps, according to pals, who say she has had difficulty posting on TikTok.

The timing of this high-tech silencing campaign could not be worse for the desperate mother.

Lucia was recently evicted from an apartment owned by her billionaire ex and is now rapidly running out of funds.

She has been living in a temporary Airbnb in Lugano, Switzerland, to stay near the jurisdiction where her children reside, but that lifeline is about to be cut.

Revealing the terrifying reality of her living situation, her friend said: “Lucia won’t be able to afford to live in Switzerland for much longer.

“Right now, she is living in a temporary Airbnb where the booking runs out in the next 10 days and she is unable to fund another place with ongoing legal costs.

“She is financially dependent on strangers’ kind donations through her GoFundMe, and she is worried that she may have to fly back to the UK.”

Without her Instagram platform to share her story, those vital donations are at risk of drying up completely, threatening to physically separate her from her boys while her ex pushes ahead with an application to permanently relocate the children to the United States.

At the heart of this digital warfare is a very human tragedy: a mother fighting simply to see her children.

The estranged couple faced each other in court in Lugano, Switzerland again in June for a new hearing, but no settlement was reached.

Consequently, matters relating to custody and residency of the children remain undecided, and Lucia’s court-ordered custody arrangement has not changed.

She continues to endure the pain of having absolutely no visitation or contact with her eldest child – a heartbreaking reality she has faced for nearly a year.

While her contact with her youngest child remains restricted.

The emotional toll of fighting on multiple fronts is becoming unbearable. Her friend admitted: “Dealing with her account suspension, on top of preparing for the next stage of her custody battle, has been exhausting for Lucia, and it has been almost impossible for her to stay positive.”

Philipp, 48, who is dubbed the “King of Bling” for his jewel-encrusted and extravagant designs, won temporary full-time custody last year.

While Lucia battles to restore her Instagram account and faces the very real prospect of homelessness, Philipp has previously maintained that he never wanted the legal fight.

In a prior statement to The Sun, a spokesman for the designer: “Mr Plein always believed, with pure heart and total integrity, in the Swiss judicial system and defended his rights and those of his children in procedures that were not started by him, that he did not want and that he tried everything he could to avoid and prevent.

“He is now facing the big challenge of protecting his children, himself, his family and his business.

“He will continue this fight to achieve respect and protection for his children.”

For Lucia, however, the fight is simply about survival and a mother’s desperate hope to hold her children again.

But with her funds drying up, her legal options narrowing, and her voice systematically erased online, the odds against this British mum have never looked so terrifyingly steep.

Bestselling author Jessica Knoll’s protagonists mostly follow a specific pattern: They are women who have learned Not. To. Flinch.

And, apparently, neither does Knoll. Talking over Zoom about her fourth novel, the erotic thriller “Helpless,” which is out this month, the author is blunt about the challenges it took to complete the book. “It takes a lot of skill to write good sex,” Knoll says. “I relied a lot on feedback from my editor and from my book agents saying ‘this is hot; this is not.’”

Knoll has written romantic scenes before, but “Helpless” needed to be enthralling and economic enough not to get her kicked off of Target’s bookshelves. In the end, the author says, “I went by what felt good and natural for these characters and maybe a little bit of the really unfiltered talk you have with your girlfriends after a couple martinis or are on a girls trip.”

Knoll’s successful career as a novelist rests on her knack for creating provocative page-turners that depict the absolute worst things one person could do to another — but in such a sensational, tongue-prickling-sour-candy kind of way that her books come off as devilishly evil beach reads. Since her debut bestseller, 2015’s “Luckiest Girl Alive,” — a master class in braided narration between a Machiavellian magazine editor and her younger self who endured so much emotional and physical trauma that it’s no wonder she grew up to be extremely calculating — to 2018’s reality TV-set “The Favorite Sister” and 2023’s “Bright Young Women,” a response to the public’s obsession with immortalizing serial killers while also not knowing the name of a single one of their victims. Knoll’s books are not only stories about women who do not care if you like them but also ones where disastrous results await the women who do follow our cultural conditioning to be agreeable to men.

