Elen Rhys has opened up about the future of Cleddau, admitting she feels there is still plenty left to explore with DI Ffion Lloyd
Elen Rhys has opened up about the future of Cleddau,(Image: BlackLight/Banijay Rights)
Elen Rhys believes there is still plenty more to uncover about her character in Welsh crime series Cleddau.
The actress is back on screen as DI Ffion Lloyd for the second series of the gripping S4C drama – but she admits she feels viewers have only seen the beginning of the detective’s story.
Elen has become closely associated with the role since Cleddau first hit screens, earning a BAFTA Cymru nomination for Best Actress following her performance in the first series.
And while there has been no confirmation of a third series, Elen believes the nature of Ffion’s job means there could be plenty of stories left to explore.
“I love playing Ffion,” she said. “It’s not an easy job with the two languages, but it is a gift of a role and, yeah, I feel like we’ve just touched the surface.”
However, the actress was quick to point out that the future of the drama isn’t her decision.
“But obviously it’s not my decision, is it?” she added. “I don’t know what Kath wants to do. You don’t know what S4C and beyond want to do. So I’m just lucky we got to do it for a second time, really.”
The comments come as Cleddau returns following a hugely successful first series. The drama became the third most popular S4C drama since 2016, behind Craith (Hidden) and Y Gwyll (Hinterland), while it also recorded the highest number of iPlayer sessions for an S4C drama series.
Its success was further recognised when it picked up Best Drama at the RTS Cymru Wales Awards, with Elen also receiving her BAFTA Cymru nomination.
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Elsewhere, Elen admitted that filming some of the show’s dramatic night-time scenes during the depths of winter was particularly challenging, with the cast and crew battling rain and cold temperatures.
She said the production filmed a night shoot throughout January, adding that it seemed to rain every day.
“Because of the genre, they want to film over the winter months,” Elen said. “But we did a night shoot running all through January, and I think it rained every day, January this year.
“So that’s hard, because obviously you want the nighttime for the atmosphere and the nuance of the piece, but it was really tough because we were battling the elements.”
She added: “It was just not good. I’d say that was probably the most challenging night shoots in the bleak, bleak January.”
EXCLUSIVE: The street-dancer was bottom of the leaderboard last weekend, now he’s hoping to impress with his Charleston – which he’ll perform ‘Cach-style’
Cach and Maddie are doing their own thing having survived the dance off(Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)
He’s arguably the most naturally gifted dancer in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing – but last week Cach Mercer nearly got the boot from the ballroom after ending up in the dreaded dance off.
The former Love Island contestant and his pro dancer Maddie Ingoldsby scored 26 points for their waltz, leaving them joint bottom of the leaderboard.
But Cach – who was given just four points by Craig Revel Horwood before ultimately being saved by head judge Shirey Ballas – has defiantly refused to abandon his unconventional dancing style.
Instead, the 25-year-old has insisted he will stay true to himself rather than be something he’s not. “I feel like there’s a good blend of showing who I am plus showing what I’m getting into,” he explained. “Obviously, I’m taking on their criticism heavily and I’m going to try and align that with the next dance that we do. But I think it’s very important to try and still incorporate a sense of myself within the dances too.
“Because if I go through this competition trying to be a ballroom and Latin boy, which has never, ever been me, then I might not have fun because I’m shaping myself to be something I’m not.
“So, I think it is important to still keep freestyle elements, for example, to just show my character and show what I like to do. I’m doing Strictly Cach-style!”
The pair have faced criticism from the judges for not sticking to traditional techniques. It has turned Cash’s Strictly journey into something of a rollercoaster, with the judges lavishing praise on his Argentine tango and Frank Sinatra foxtrot before he was sent plummeting to the bottom of the leaderboard last weekend. “It’s not nice to be in the dance off,” he admits. “But after the judges’ scoring, I did expect it, I had a feeling.”
Having focused on improving his heal-leads and footwork, Cach says: “Surprisingly, I think I was more relaxed in the dance off. Maddie shook me out the back before we went on and was like, just have fun.
“She’s amazing, it was as hard for her as it was for me. There’s a lot of pressure on her, especially as it’s her first year. A lot of people are questioning her ability, but this girl knows her stuff.”
He said that it had been hard to dance against actress Bethany Antonia, who he was close to. “I’m very grateful to still be here,” he says. “You just have to move past it and go into the new week with a new mindset.”
Cach has had heat on him from the start because he is a self-taught street dancer with a big following on social media. His obvious talent has left some viewers questioning whether he has an unfair advantage over some of the other celeb contestants. But he insists the transition to ballroom is far harder than people realise. “I have to unlearn a lot of things that I do in my dance to then cater to this new style.”
The London-born star admits he still struggles to believe he belongs in the Strictly ballroom, because behind his confident performances is a young man who was bullied at school and struggled with shyness. He reveals: “I’ve danced in car parks and on the street my whole life, so to get here means a lot. I’m a boy from the ends and now I’m in some ballroom shoes and some tight suit tops. Imposter syndrome is very present right now.
“I was a shy kid, I couldn’t speak to a girl for anything! I just got too nervous. I actually got bullied at school. I cried a lot.”
But the one thing that helped him through it all was his hip-hop hobby. “I love dancing more than anything else in this entire world. There was a drive in me that wanted to get really good. I’ve never been the best about communicating how I feel but as soon as I dance, I feel like you can really see how I feel.”
Cach first found fame when he entered the Love Island villa as a Casa Amor bombshell last year. He went on to win the ITV dating show alongside Toni Laites, with the pair sharing the £50,000 prize before their relationship fizzled out.
