Little Disasters is a gripping Channel 5 drama series that has been keeping viewers on the edge of their seats.
22:31, 22 Jun 2026Updated 22:42, 22 Jun 2026
Jo Joyner shared some behind-the-scene snaps during her time on-set(Image: Channel 5)
Channel 5 audiences have been gripped as they follow the compelling series Little Disasters, starring EastEnders‘ Jo Joyner, Bridgerton’s Shelley Conn and The Office’s Patrick Baladi.
The six-part drama chronicles the lives of four friends who have been close for a decade. Yet their bond faces its ultimate test when a single incident transforms everything.
When one of the women, Jess (Diane Kruger), brings their baby daughter to hospital with an unexplained head injury, her close friend and A&E doctor Liz (Jo) finds herself with no option but to alert social services.
This triggers a devastating domino effect as the pressures of motherhood, hidden truths and feelings of guilt are all laid bare in the Channel 5 drama.
Meanwhile, the central question persists: what truly happened to the baby to cause her injury?
The concluding episode of the series is scheduled to broadcast this week, with revelations that could potentially shatter the group completely unveiled, reports the Express.
Last year, actress Jo posted some behind-the-scenes photographs from her time filming the programme, including shots of her alongside castmates wearing prosthetic pregnancy bumps in a flashback sequence.
Another image captured Jo wearing a pink wig, which was donned by Emily Taaffe in one episode. Further snaps featured the cast relaxing during breaks, sharing meals and enjoying games.
Content cannot be displayed without consent
Others show Jo smiling at the camera sporting various hairstyles. She captioned the post: “What I did last summer…! After three months in Malta, I had two weeks at home before heading off to Budapest to film the first half of #littledisasters an adaptation of the gripping novel by @svaughanauthor. It was just long enough for me to change my hair from blonde to dark brown with the help of Tracy @westgate_salon & @racoonintl”.
“Filming in 38 degrees in the bustling city surrounded by a wealth of talent. Sitting next to a beautiful and talented Chanel model every morning in makeup, whilst having broken veins and dark circles painted on me, did nothing for my ego.
“But getting to play the down-to-earth, capable and witty Liz more than made up for it. Blessed to have spent the hours off set having great meals, hikes and conversation, and not to forget, crosswords- with the best of cast mates, glad and grateful for the visits from friends and family @n1cky00.
“Yes, we did all try the pink wig on! Choosing baby bumps is harder than you’d think. After spending the first half of the year away, it was a joy to come home and film the remainder in Richmond last summer.”
Little Disasters is currently available to stream on Channel 5.
The adaptation of a much-loved Jane Austen novel has long been hailed a classic so watching it at the outdoor cinema at Kew Gardens was truly magical
An outdoor screening of Pride and Prejudice
More than 25 years since its release, this adaptation of a beloved classic novel is still winning over new fans.
Hailed a film masterpiece and dubbed the greatest ever made by devoted fans, Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew McFadyen, tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet and her Mr Darcy.
Based on Jane Austen’s novel of the same name, released in 1813, this timeless love story follows our couple as they go from sworn enemies to something far deeper.
Austen’s classic work was adapted for the big screen by Deborah Moggach and was directed by Oscar-winning director, Joe Wright, as his first film.
With a star-studded cast that also includes Donald Sutherland as heroin Elizabeth’s long-suffering father, Mr Bennet, and Brenda Blethyn as her meddling mother, Mrs Bennet, along with Rosamund Pike as older sister Jane, Carey Mulligan as Kitty and Tom Hollander as the ever annoying Mr Collins. Judi Dench’s appearance as Lady Catherine de Bourgh is one of the many highlights of the film.
Just imagine watching this masterpiece period drama in one of the most dramatic of settings – an outdoor cinema in the middle of the stunning Kew Gardens in London.
Fans and critics alike can’t get enough of the film and it has an impressive 90 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
One critic said: “Between Wright’s magnetically captivating vision and the impeccable performances, Pride and Prejudice 2005 shines as a leading benchmark of a breathtaking adaptation, earning a rightful stamp of approval from countless longtime fans.”
While another wrote: “Wright embraces the tactility of touch, the energy of chaos, and the beauty of stolen glances. Regardless of which Austen is your favorite, it’s easy to fall in love with Wright’s visual feast of a movie.”