Her “Helpless” heroine is not so different from a lot of her previous main characters: Type A overachievers with cutting inner monologues that let the reader know they’re always one step ahead in the social Darwinism that is female relationships. This time, she’s named Faye Heron, an Emmy-winning Hollywood multi-hyph who found cachet while working on one of those edgy premium dramedies that probably aired on HBO. Faye, and her husband/producing partner, have parlayed this notoriety into indie, cool-kid projects that are just commercial enough that some of the target audiences’ boomer parents may also watch.

When Faye’s beloved college professor dies suddenly and she’s asked to speak at a memorial ceremony, nostalgia and flattery make her drop everything and hightail it back to the leafy northeastern college town. The place is a time capsule with sketchy internet service, drunken frat boys, and — most crucially — Faye’s college boyfriend Henry, who is now married with two kids and still lives in the area. The clothing references and song choices are popcorn for those old enough to remember the aughts but young enough to party during them. The Elsa Peretti-designed Tiffany & Co. heart necklace that was the it-girl accessory of the time, and now is one that Gen Zers are fishing out of the bottoms of their parents’ jewelry boxes, factors significantly into the plot.

Although the story eventually spirals into other tropes of the Knoll-niverse — kidnappings, cover-ups, affairs, the laissez-faire security that only old money affords — Faye stands out because she wants to be told what to do. In a secure and mutually consenting relationship, of course. And preferably after she’s told her partner what she wants.

“Helpless” was influenced by the 1995 Susanna Moore thriller “In the Cut” as well as Sarah J. Maas’ currently uber-popular romantasy series “A Court of Thorns and Roses,” both of which discuss power imbalances and smart women who become enamored with dangerous lovers.

Knoll has always been open about creating work that’s commercial. She famously wrote a 2018 New York Times opinion piece, titled “I Want to Be Rich and I’m Not Sorry,” that discussed her need to rank in money with an almost Scrooge McDuck fervor: “Success, for me, is synonymous with making money,” she writes. “I want to write books, but I really want to sell books. I want advances that make my husband gasp and fat royalty checks twice a year. I want movie studios to pay me for option rights and I want the screenwriting comp to boot.”

(Evelyn Freja / For The Times)

During our Zoom, with the background carefully faded behind her wavy blond bob, she promises that she doesn’t just copy and paste her subjects and settings from what sells.

“I’m just always looking on what the spin is; like, what the timely take is on something that happens to capture my attention,” she continues, citing a habit she credits to her early career working in women’s magazines like Cosmopolitan and Self. She adds that “I just happen to be interested in, like, really dark s—.”

“Helpless,” Knoll stresses, is a work of fiction; even though fans may be looking to draw comparisons to her life since “Luckiest Girl” was heavily influenced by her own career and childhood. Like the book’s Faye, Knoll went to a private liberal arts college. She’s spent time in the Adirondacks with the wealthy families who vacation in bare-basics cabins on the land they own. And she has dealt with her share of studio executives. Unlike Faye, Knoll is happily married to her husband, financial technology executive Greg Cortese. They share a young daughter. Last year, the family moved back to New York after some time in Los Angeles.

She does relate to Faye’s wealth dynamics. Her “Helpless” heroine grew up middle class but now has reached the “made it” level of nervous cockiness that happens when you combine new money and fame; the dream of so many who move to L.A. Henry, Faye’s ex, and his family are so comfortable in their generational wealth that he was raised to wear the same, now-bleach-stained, chambray button-down he had in college than buy a new one because clothes aren’t sound investments.

Knoll says she doesn’t want “things to feel didactic,” but concedes that class divides offer a treasure trove of stories.

“I just find myself going back to, again and again, this idea of someone who is the outsider because they don’t have the pedigree of their peers, but however many years later they’ve accomplished something and they think that they’re on more equal footing with these people from their past,” Knoll says. “Then something happens that brings them back into this environment where maybe they felt less-than years ago. They think that they’re going to go back and be like, ‘well, I’ll show you now because I’ve made it’ and those feelings of inferiority are still there.”