Having become known to millions for his romantic adventures, Cach is delighted that Strictly has given him the chance to show the public a different side to his personality. “I’m so happy people are asking me what my next dance is, instead of who am I dating,” he laughs. That doesn’t mean that people have given up speculating about his love life however…
Cach’s close partnership with Maddie, the show’s youngest pro at just 21, has prompted some fans to wonder whether their chemistry extends beyond the dance floor. Branding his social media followers “hopeless romantics” he insists they are concentrating on their dancing. “We’ve seen some of the comments and stuff, but yeah, we don’t read into it too much. We’re just doing our thing.”
While the pair have endured criticism – him for his street-style and her for her choreography – Cach is full of admiration for “really special” Maddie, an eight-time world dance champion who is competing in her first Strictly series. “She puts her all into the dance. She’s very sweet.”
He said their Argentine tango for Halloween, which scored 33 points, was a high point. “I didn’t know what to do with myself, I’m not going to lie,” he laughs. “I felt a little bit emotional.”
For now, Cach is determined to make the most of every moment he has left in the competition and he knows there is no guarantee of another week in the ballroom. Whatever happens, he’s determined that viewers will remember him for being himself. As he puts it: “I just want to leave everything on that dance floor.”
Windsor described the game as the worst day of his career. He added: “I knew straight away that it was a con job. When we found out later that they had planned it the night before, that really got to me. I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”
It would be 26 years until Wales would come as close to ending the losing run.
In contrast to 1978, few expected much of a young Wales side in 2004 that had done little to impress despite scoring a record 37 points against the All Blacks in defeat at the World Cup in Australia the previous year.
Under new head coach Mike Ruddock and with a rising young star, Gavin Henson, in their ranks, Wales played with abandon and led at half-time through tries by Tom Shanklin and Mefin Davies.
New Zealand, jolted into action, had Joe Rokocoko, the most potent player on the planet at the time, to thank for two wonderful solo tries. But for once, Wales refused to yield and could have pulled off a shock if not for some disastrous timekeeping.
Wales, back to within a point after Henson’s kick, thought there was injury time to come on the stadium clock, which in fact showed the correct time on the referee’s watch.
With seconds to go, Stephen Jones kicked the ball away and Wales never had another chance.
Try-scorer Shanklin said: “It’s actually more painful and frustrating now, when I look back, than it was at the time. We had been through some tough years so I was actually quite pleased that we hadn’t been hammered and put on a great show.
“But looking back, you realise now just how close we came to making history. However, the pay-off was that autumn campaign set us up for another piece of history with the Grand Slam the following year.”
It is set to star Bridgerton actress Adjoa Andoh as a detective determined to pursue the truth, regardless of the obstacles in her path. ITV has teased: “This bittersweet police drama explores the pressures faced by DI Araba Dadzie, a cop, a mother and a daughter.
“She’s a woman in that squeezed middle, juggling profession, elderly parents and children, and a woman of colour in the police force, who has risen through the ranks of her profession and knows what it costs for her to stay there. Protect and Serve draws Araba into the national scandal of Britain’s unregulated children’s care homes, a scandal she cannot ignore.”
Set in Leeds, the series sees DI Araba Dadzie embark on an investigation into a tragedy after a teenage boy is shot dead, having been living in a privately owned children’s care home with his brother since his grandfather fell ill Determined to discover why he was targeted and the motives behind his death, Araba and her team piece together parts of his life.
ITV goes on to tease: “With a reputation as a fearsome investigator, it’s taken unrelenting focus, a bleak sense of humour, a passionate love for the job and personal sacrifice for Araba to stay at the top of her game. Uncompromising and often obsessive, she is driven by her desire to offer protection to the vulnerable and retribution to those criminally abusing their power in the city she loves.”
Adjoa said: “How does a woman juggle an aging father, a chippy student daughter and a non-existent sex life, while investigating murders as a black female cop. That’s the lot of DI Araba Dadzie, Senior Investigation Officer on a Homicide and Major Enquiry Team in central Leeds. It’s a job that costs, a job that we the public need, and in spite of the challenges, it’s a job Araba feels called to, much like a priest or a teacher.
“Protect and Serve our crime show is set in the great city of Leeds. I love this city and I love the city’s football club Leeds United. I lived in Leeds as a child and half my English family have been Yorkshire sheep farmers going back to the 1600’s – hence the setting.
“I am thrilled by the team behind Protect and Serve. Polly Hill at ITV, Big Talk Studios, Jenny van der Lande, and fabulous writer Helen Black of Time fame. As mothers the national disgrace of our unregulated children’s homes is something we are all shocked by.
“How do we as a society protect our children? It’s a question that drives Araba, that drives our first season and with amazing director Nimer Rashed at the helm, hot off Netflix’ Harlen Coben thrillers, the highs and lows of this propulsive cop show, we hope, will drive audiences to keep watching and caring.”
ITV Director of Drama Polly Hill added: “I’m delighted to commission Protect and Serve as I have been wanting to find a show with Adjoa Andoh for some time. We have a shared ambition, together with Big Talk, to make a great police series that also has something to say.
“Helen Black’s scripts uncover the scandal in privatised children’s care homes while Araba lets us see what cost there is to becoming a high ranking black policewoman. It’s a show we are very proud to be making for ITV with such a great team.”
After the series was announced, one fan said: “So excited for this.” Another wrote: “Yes another decent drama.” “This will be good!” another wrote, as someone else echoed: “I can’t wait!” “ITV you win,” yet another added.