Meanwhile a third added: “With the earnest, yet simple depiction of love and the gorgeous, dreamy visuals, Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice remains an enduring classic.”
Fans also adore Pride and Prejudice with many describing it as the “greatest period drama ever made”.
One wrote: “Everything about this movie is perfect. The soundtrack and cinematography are truly incredible and I will always say that this is my favourite adaption of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It has also been my comfort movie for the last 10 years of life.”
While another added: “This is the best movie I’ve ever seen!!! Beautiful cinematography, The acting is by far the best thing about this movie everyone had such amazing chemistry and understanding of their characters. This really captures the essence and the tone of Jane Austen.”
What better place to watch a beautiful classic film than in one of the most stunning settings in the country – outdoor cinema at Kew Gardens.
As part of a weekend long series of outdoor showings, which included Jurassic Park, The Gruffalo, Mamma Mia and Dirty Dancing, sitting surrounded by the greenery and calm of Kew was the perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Run along with Adventure Cinemas, the weekend of movies was a sell-out success and it’s easy to see why. Enjoying a picnic, or even a tipple or two, while watching some of the most iconic cinema ever made in such a stunning and incredible location feels like something out of a dream.
While this year’s event is now complete, when tickers become available again, run don’t walk to the front of the queue.
For more information about upcoming events at Kew Botanical Gardens, visit the website.
After her colleague and mate Dylan Keogh (William Beck) uncovered she’d been conducting a clandestine romance with his son and junior medic Matty Linlaker, he informed Clinical Lead Flynn Byron (Olly Rix).
Explaining that the accusations levelled against her ‘amount to sexual coercion’, Matty, Dylan and Stevie were all required to attend hearings with HR panel members during Saturday’s instalment (June 20).
Throughout the medical drama, the three clashed yet again as Stevie subsequently apologised to Matty for the entire situation.
Nevertheless, Matty responded: “You’re not sorry, Stevie. You’ve realised I’ve got the power to end your career and you’re worried what I’m going to say, right?”
When she questioned what he intended to tell the HR panel, he remained silent, while Stevie was subsequently shown in floods of tears confiding in Flynn, confessing she didn’t wish to lose her position, reports the Daily Star.
As the episode drew to a close, audiences witnessed Stevie facing the panel members as she declared: “Look, before we get started. I just wanted to apologise unreservedly for my behaviour.
“I have no doubt whatsoever that I’ve made mistakes. But, I’m a bl**dy good doctor. I deserve to be here, and I’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure I stay.”
Can Stevie preserve her position at the hospital? Or will Matty destroy her career for spurning him?
It didn’t take long for viewers to react to the episode, with many divided over Stevie and her future on the long-running medical drama. One viewer wrote: “WE CAN’T LOSE STEVIE.”
While another urged: “Fight for your job, Stevie.” A third chimed in: “THE WAY STEVIE ENDED THE EPISODE. I’m so happy.”
With one fan commenting: “Stevie is going to fight for her job. Hopefully, she isn’t leaving now.”
Yet not everybody shared the same excitement about Stevie’s decision to fight for her position, with a number of viewers keen to see her go.
One wrote: “Don’t like this storyline. Add in real life, Stevie would be on suspension, I would’ve thought.” While another simply declared: “So tired of Stevie.”
KATIE Price has made a cryptic post about the hardship couples who are meant to be together sometimes face.
The TV star, 48, took to Instagram to share a quote for her followers and left it standing alone with no extra input on her story.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
Katie Price has posted a cryptic quote to her Instagram about couples who face the ‘hardest battles’Credit: Getty Images for The Cambridge UnionIt comes shortly after the star reunited with her husband Lee AndrewsCredit: Instagram
The quote reads: “Sometimes the two people who are truly meant for each other will face the hardest battles.”
Upon clicking on the post the quote expands to share more detail, continuing to say: “Not because they are wrong for each other. But because the world will test everything real.
“Love like that doesn’t come easy. It’s built through pain. Distance. Misunderstandings. Growth.
“But if they can hold on through the chaos. If they choose each other over and over again. They’ll find something most people only dream of.