As she’s grown older and her career has become more stable, Knoll says she doesn’t think about success and fame the same way she did when she wrote her viral opinion piece or gave interviews where she talked about money and her own financial security. She says now that her priority is “the longevity of the career.”

Like her heroines, no one tells Knoll what to do. Unless she gives the OK.

Friedlander is a pop culture and entertainment journalist based in Los Angeles who hates coffee but loves Coke Zero.

The ITV drama made it’s highly anticipated debut tonight (July 12) but viewers were distracted

ITV The Dark viewers were quick to identify a problem just minutes into the new series.

The ‘scary’ new thriller, adapted from GR Halliday’s novel, From the Shadows, premiered on Sunday (July 12) night, yet viewers complained about the audio as they struggled to hear what was happening.

Starring Friends’ Helen Baxendale and Outlander’s Laura Donnelly, the six-part series follows a tense cat-and-mouse hunt for a twisted serial killer stalking the residents of a seemingly peaceful town in the idyllic Scottish countryside.

Laura leads the cast as DI Monica Kennedy, who teams up with new partner DC Connor Crawford (Mark Rowley) to hunt a serial killer stalking the Scottish countryside after a young man’s body is found eerily staged.

“As fear spreads through the rural community and secrets begin to unravel, Monica finds herself in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the killer,” the synopsis continues.

“But when the case becomes intertwined with her own past, she must confront whether her personal history could put both the investigation and her family at risk.”

During the opening episode, DI Monica Kennedy’s family day out, is brought to an abrupt end when a mysterious woman from Monica’s past shows up.

With the threat of this reappearance hanging over her, Monica is called into investigating a chilling crime with her new partner – DC Connor Crawford.

A naked corpse of a young man in his late teens is discovered, posed in the middle of a remote Scottish glen.

Despite all the drama going on, viewers watching at home were quick to spot a major issue not long into the show.

Many insisted there was an issue with the sound as they also claimed that they were forced to use subtitles after struggling to understand the actors.

One viewer wrote: “#Thedark #itv I’ve had to put the subtitles on.. the audio is low, and I can’t understand them.”

Another commented: “Had to put subtitles on for #Thedark.”A third posted: “#thedark audio needs putting through Google translate and the unnecessary background music killing completely.”

Meanwhile many fans seemed to be enjoying the show but insisted that it would have been “perfect” if it was released in the winter.

One fan wrote: “Would have loved this for the dark, wintry rainy cold nights in autumn/winter!”

Another fan jumped in and agreed: “Oh yes that would have been perfect. Proper winter series #TheDark.”

The Dark is available on ITV1 and ITVX.

The Dark is a new ITV crime drama inspired by GR Halliday’s novel From the Shadows.

ITV’s The Dark is arriving with fans keen to discover everything about its “beautiful” setting.

Following the discovery of a young man’s body in the picturesque wilderness, it rapidly emerges that a serial killer is at large.

This marks the start of Detective Monica Kennedy’s (portrayed by Laura Donnelly) perilous cat and mouse chase as she embarks on a treacherous investigation to apprehend the murderer.

As ITV audiences prepare to immerse themselves in the chilling world inspired by GR Halliday’s novel From the Shadows, here’s all you need to know about The Dark’s filming locations.

Where was ITV’s The Dark filmed?

The Dark on ITV is situated in the remote Scottish Highlands, with production taking place across Greenock, Inverclyde, the broader Glasgow region and its surrounding countryside.

Last September, actress Donnelly and actor Mark Rowley were photographed filming The Dark alongside production crews at James Watt College’s Finnart Street campus.

The cast were also captured at Annexe Park, Fox Street, Greenock, Newton Street, Cathcart Square, plus Inverclyde Academy and St Mary’s Primary School.

Multiple sequences were additionally captured throughout greater Glasgow’s countryside, which served as a stand-in for the isolated Scottish Highlands.