Popular BBC crime drama Sherwood – which stars Lesley Manville and David Morrissey – is to end after four years with a third and final series as fans are left ‘gutted’ over the news
22:36, 11 Nov 2026Updated 22:36, 11 Nov 2026
David Morrissey as DCS Ian St Clair in the BBC’s Sherwood(Image: BBC/House Productions/Sam Taylor)
Hit BBC drama Sherwood will not return after its third series.
James Graham, the creator of the show, has announced plans for the programme – which features Lesley Manville and David Morrissey – to end with a final series, expected to air early next year.
Sherwood is set in a Nottinghamshire mining village and is based loosely on real life murders which took place in the city in 2004. The fictional story starts with the murder of a former union activist, Gary Jackson and follows how the death impacts the wider community and has a connection with the miners’ strike.
Speaking on the launch episode of Sky News podcast Backstory with Cathy Newman, the drama’s creator, James Graham said: “We’ve finished it, we’ve edited it, and it will be the last series, and it will be out in January, February time.
Fans rushed to social media, devastated over the end of the show. One fan wrote: “I have been so thrilled for another season of #Sherwood because DCS Ian St Clair is my roman empire! But I am so gutted to hear its the last season, I thought it would go on for at least 6 whole seasons.”
Sherwood’s third season will see the original actors return including Lesley Manville and David Morrisey.
James said of the upcoming season: “[What’s] been really lovely is to get original actors back – people like Lesley Manville, David Morrissey, Lorraine Ashbourne, from the first series bringing back Claire Rushbrook, Robert Glenister. People, just even saying their names, you go, ‘Why are you working with me? I feel so lucky.’
Riot Women star Rosalie Craig and Game of Thrones actor Joe Dempsie are set to star in the new series as “a brand new family that I put through a brand new trauma”.
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“We really put these guys through the wringer, but it’s very exciting,” he said, “They are great Nottingham actors to tell a Nottinghamshire story.”
As well as Sherwood, Graham also worked on Dear England, a hit play and TV series about Gareth Southgate’s work to transform the England men’s football team.
“I think like a lot of people, I noticed that it just felt immediately different,” he said of his decision to write the play, “Southgate’s conduct, the new generation of players, the new values and attitudes they carried with them.
“This wasn’t the traditional football I remembered, which was more aggressive. These guys had a nobility, a compassion and a decency which I thought was really striking. I was curious about how anyone can go into an old institution and begin to change its values and culture so quickly.”
Netflix viewers say this drama is the “best” on the streaming platform – and it’s so good it has them rewatching it over and over again. So have you checked this out yet?
Andie MacDowell is also part of the cast in the series(Image: RICARDO HUBBS/NETFLIX)
Thankfully Netflix is so good for new shows, with the streaming giant releasing fresh TV series and movies every single week. New content is added almost daily with multiple major original shows dropping on a weekly basis. Now if you’re on the hunt for something binge-worthy, we might have just the drama series for you. But we’re warning you, it’s so good, viewers say they have to rewatch it after binging it the first time.
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Social media is often a great place for recommendations as just recently Reddit users couldn’t help but praise Maid, a 10-episode drama available to watch now.
The post began: “Please recommend any good gripping limited series on Netflix. As most of the series have a good start and as they progress they get deviation. How is the Burroughs is it good to watch?”
Many raced to the comments section to mention Maid as one wrote: “It’s a fantastic short series. It’s one of the best I’ve seen on Netflix.” While another added: “I second this, incredible show.”
A third commented: “The emotions! Best thing to ever come out of Netflix.” And a fourth chimed in: “I agree. I just rewatched and it was even better the second viewing!”
What is Maid about?
The Netflix limited series is a 10-episode drama about Alex, a young mum who flees an emotionally abusive relationship with her partner Sean.
Inspired by Stephanie Land’s best-selling memoir, Maid: Harm Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive, it chronicles her real-life experience working as a housecleaner while living on a government assistance and striving to write and attend college.
This series centres Alexandra “Alex” Russell, played by Margaret Qualley, who finds work with a low-wage cleaning company to support herself and her two-year-old Maddie while facing severe financial instability and homelessness.
She leaves her partner Sean Boyd (Nick Robinson) as she also deals with a complex, unpredictable mother (Andie MacDowell) who tries to break toxic cycles to build a safe future for her daughter.
The limited-series, which dropped on Netflix on October 1, 2021, had been viewed by an estimated 67 million households, becoming the streaming giant’s fourth most-watched shows that year.
In the streaming rankings for the week of October 4-10, 2021, Maid doubled its viewing time from the previous week and climbed to second place behind Squid Game, which released a month before, with 1.9 billion minutes of viewing time.
You can watch all 10 episodes of the Maid on Netflix UK now.
Cliff Parisi starred in different medical drama before landing the role of Fred Buckle on Call the Midwife
Cliff Parisi has played Fred Buckle in Call the Midwife since 2012 (Image: BBC / Neal Street Productions / Olly Courtney)
Cliff Parisi looks a world away from Call the Midwife‘s Fred Buckle in a popular ITV period drama.
During the first season of Call the Midwife, which aired in 2012, actor Cliff Parisi was introduced as Fred Buckle, the kind and attentive handyman at Nonnatus House before he became a local shopkeeper, and he’s remained a fan favourite ever since.
Fred is married to councillor Violet Buckle (played by Annabelle Apsion), has two daughters from a previous marriage, and an adopted son, Reggie, portrayed by Daniel Laurie.
In the forthcoming Call the Midwife prequel, Sisters in Arms, which is set to air this Christmas, Fred’s backstory will be explored as the BBC show rewinds to World War Two, with actor Ciaran Bowling taking on the role of a younger incarnation of Fred.