Screenwriter Matt Hartley revealed to the Royal Television Society that working in Scotland proved an enormous attraction when it came to production and drawing creative inspiration.

“I grew up in the Peak District and live in Wales so the space and atmosphere in the ­Highlands and areas around where we were filming was intrinsic to me.

“There’s a line early on that says: ‘This is where people come to bury bodies, not display them.'”

“That was one of our key thoughts: this is a world of mystery, where people disappear.”

French-born director Gilles Bannier, however, had quite a different expectation of what filming in Scotland would entail.

He revealed: “It met all my expectations except one.

“I wanted these rolling clouds, amazing mist – the Scottish weather we all know.

“In fact, it was the most beautiful summer and autumn they’ve ever had in Scotland.

“So we were chasing a single cloud, a single drop of rain.”

The Dark premieres on Sunday, July 12, at 9pm, on ITV.

Streaming service Netflix has started early production on your next thrilling TV obsession

Another bestselling thriller is coming to screens soon.

Netflix has lined up an adaptation of Lucy Clarke’s bestselling thriller The Surf House with a familiar name behind the scenes.

No casting has been announced just yet, but the upcoming drama is being helmed by director Ed Lilly, who was behind episodes of major TV titles such as Industry and Tell Me Lies.

Clarke’s novel is set in Morocco and follows a woman named Bea seeking sanctuary amongst a community of travellers.

However, Bea’s travels soon take a dark turn when she uncovers a sinister secret at the heart of the commune.

A synopsis via Deadline reads: “The Surf House is set high on the cliffs of Morocco and is based in a sanctuary for surfers and travellers chasing sunshine and waves.

“But the idyll hides a dark mystery, and when Bea washes in, seeking refuge after a dangerous encounter in Marrakesh, she soon gets caught in the current.

“A woman her age – who stayed in the same area, walked the same beaches, met the same guests – disappeared one year earlier, vanishing without trace, and her last known whereabouts was The Surf House.”

Author Clarke is quickly becoming a household name for thriller fans, with Deadline’s report describing her as a “British Liane Moriarty” (author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers).

Two of her novels, The Castaways and No Escape, have already been adapted by Paramount+, the former starring Sheridan Smith.

Another book, The Hike, has also been optioned by Urban Myth Films, which is backed by Studiocanal, so a big screen adaptation could be imminent.

In the meantime, The Surf House is shaping up to be another must-watch thriller for Netflix based on the original novel’s rave reviews from readers.

One Goodreads user gushed: “This is the perfect thriller. It had everything going on. The scenic beach front hostel in Morocco as the setting was amazing.”

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Another wrote: “I felt like I could not put this one down. I needed to keep reading to see what was going to happen. Also the last 60 percent has several twists and turns. Once I thought I had it figured out it kept changing up on me.”

“I could not get enough of this book,” someone else said. “I am going to buy all of this author’s books now. Such a perfect 5 star for me.”

And a final fan recommended: “If you like fast paced thrillers, multiple mysteries wrapped up in one story all in the back drop of a gorgeous destination and travel setting then this is absolutely for you.”

Netflix’s The Surf House does not yet have a release date.

Apple TV’s new dark comedy thriller series has been dubbed “hilarious” and “brutal” by viewers and critics alike, with many fans claiming it’s “better than Cape Fear”

There’s a vast range of films and TV programmes well worth exploring across popular streaming platforms, from hard-hitting crime dramas and otherworldly fantasy to insightful documentaries, side-splitting comedies, and beyond.

Apple TV has been making quite the impression with hits including the much-loved comedy Ted Lasso, the trippy workplace psychological thriller Severance, sci-fi favourite Silo, the spy thriller Slow Horses, and plenty more.

However, one “hilarious” yet “brutal” comedy thriller series may have passed many fans by. It’s Apple TV’s new show, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed.

Created by David J. Rosen, the series stars Tatiana Maslany as divorced fact checker Paula Saunders, who becomes embroiled in the criminal underworld after witnessing the abduction of her webcam acquaintance Trevor.

She’s subsequently contacted for ransom money, but police maintain it’s probably a scam – until Trevor turns up dead. Paula is drawn into the mystery, navigating murder and blackmail while grappling with her own personal demons.

The series debuted on Apple TV on May 20, 2026, and boasts an impressive 93% score on the popular review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, where critics and fans alike have showered the drama with praise.

One critic said: “It’s breezy, but also brutal. Hilarious, but also horrific. And since each episode runs 30-40 minutes, it’s a perfect little summertime binge.”

Another agreed: “It sticks the landing through the end, and Maslany keeps you watching… even though you’ll want to yell at the screen every time she makes a new risky decision”. A third said: “One of the most captivating shows of the year thus far”.

While a fourth commented: “An utterly delicious thriller with interesting characters, an effectively circuitous plot, fast pacing, engaging comic undertones and terrific writing, ‘Maximum Pleasure’ will grab you from the first moment.”

These views were mirrored by fans over on Reddit. One devoted an entire post to the show, giving it the title: “Don’t sleep on Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed”.

They went on to elaborate: “Everyone loves Widow’s Bay (and they should; it’s great! ) but Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is also really compelling: good balance of humour/drama/thriller, plot moves along at a good clip, good acting all around (of course Tatiana Maslany is great but Charlie Hall (Julia Louis Dreyfus’ kid! ) makes a fine comedic foil…) I really look forward to each new episode and hope others check it out.”

Fellow Reddit users were quick to share their thoughts in the comments section – and many agreed the programme is well worth a watch.

One viewer said: “Great show that deserves a bigger audience. People always complain that all the services only make safe bets anymore with established IPs etc. Support this, people! And support Sugar season 2, too. All great shows. Apple is on fire this year.”

Another enthused: “I just started this the other night and am hooked. I love Murray Bartlett too lol”.

A third commented: “I’m really enjoying it and I’m always happy to see Tatiana Maslany on-screen again”.

While another shared: “I’m surprised this isn’t bigger on this sub, it’s a fun series, I’m more invested in it than Cape Fear. I think Apple dropped the ball marketing wise.”

To which a fellow viewer fired back: “That’s because it’s significantly better than Cape Fear and seems to involve some actual plot each episode”.

The photo is from Workers’ Day in Venezuela, when Delcy Rodríguez, wearing a blue Ronald Acuña baseball jersey, announced a long-awaited minimum income increase after several days touring the country, campaigning for a land of peace and prosperity, free of sanctions.

Us Venezuelans know that chavismo loves a propaganda makeover. They can be good at it too, in all honesty. The aftermath of the capture of one of the world’s most loathed autocrats, and the takeover by his supposedly pragmatic, corporate-like vice president was never going to be an exception when it comes to PR reinvention.

Media outlets have noticed the changes in the Caracas landscape: the image of Nicolás Maduro (and to some extent, that of former First Combatant Cilia Flores) is starting to disappear from view. Large billboards featuring the couple, including the phrase “we want them back” (los queremos de vuelta), are getting withdrawn.

This occurs as there’s serious discomfort inside chavismo about how close the Delcy-Trump relationship has become: from the drastic U-turn in the Alex Saab case to increased “supervision” from the US embassy in Caracas and the joint military operation targeting the Tren de Aragua leader, it looks like Washington’s tutelage keeps expanding and deepening at great speed.

Delcy herself is not the main focus. The idea is to convince Venezuelans that things are improving, to encourage them to imagine how the country could thrive if sanctions are lifted.

The official strategy now seems to put Maduro on the back burner, letting him fade away from short-term memory. Getting rid of his image entirely won’t be easy, of course. After all, his face and personal brand—his Super Mustache, and the tricolor M letter from his 2018 presidential campaign which became an official emblem of sorts—can still be seen on public signs, painted in walls and even in official vehicles.

This mirrors what happened earlier with the visual trademarks of the late Hugo Chávez, like his famous eyes and rabo e’ cochino signature. Maduro had reduced their public use and replaced them with his own iconography, for better or for worse. 