Away from Call the Midwife, EastEnders fans will recognise Cliff as the kind-hearted Minty Paterson on the BBC soap between 2002 and 2010.
The 66 -year-old actor also won over audiences during his stint on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here in 2019, and showcased his culinary talents on Celebrity MasterChef in 2022.
Beyond EastEnders and Call the Midwife, Cliff has played a variety of roles in some of Britain’s most popular TV shows over the years, including Casualty, Hollyoaks, Outnumbered, The Darling Buds of May, and London’s Burning.
His acting career began with the 1989 comedy film Queen of Hearts, where he played the Manager. Following this, he appeared in A Bit of Fry and Laurie in 1990 and KYTV in 1990 and 1993.
Between 1995 and 1996, Cliff took up the role of Daniel Bentley in ITV’s series Bramwell, and he’s now utterly transformed from the ill-fated hospital porter we see today. Sporting darker locks, facial hair, and a pensive expression, the actor is hardly recognisable.
Set in Victorian times, the medical drama centers around Dr. Eleanor Bramwell, portrayed by Jemma Redgrave, as she operates a free infirmary for the destitute in the East End.
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The second season sees a cholera outbreak take its toll, with Daniel Bentley succumbing to illness and subsequently dying from an overdose caused by a dosage miscalculation. Bramwell aired on ITV across four seasons from May 1995 until June 1998.
Since Bramwell debuted on television, the show has gained legions of fans, with one person writing on IMDb: “Great period piece–well worth watching. I came upon this miniseries by accident, and I am glad I did.
“I’d never heard of it, but it sounded interesting. It really does a good job of portraying what London and medicine probably were like back in the 1800s.”
A second explained: “An amazing series. I have followed “Bramwell” since I started watching the mini-series on PBS’s “Masterpiece Theatre” a few years ago. The depiction of a female doctor in Victorian England is very entertaining and groundbreaking. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in period drama or the history of medical practice.”
“Loved Seasons 1-3. I started watching this show (Netflix instant play) as background noise while I worked on some projects, but soon fell in love.
“I am particularly drawn to medical dramas, and this show was no exception. I love the relationship between the doctors Bramwell (Elanor and her father) and the hopefully somewhat-accurate depiction of the struggles a woman doctor might face in those times”, added another.
Call the Midwife is available to stream on BBC iPlayer
This City is Ours fans are urged to watch a crime drama that has been praised by viewers as potentially “the greatest UK crime drama series of all time”.
Diana was in danger in season 2 of This City is Ours(Image: BBC)
A “gripping” crime drama with “sublime acting” could be the next stop for This City Is Ours fans.
Netflix’s London-set thriller has been hailed a must-watch for This City is Ours fans. The five-season series shares much of the twisty Liverpool drama’s appeal, from fraught loyalties and friendships to struggles for power in the criminal underworld. Praising Top Boy, the series in question, one fan wrote on IMDb: “S3 is hands down the best series of them all without a shadow of a doubt. If not, the greatest UK crime drama series of all time.”
The comparison has also struck a chord with viewers of This City Is Ours. One IMDb reviewer praised James Nelson-Joyce’s performance in the BBC drama before writing: “The series feels quite similar to Top Boy in some ways, but with a Liverpool setting.”
With BBC viewers gripped by This City Is Ours’ second run, those who have already watched it on iPlayer may be looking for another crime drama to get stuck into. Here are three shows exploring the tensions and power struggles that make gangland stories so compelling, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Top Boy
Top Boy originally aired on Channel 4 before Netflix revived it. Across five seasons, the British crime thriller follows drug dealers Dushane, played by Ashley Walters, and Sully, played by Kane Robinson, as they navigate drug dealing and gang violence in London.
The series earned critical acclaim for its writing, performances and authenticity, picking up numerous BAFTA awards and nominations. Like This City Is Ours, it examines loyalty, friendship and hierarchy, and the fallout when those bonds are tested.
The IMDb reviewer who praised its third season also wrote: “This show is literally breathtaking. Gripping throughout. Brutal. It catches you from the get-go and really makes you FEEL. You relate and feel what every character is feeling. The plot is thrilling. The acting is sublime.”
Gangs of London
Sky series Gangs of London, also available on Netflix, is an action crime drama based on the video game of the same name. It follows bitter power struggles between rival gangs and criminal organisations across the capital.
Much like the Phelans in This City Is Ours, the Wallaces are a powerful crime family. When their patriarch is killed, London’s criminal underworld is plunged into chaos.
One IMDb reviewer wrote: “Best gang-related TV series I’ve seen in years, the fight and gun scenes have been directed and filmed superbly, and it’s also extremely well written. My advice is, if you like this kinda thing, you’ll end up binge-watching Gangs of London.”
Kin
Available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer, Kin is an Irish crime drama about a Dublin family embroiled in a brutal gangland war. Production on a third season began in July 2026. Aidan Gillen and Ciarán Hinds play rival gang leaders Frank Kinsella and Eamon Cunningham respectively.
Like This City Is Ours, the show explores the battle for power and the extreme measures people will take to stay at the top. It quickly became one of Ireland’s most-watched series after its release.
One IMDb reviewer wrote: “Kin has to go down as one of the best series I’ve seen in this genre and sits alongside Top Boy for me. Character’s brilliant portrayed and expertly drags you into the murky world of the extended Kinsella family and Dublin’s underworld with a storyline that twists and turns.
“The actors combine in a fluent way which has you hating someone one moment and then thinking ‘maybe I was wrong about you’. Thankfully most of us will never experience a family life like it but you’ll love watching theirs.”