Blue-hued efficiency

This sudden shift in dropping Maduro’s image brings an important question to mind: what will replace it? 

One option would be to have Delcy’s face in huge billboards across avenues and highways. But that has not been the case so far. 

Two elements are noticeable. First, Delcy herself is not the main focus. Instead, the idea is to convince the Venezuelan people that things are improving, and to encourage them to imagine how the country could thrive if (more) US sanctions are lifted.

She has embraced a more traditional “head of state” role, prioritizing highly-publicized formal meetings where she signs letters of understanding (often disguised as actual contracts) with foreign investors as signs that the country is back on track and open for business. That completely aligns with how the Trump administration and POTUS himself sell their role here.

Political advertising from the Delcy Rodríguez government tries to project a nation of diverse, forward-looking citizens, which is a huge departure from the Chávez-era exaltation of the all-red masses. Note the Star of David on the left-hand side of the image above, a nod to both the US and a Jewish community famously insulted by Chávez. 

Even Miraflores Palace got its own new styling for such occasions: the Cabinet Room was stripped of not only anything related to both Chávez and Maduro but also the pictures of the late Argentine President Néstor Kirchner. The room was named in his honor in 2011. In its place there’s now a large, White House-styled logo for Miraflores, which has been in use since 2018.

Then there’ the blatant decision of dropping chavismo’s traditional rojo-rojito red for a dark blue. 

Curiously enough, the Rodrigato has taken advantage of the full visual rebrand of the government launched last year by Maduro, which dropped the term Gobierno Bolivariano and related symbols used since the mid 2000s. 

The national flag and formal country name are front and center. The use of a broader institutional look is another stark contrast with the more personalized presentation from the Maduro years.

Delcy has used social media and trips both inside and outside the country in order to compensate for her brand-new stateswoman persona. But she doesn’t go as far as doing an Aló Presidente-style TV show or starting her own podcast like Maduro did with Con Maduro + (where Delcy was once a guest).

Delcy probably knows she is not exactly the most marketable presidential candidate. This rebrand is also an attempt to push her image in that direction while her aides and consultants still have time to sketch something viable.

So far, Delcy´s deeper involvement in mass events this year happened in late April, during the so-called “Great National Pilgrimage for a Venezuela Free of Sanctions,” better known for its shorter slogan Venezuela vuela libre (Venezuela flies free). At its core, it looks like an early balloon trial for what her campaign could look like in a snap election. On the surface, it seemed like an appropriation of the religious frenzy around the canonization of two Venezuelan saints—several months after that event, when Maduro was not in Brooklyn—and of the symbols and rituals of the Machado campaign: rosaries, people embracing a politician’s caravan across a village, blue and white clothes.

This particular change didn’t go unnoticed by former state television host Mario Silva, a longtime supporter of the revolución who has become Delcy’s most outspoken critic within chavismo. Silva recently told the Wall Street Journal: “Red used to mean combat… The pale blue is to put the masses to sleep.” The campaign itself became part of a heated debate between Silva and other figures related to the chavismo’s media ecosystem, such as Indira Urbaneja and the Argentine influencer known as Michelo last month.

Its launch was linked with the grand minimum wage announcement on May 1^st after a four-year wait. It wasn’t really the real wage increase that teachers, healthcare workers and public officials were hoping for. Since January 3rd, Jorge Rodríguez regularly takes over for her sister in public events. By the looks of the recent lack of activity in the official YouTube channel, it’s currently not at the same level of the spring period. The amount of related outdoor ads and street banners seemingly will do heavy lifting this summer.

Presidential disguise

Uncertainty hangs over Venezuela’s political future for the second half of 2026, but Delcy Rodríguez is clearly capitalizing on her position, using every resource at her disposal without facing any pushback from Washington. Yet, when it comes to the raw talent of a traditional politician, her shortcomings are no secret. Her speeches tend to be quite brief and dry. She has sounded nervous when caught off guard. She lacks the charismatic oratory of Chávez and the brazen rhetoric of her brother or her predecessor. She probably knows she is not exactly the most marketable presidential candidate. This rebrand is an attempt to push her image in that direction while her aides and consultants still have time to sketch something viable.

Coming back to Maduro, the little sympathy he had outside the most hardcore chavista supporters won’t improve. People are not missing him, never mind care that Delcy is shedding his old propaganda. Ordinary Venezuelans are generally too busy, dealing with their everyday problems, to pay attention to the politics of chavista PR.

In the end, this stealth attempt to erase Maduro’s image isn’t as simple as turning the page and moving on. Delcy needs to build a whole new persona that fits both the mainstream chavismo she wants to rally (and that still represents her voter base), and the one Donald Trump can be happy with.

She may not be able to deliver the rousing speeches of Chávez in his prime, or pull off the theatrical antics that Maduro leaned on for years, but playing the dignified role of “the President” may just work for her. At least for the foreseeable future.

KATIE Price has said that nobody knew just how bad things were for her when she experienced some very ‘dark moments’ in her life.

The TV star, 48, is gearing up for the release of her upcoming tell-all docuseries, Katie Price: Nothing to Hide – in which she will recount her 2018 and 2021 breakdowns.

Her candid and unfiltered account of three decades in the spotlight is coming to Sky and NOW on July 8.

This week, Katie attended the Sheffield DocFest where she revealed that during her darkest moments and confessed ‘no-one knew how bad it was’, with this set to play out in her new series.

Katie suffered a major mental breakdown in around 2018 following a build-up of traumatic events in her life, she then suffered another in 2021.

She experienced severe depression, suicidal thoughts, and even checked into The Priory amid her breakdown.

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Speaking about this at the DocFest event ahead of her Sky show dropping next month, Katie got candid and confessed: “When I had my breakdown, I don’t think people really knew how bad it was, and how it affected people in my life.

“To hear that my loved ones cried and how much they loved me is like a wake-up call for me.

“There are some really dark moments [in the series] but at the same time, uplifting.

“People have to remember that it’s actually my life, so if you’re exhausted just watching it, imagine how exhausting it is for my little pea brain.

“But I really enjoyed doing it.

“I said they should do 10 parts and they wanted to, but we were lucky to push it to four [episodes].

“There’s still so much you could put in it. Even from what you’re reading today.”

Elsewhere at the event, Katie said: “I’m an open book.

“When [the team] came to me about the documentary, I got excited because something about me and my life is perfect.

“The media narrative is so different to what I’m really like but as you say, every day, even now, there’s always something.

“My life could actually be a soap story – it just doesn’t stop. I’m normal but it’s a weird world I live in. I can’t explain it.”

She also touched on being authentic.

“I have nothing to hide, and when they asked me, ‘are there any areas you don’t want us to go?’, I said, no! You can talk to absolutely anyone you want and you can talk to me about anything you want,” she confessed.

“Luckily the duty of care was amazing. Sometimes after two hours [of interviews], I couldn’t do any more.

“There are moments where I’ve had therapy to get over some of the things in my life, and I had to relive them.

“But I think this is what makes a good show, and I love watching documentaries.

“So many people are so manufactured and they’re in on the edits, so they look like a polished turd, basically. I am not that!

“Even I’m cringing at some of the stuff in the first episode! I haven’t had time to reflect on anything in my life because there’s always the next thing, and the next thing.”

There are four signs you need to be aware of before you get on a plane

A doctor has explained the red flag warning signs that should never be ignored after a flight. Millions of people will jet off on their summer holidays in the coming months and a vascular consultant says holidaymakers should be aware of tell-tale signs before they become a medical emergency.

Dr Mark Regi, Consultant Interventional Radiologist at VeinCentre, said: “Air travel, particularly long-haul flights, can put extra strain on your circulatory system as most people will have limited movement for a long period of time. People with poor circulation or varicose veins can be at greater risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot usually found in the leg.