This City is Ours is streaming on BBC iPlayer, with episodes also airing weekly on BBC One on Sundays and Mondays
TV has a new ‘most evil serial killer’ and it’s ‘impossible to stop watching him’.
Stephen Graham’s serial killer has been praised as better than Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter(Image: Apple TV)
A brand new series which launched on streaming platforms just two days ago is being praised as “impossible to stop watching”. It’s also being labelled “gripping”, “compelling” and featuring “TV’s most evil serial killer”. One prominent critic suggested the character has even supplanted Sir Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter as “the screen’s most profoundly unsettling… serial killer”.
Nocturne stars Stephen Graham, Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz and Rory Culkin. Graham portrays serial killer Jurek Walter, who is imprisoned for life for torturing and murdering his victims, reports the Express. Yet, he continues manipulating events from behind bars and the show begins with him successfully convincing a fellow prisoner to take his own life.
Walter could prove to be another iconic Stephen Graham role to add to his remarkable repertoire, which already includes Eddie Miller in Adolescence, Andy Jones in Boiling Point, Combo in This is England, Tommy in Snatch and Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire, amongst numerous others.
The storyline revolves around one of Walter’s presumed victims unexpectedly appearing alive, leaving Schreiber’s detective Jonah Lynn to locate the one “victim” still unaccounted for.
Guardian film and TV critic Lucy Mangan declares “Stephen Graham is TV’s most evil serial killer and it’s impossible to stop watching him”, noting that “with his high-pitched giggles and fatal whispers, it is a perfectly terrifying show”. “It has taken a while,” Mangan writes.
“But I think the torch may finally have passed from Anthony Hopkins as the screen’s most profoundly unsettling and instantly-absorbed-by-the-cultural-imagination serial killer. From Hannibal’s hitherto unfailing hands it has been thrown to Stephen Graham. Graham – muscle-bound, preternaturally still and occasionally emitting a high-pitched giggle – is mesmerising and utterly terrifying.”
Adapted from the hugely popular Scandi noir Joona Linna novels, the show has drawn widespread acclaim. Mangan continues: “There is a slight but growing sense as the series wears on that it is just a bit less impressive than it was shaping up to be, a little more hollow than it thinks. Then Graham appears again and the adrenaline that floods your system in the presence of his radiant evil pushes all rational thoughts from your mind, and you are captivated once more.”
Nocturne has already achieved an impressive 85% rating on review-aggregating website Rotten Tomatoes. Writing in Variety, critic Aramide Tinubu describes Nocturne as “thoroughly captivating” and “a wildly entertaining ride that gets better with every episode”, adding that part of its success lies in the fact that “audiences never see the full picture”.
“At any given moment,” she writes. “It’s only clear what Jonah and his team know, and unfortunately, that’s not much. As a result, as the elements of Jurek’s towering and astonishing crimes begin to click together, the plot quickly shifts, leading the narrative into entirely different and ever more haunting directions. It’s a truly breathless and disturbing run of television.”
Randy Myers of The Mercury News declares that “Graham and Culkin give scorched-earth performances that are electrifying to witness”, while noting: ” Apple TV’s gripping serial killer thriller is undeniably twisted, absorbing and suspenseful. It’s also elevated by a superior cast and a dark unsettling moodiness that overshadows the incredulous moments in this 10-episode lightning bolt of a series.”
Yet not everyone has been won over. One Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote: “I’m sorry, but I fell asleep. I watched one episode. I will hope that it gets better.”
A second viewer commented: “Pretty boring so far for an Apple show, nothing special. And trust me I’ve watched almost everything Liev has acted in, and also Zazie. Hollywood is dying for new original story lines but they are not getting it.”
The Netflix series has been deemed “so good” to watch at the weekend – and it’s gripping enough to keep you glued to your seats all night long. So have you seen it?
The Netflix series is available to stream now(Image: Netflix)
Netflix viewers say a show is so “addictive” it has them glued to seats all night long binge-watching every little bit of it. Finding a new show to watch can be a difficult job, especially if you have all the streaming platforms.
But if you swear by your Netflix subscription more than anything else, this show has been deemed a great watch for your weekend viewing marathon. Viewers claimed it’s so gripping that it has them sacrificing their sleep, ensuring they watch every second of it. So have you seen this drama miniseries yet?
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The show people are raving on about is called I Will Find You and it’s currently available to stream on Netflix UK.
In a TikTok post, one mum shared the suggestion with her followers as she said: “If you need a good watch this weekend, I recommend this! Omg was so bloody brilliant.”
Sharing a snippet of the beginning credits, the Netflix viewer added: “I couldn’t stop watching it until it was finished. Absolutely brilliant.”
Others agreed it was gripping as another commented: “I finished this tonight, wow what a series!”
What is the plot?
The American crime-drama miniseries is based on the 2023 novel by Harlan Coben which follows a father who was wrongfully sentenced to life in prison for his son’s death.
David Burroughs, who is played by Sam Worthington, was arrested and sentenced to life after the supposed murder. As he accepts his fate, his wife Cheryl (Erin Richards), leaves him and moves on with a new relationship.
But five years into his sentence, David receives a prison visit from Rachel Mills (Britt Lower), his former sister-in-law and a journalist, who shows him photo which can clear his name.
In the background of the picture taken at an amusement park, it clearly features a young boy with Matthew’s distinct facial birthmark.
As a result, David manages to orchestrate a daring prison break with the help of sympathetic inside allies to hunt down the truth, clear his name, and rescue his son Matthew.
Along the way, he uncovers a dangerous web of conspiracy, secrets and a cover-up. The series features a line-up of stars, which includes Sam Worthington, Britt Lower, Milo Ventimiglia, and Erin Richards.
I Will Find You premiered on Netflix UK back in June this year and all episodes are currently available to watch.
Apple’s call will address Apple Intelligence adoption, supply constraints, memory costs, and the iPhone Duo. Options imply a 4.3% share-price move; Cirrus Logic, Skyworks, and Qorvo are also in focus because each gets more than half its revenue from Apple.
ByEric Tucker, Michael Kunzelman and Alanna Durkin Richer
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday scolded the Justice Department for its unorthodox handling of a criminal case against two former FBI officials accused of making false statements to Congress about their knowledge of a laptop the Justice Department says belonged to Hunter Biden, the son of former President Biden.
U.S. Magistrate Zia Faruqui struck from the record an amended criminal complaint filed in the middle of the night by the Justice Department that added a new obstruction charge against the two former officials, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides. Such charging documents require sign-off from a judge that probable cause exists that a crime was committed by a defendant, and this complaint lacked that.
“It is not our court’s practice — and I think it is appropriately not our practice — that unsigned complaints are filed on the docket,” Faruqui said.
He later added: “I want to know why the United States is reticent or averse to putting before a probable cause determination that you must believe is righteous. Why today on this one case have you changed the entire history of how you charge cases?”
The dismissal of the superseding complaint was an embarrassing setback for a Justice Department that has undertaken a series of splashy and politically charged investigative actions in the run-up to next week’s midterm elections. But the original false statements case against the former officials, announced Friday, remained intact as Faruqui proceeded Tuesday with a preliminary hearing.
The case says officials falsely minimized what they knew
The case accuses the former officials of falsely playing down their knowledge about a laptop the Justice Department says Hunter Biden abandoned at a computer repair shop in 2019.
But beyond that, it represents a Trump administration broadside against a since-disbanded FBI task force that was set up to monitor foreign influence. Congressional Republicans have long criticized the task force, saying it tried to discredit their own investigations into the Biden family.
Defense lawyers were set to challenge the case at the preliminary hearing Tuesday in Washington’s federal court, including by highlighting the unusual fact that the ex-FBI officials were charged via a criminal complaint signed by a magistrate judge rather than an indictment voted on by a grand jury. The Justice Department repeatedly has struggled in high-profile cases to persuade grand juries in the nation’s capital to return indictments.
Hours before the hearing, the Justice Department added a new obstruction charge that said the former officials’ alleged false statements allowed them to avoid questioning about their knowledge of Hunter Biden and impeded an investigation by House lawmakers into the Bidens.
“What is going on at the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office?” lawyers for Floris asked in a statement early Tuesday. “In the middle of the night, the government filed an unsigned and unsworn complaint attempting to fix the issues with their original charge against Ms. Floris and adding a new charge just as meritless as the first one.”
“In our combined decades of DOJ service,” the lawyers said, “we have never seen or even heard of something like this being filed.”
It is a very intricate saga
The prosecution, a rare Justice Department criminal case against a former employee, revisits a tangled saga that roiled the final weeks of the 2020 race after the New York Post revealed the existence of a laptop it said had been dropped off by the younger Biden at a Delaware computer repair shop about a year earlier.
The Post said it obtained a hard drive of the laptop from Rudy Giuliani, a close ally of President Trump, and reported on some of the contents of the computer, including emails that appeared to show some of Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
The curious circumstances of the laptop’s discovery raised concerns among Democrats and former intelligence officials about the possibility of Russian involvement, particularly when the Trump administration’s own intelligence community had assessed that Moscow was attempting to undermine the candidacy of Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who went on to defeat Trump in 2020, and as Giuliani had traveled abroad looking for dirt on the Bidens.
But Trump’s then-national intelligence director, John Ratcliffe, quickly sought to quell speculation about the laptop’s provenance by saying there were no signs it had anything to do with Russian actors. The FBI said it had nothing to add to Ratcliffe’s statement and investigated the younger Biden on gun and tax charges that later resulted in felony convictions. President Biden pardoned his son in late 2024.
The accused led the Foreign Influence Task Force
The FBI officials under scrutiny, Floris and Benavides, were leaders of the Foreign Influence Task Force, which was established in the first Trump administration to police influence campaigns staged by Russia and other nations aimed at sowing discord, undermining democracy and spreading disinformation.
In that capacity, the FBI officials briefed Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson in August 2020 as the lawmakers were doing their own investigation into Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine. News of the briefing leaked, and the senators lashed out at the FBI, saying their efforts to scrutinize the Biden family had been discredited and falsely linked to Russian disinformation.
The criminal complaint accuses them of lying to lawmakers in 2023 by denying contemporaneous knowledge of the Biden laptop or participating in internal FBI conversations about it. Their lawyers have denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
The task force was disbanded in February 2025 by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Tucker, Kunzelman and Richer write for the Associated Press.
The ITV psychological thriller drama boasts a star-studded cast and concluded on Monday evening
Luke Evans heads up the cast of ITV’s The Party. (Image: ITV)
Tensions were high as The Party concluded on Monday evening.
The ITV political thriller is adapted from Elizabeth Day’s bestselling novel and written for the screen by Sarah Solemani, who also stars. Made up of five episodes, The Party also stars Luke Evans as Martin Gilmour, a working-class boy who wins a scholarship to an elite boarding school and forges a lifelong bond with the wealthy, charismatic Ben Fitzmaurice, played by Tom Cullen.