“For most people, a walk around the cabin and some compression socks will do the trick, but it’s always worth knowing the signs to look out for that something potentially serious could be happening.”

Last year influencer Molly-Mae Hague told how she feared she had suffered a blood clot after experiencing severe pain in her leg following a flight home from Dubai. After rushing to hospital doctors gave the former Love Island star the all clear. She told fans: “It needs to be taken so much more seriously because it can happen to anyone at any age.”

Symptoms of DVT include a throbbing pain in the calf or thigh, swelling in one leg, swollen veins and the skin around the leg becoming red, blue or darkened. Dr Regi said: “If any swelling doesn’t ease after a flight and you experience a dull ache or heavy cramping then it’s always worth speaking to a doctor.

“DVT can be serious so keep a close eye on any changes that don’t settle down. If you experience shortness of breath or chest pain, together with these symptoms, seek medical advice straight away as this could be a sign a clot has travelled to the lung.”

Dr Regi continued: “People who already know they have poor circulation, for example if they have varicose veins, should try and move around as much as is practical during any long-haul flights. That’s because twisted or bulging veins can struggle to circulate blood effectively during extended periods of immobility.

“I always recommend investing in medical-grade compression stockings if you have varicose veins. You should also keep hydrated and keep alcohol and caffeinated drinks to a minimum. Exercises such as calf raises and ankle pumps can also keep blood pumping around your legs when you can’t get up for a wander.”

Dr Regi says varicose veins are often seen as purely a cosmetic issue, but they should be taken seriously and treatment is available. He said: “Varicose veins mean they are not working as they should. Treatments are available which focus on the underlying venous insufficiency to alleviate symptoms and prevent complications. Endovenous Laser Ablation (EVLA) is a minimally invasive procedure that uses laser energy to close off affected veins, treating the root cause of varicose veins.”

The island’s dark history of forced labour and harrowing conditions for prisoners of war has left a haunting legacy

In the late 19th century, this isolated Japanese island was a bustling town fuelled by its coal-mining industry. Today, it’s gradually being swallowed by the sea and reclaimed by nature, but given the island’s sinister past, perhaps it’s for the best that this once-thriving community has fallen into silence.

Hashima Island sits roughly 15 kilometres off Nagasaki, and was formerly a mining settlement. At its height in the late 1950s, the island housed more than 5,000 residents who lived in its towering apartment blocks — the ruins of which remain visible today.

Initially renowned for its undersea coal mines, the island also harbours a deeply troubling history.

The island was purchased by Mitsubishi in the late 19th century, and in 1916, work commenced on apartment blocks to house workers. There was a school, a kindergarten, a community centre and a hospital.

For leisure, residents could head to the cinema or visit the numerous shops, reports the Express.

Following the end of World War 2, Chinese and Korean prisoners of war were forced to labour on the island, either erecting buildings or toiling in the mines. These prisoners endured appalling and perilous conditions under Mitsubishi’s control.

Many perished from exhaustion and starvation — the precise death toll on the island ranges from 137 to as many as 1,300.

The people who laboured here dubbed the island “Jail Island” or even “Hell Island” — a stark contrast to the tranquil mining town it seemed to be. By the 1970s, coal reserves had largely run dry and the industry was in terminal decline.

This prompted many residents to abandon the island, and by the mid-70s, the mine had shut its doors for good, leaving the island completely deserted.

In 2009, Japan put forward a request for the island to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The move drew sharp criticism from the governments of North and South Korea and China, with Seoul arguing it would “violate the dignity of the survivors of forced labour”.

Eventually, South Korea and Japan struck a deal allowing the island to be included on the list, on the condition that Japan provided information acknowledging the use of forced labour.

However, in 2021, it emerged that Japan had failed to honour its side of the agreement, having not displayed adequate information regarding the use of forced labour.

The museum in Nagasaki, which documents the island’s history, reportedly contains no testimonies from Koreans about forced labour or discrimination, and the sole Korean testimony on display actually denies that forced labour was ever used.