Years on, and married, Martin attends Ben’s lavish birthday party as Ben weighs a run for the Conservative leadership, and fears the attendant publicity could expose secrets from their past, with tragic consequences.
The twisty story moves between the party itself, a police investigation and flashbacks to the pair’s earlier lives. It was revealed that the pair had been involved in a car crash when they were teenagers, which killed Ben’s twin sister.
While Ben was behind the wheel, three times over the limit, Martin took the fall after being coerced by Ben’s father, Lord George Fitzmaurice (Douglas Hodge), resulting in a huge payoff each year. Although this happened decades ago, the tragic event was the catalyst for the shooting, as a journalist revealed she knew the truth and was about to expose Ben after he had shared his plans to run as the next conservative leader.
In the final episode, Martin pulled a gun on Ben as he accused him of ruining his childhood and leaving him broken as an adult. In the end, Ben talked his friend down and took the gun off of him, although after admitting he always loved him, he shot himself in the head.
Ben’s wife, Serena (Lydia Leonard), heard the gunshot and saw Martin holding the gun, which he took from Ben when he fell to the floor. She believed Martin had shot her husband and told the police.
Ben didn’t die, and Martin was arrested before being later released by the police. However, a police detective was adamant that they wanted to investigate the historical car crash further. Martin realised that the time had come to walk away and put some distance between himself and the Fitzmaurice family. After visiting Ben at the hospital, he left and began facing the world with fresh purpose.
As he walked through the park, he saw a male couple with a newborn baby in the park, a smile played around his lips, as though he’d had a glimpse of the happiness that could be his at some point in the future.
Despite the gripping final episode being full of twists and turns, The Party viewers were left questioning the “abrupt” ending and accused the drama of leaving the plot “incomplete”.
Taking to X, one viewer fumed: “Is that it? What a waste of my time… #TheParty”, while a second agreed: “What a waste of 5 nights #theparty.”
A third asked: “#theparty is that it?”, while another chimed in: “What a **** ending. So many unanswered questions and loose ends #TheParty.”
“#TheParty the night went on for weeks and now it’s getting wrapped up quicker than Poirot says no no mon ami !”, joked another
A |masterpiece” period drama starring Cillian Murphy is leaving Netflix in a matter of days. Small Things Like These was only just added to the platform earlier this year but fans will need to act fast before it is removed from the service.
The film is an adaptation of the award winning book of the same name, written by Claire Keegan. It was shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize in 2022 as well as the Rathbones Folio Prize, while it took home the Orwell Prize for political fiction in the same year.
Its big screen version came out in 2024, with Irish actor Murphy in the leading role. Although it was perhaps overlooked by some, as this was the same year the star picked up his Oscar for a very different period piece – Oppenheimer.
Like the novella, Small Things Like These takes place over Christmas in 1985, when devoted father and coal merchant Bill Furlong, played by Murphy, discovers startling secrets kept by the convent in his town, along with some shocking truths of his own.
The plot is inspired by the truth behind Ireland’s Magdalene laundries. These were asylums run by Roman Catholic institutions from the 1820s until 1996 which were supposed to reform “fallen young women.”
Netflix now lists a warning label on the title, that informs users it will be ‘leaving soon’. The streamer states that the last day to watch will be October 27, meaning at the time of writing, viewers have just a little over a week to catch it before it’s too late. It’s not yet known if it will became available on an alternative platform or service after this date.
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Sky is giving away a free Netflix subscription with its new Sky Stream TV bundles, including the £15 Essential TV bundle. This lets members watch live and on-demand TV content without a satellite dish or aerial and includes hit shows like Stranger Things and The Last of Us.
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Despite the tough subject matter, the film received a positive response from viewers and critics alike, with Murphy often being singled out for his stellar acting performance. It holds a rare 94% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes with many fans backing up the reviews.
One person posted online: “A masterpiece. Every shot is a masterpiece. The soundtrack is a masterpiece. Every performance is a masterpiece. The casting is beyond perfect. If possible, it’s even better than Claire Keegan’s short story.”
While some admitted they struggled with the slower pace of the film, many have suggested it is a must watch. One person said: “A hard to swallow, but fantastically acted, written, and directed film putting religion and its mafia laden tendencies at the forefront. Cillian continues to be a star, with a support cast of epic proportions. Based on a true and very sad story.”
A fourth penned: “Totally absorbing yet disturbing film, brilliantly led by an understated master class of acting by Cillian Murphy. The sudden ending leaves you literally crying out for more. A modern day masterpiece.”
Someone else added: “Following a read of the perfectly written book, I had to watch the film when I heard that Cillian Murphy was the star. He and the rest of the cast bring this extraordinary story to lives. Is there nothing he cannot do! Well worth a watch, it’s poignant from start to finish.”
The third and final episode of Jimmy McGovern’s prison anthology drama Time has had BBC viewers saying the same thing
22:58, 18 Oct 2026Updated 22:58, 18 Oct 2026
David Tennant in BBC drama Time(Image: BBC)
Jimmy McGovern’s gripping drama Time has ended.
The third and final series reached its conclusion on BBC One on Sunday, October 18 and it seems fans were left more than impressed with the episode and the series as a whole starring David Tennant and Siobhan Finneran.
Set inside a Young Offenders Institution (HMYOI Alderwick) it follows the intersecting lives of staff and teenage inmates. A synopsis for the final episode read: “The possibility of romance and an opportunity at work makes Bailey (Tennant) question his choices, and he turns to Marie-Louise (Finneran) in a moment of need.
“She receives the sign she has been waiting for, but debates whether she is able to take a risk. Meanwhile, new evidence complicates loyalties between Peter and his friends, driving tensions higher, and James confronts his fears.”
After the credits rolled, viewers were rushing to X, formerly Twitter, to have their say. One said: “What a programme #Time is that is exceptionally well written by Jimmy McGovern and Sam Bailey. It leaves you with so much to think about.”
A second added: “Time was just spellbounding – the writing, the acting, everything. What drama should be.” Another commented: “Really enjoyed that #Time on @BBCOne with the fabulous #DavidTennant @SFinneranTV.”
A fourth posted: “#Time on @BBC, all three episodes – outstanding and brilliant drama. Possibly the best series of all three.” Agreeing to the post, one responded: “I’d have to agree. @ #Time was astoundingly good. Those young actors – all of them but especially the actor playing Peter. The writing. Just brilliant, emotionally draining but worth it. And glad some good endings.”
Time first began in 2021 and has featured the likes of Stephen Graham, Jodie Whittaker and Bella Ramsey. McGovern explained that while the first series focused on a male prison and the second series was based on a female prison, he knew he wanted to focus on young offenders next, but didn’t have a story.
That was until he found a real-life story in his research about a mother going to see her son in a Young Offenders Institution, whom she hadn’t seen for years.
Speaking to RadioTimes about the series ending he said: “There’s very little altruism involved with these stories. I do them because I love doing them, although I think this will be the last time. I have said that many a time before, though, because these are also stories I feel bound to tell.”
Ahead of the series launch, Tennant, who plays Bobby Bailey, said of taking on the role: “Initially, you go, ‘It’s a Jimmy McGovern script, I’ve never worked with him, he’s the guv’nor and this is an opportunity I can’t pass up.’
“Then you read the script and what Jimmy and [co-writer] Sam Bailey have created is just so human and accessible. I was a huge admirer of the first two series; prison is such a fertile ground for storytelling, because it’s such an extreme situation, pushing that human experience to the limits.
“So, while these aren’t necessarily the easiest stories, they’re the best stories and exactly the kind of characters you want to have a go at.”
Meanwhile Finneran, who plays the returning character of Marie-Louise O’Dell, said of coming back for series 3: “Who doesn’t want to work on a McGovern script? They’re raw, but written with real heart and care, so it was a pretty big yes. I’m thrilled to bits.”
People looking for a gripping TV drama to watch have been recommended a BBC show that is leaving people ‘hooked from start to finish’. The programme features stars such as David Tennant and Stephen Graham
10:39, 18 Oct 2026Updated 11:07, 18 Oct 2026
The BBC drama has people ‘hooked’ from start to finish(Image: BBC/BBC Studios/Peter Marley)
Deciding what to watch next has become a daily headache for millions of British viewers, thanks to the sheer volume of streaming platforms now available, including Netflix, BBCiPlayer, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+. But one influencer is on a mission to make that choice easier by sharing his top TV and film picks online. EccyReviews’ is the online handle of Luke Eccleston, a well-known UK-based content creator and self-proclaimed “TV fanatic” who regularly shares his must-watch television recommendations with his 5,000+ followers.
In one of his most recent posts, Luke put forward a TV suggestion for anyone “looking for a gripping new TV drama series to go and watch right now”.
He added: “You’ll be completely hooked from start to finish.”
The show in question is BBC prison drama Time. “Season 3 just dropped on BBC and I’ve binge-watched all three episodes and it is my favourite season by far,” he said.
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Time is a critically acclaimed, BAFTA award-winning BBC series penned by celebrated British screenwriter Jimmy McGovern.
Each three-part series shines a spotlight on a different setting and ensemble cast within the UK criminal justice system, exploring themes of guilt, punishment, redemption, and institutional failings.
Season 1 centred on Mark Cobden (Sean Bean), a former teacher consumed by guilt after accidentally killing a man while drink-driving, who is subsequently sentenced to four years behind bars. It also features Eric McNally (Stephen Graham), a principled prison officer attempting to safeguard the inmates in his charge.
When a dangerous prisoner uncovers Eric’s weakness, he faces an excruciating decision between his professional obligations and his loved ones.
Series 2, meanwhile, relocated the action to a women’s facility, Carlingford Prison. It follows three women who arrive on the same day: Orla (Jodie Whittaker), a mother who tampered with her electricity meter; Kelsey (Bella Ramsey), a pregnant young drug addict; and Abi (Tamara Lawrance), a woman serving a life sentence carrying a tragic secret.
Compelled to share a cell, they forge an unlikely alliance to endure.
The most recent season, which recently dropped, has shifted attention to a Young Offender Institution. The narrative examines young men ensnared in the justice system following a tragedy, grappling with prison overcrowding and institutional collapse.
This instalment is fronted by David Tennant and Siobhan Finneran, who returns to her recurring role throughout the anthology as prison chaplain Marie-Louise O’Dell.
Since each season presents a self-contained narrative with a different principal cast, viewers can jump into any series without prior knowledge, though chaplain Marie-Louise serves as the connecting element throughout all three.
Discussing the latest series, Luke tells viewers: “I was gripped from start to finish and all the performances are brilliant.
“I guarantee that you will absolutely love this show.”
The recommendation proved a massive hit, with the post amassing more than 7,000 likes.
One person wrote: “Watched it all tonight – best thing I’ve watched for ages. Very violent and very sad. The writer spent a lot of time in these youth offenders prisons and was horrified at the conditions, it was all based on truth.”
Another added: “I have just started watching it, it’s brilliant very gripping.”
While a third added: “Totally hooked from the start! Talent is incredible.”
All series of Time are available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
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