“A love that didn’t just survive the storm. But became unbreakable because of it.”
Lee claimed he was held at gunpoint and sent to prisonCredit: Instagram/wesleeeandrewsKatie appears happy to see her man againCredit: wesleeandrews/Instagram
He then praised his wife for her help in getting British authorities involved inhis release.
Posting a video of himself on social media, Lee said: “Hi everyone, this is Lee. I’ve been missing now for several weeks. I can tell you I’m now safe and healthy and with my wife.
“I was taken close to the Hatta-Oman border by men at gunpoint and then I was captured by men with assault rifles.
“They did slap me around a little bit, little s***s, and I was hand-tied, shackled and also had a hood over my head.
“From there I was taken to a black site and I had no use of my phone and from what I know it was an extended arm of the National Guard and that’s all I can reveal at the moment.
“I have signed disclaimers now with state security and from there I was put into the system.
“At no point have I faced anything to do with fraud allegations or any criminal activities such as that.
“So thank you to Katie for making such a noise where the UAE actually listened and let me go.”
However, UAE officials debunked his claims he was in jail for spying and confirmed he has spent the past four weeks behind bars on suspicion of fraud.
Katie appeared to accept his story, sharing Lee’s video on Instagram saying: “My husband is back. I love you.”
Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.
Recently, I don’t exactly know why, I was overtaken by a concern that because of the impending merger of Paramount and Warner Bros., Olivier Assayas’ 2022 series adaption of his own film “Irma Vep” would be removed from the HBO Max streaming platform. With no official physical release, the series — starring Alicia Vikander as a Hollywood movie star making a project in Paris — could be effectively vanished from existence.
This is sadly inevitable, though some superfans have gone to extra-legal measures to ensure otherwise (not that we would ever endorse this). Most famously it’s happened with the original “Star Wars” trilogy. Billed as the “Grindhouse Edition,” these are discs of the first three “Star Wars” films sourced from scans of original film prints before the digital fixes and polish of the more recent official releases. Reengaging with these works in this way, scratches and all, is (I’m told) a strong reminder of why they hit so hard in the first place, similar to how it might be to reread a text in the original language instead of a more recent translation.
‘Indiana Jones’ marathon
Harrison Ford and Karen Allen on the set of 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
The same deep understanding of genre filmmaking that went into the original “Star Wars” also went into “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the first adventure of the character of Indiana Jones. Directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by Lawrence Kasdan and story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, the film is playful, thrilling and self-aware. It is made with such care, attention to detail and sense of fun that I remember how disappointed I was to discover not all movies would be like this.
There have of course been diminishing returns with the more recent run of Indiana Jones sequels, but the first three installments all have a real spark. And so the Secret Movie Club will present “Raiders,” 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” all on 35mm at the Million Dollar Theater in DTLA on Sunday in celebration of Father’s Day.
In her original review of the first film, Sheila Benson described that while watching it, she felt “a rush of gratitude which almost brought tears of contagious joy and — not to be corny about this — the strength of the film’s positive vision. If this is an era in which the heroic is lacking and the mediocre threatens us from every side, then ‘Raiders,’ which has no pretensions to importance, which is unabashedly wide-eyed and exaggerated and true blue but somehow cherishes the best in life and filmmaking — is a high-water mark.”
Plenty of jokes could be made about the movies having settled into what might be thought of as part of the dadcore canon: action-adventure movies that play well on TV and maybe you can take a short nap and not miss anything. So be it.
From one master to another
Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 thriller “North by Northwest.”
(Sunset Boulevard / Corbis via Getty Images)
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has been making waves of late for his strong public stance against the use of AI in feature filmmaking. But it is worth remembering that he is also a deep and incisive thinker about older movies, a true fan, which makes his upcoming appearances at the Academy Museum a special occasion.
Del Toro will present five films by Alfred Hitchcock — 1946’s “Notorious,” 1943’s ‘Shadow of a Doubt,” 1959’s “North by Northwest,” 1953’s “I Confess” and 1972’s “Frenzy” — along with delivering a lecture on each of them. To see one great filmmaker reflect with such depth into the work of another is just remarkable. This is some genuine only-in-L.A. type stuff.
Comedy + politics = good fun
A scene from the 1976 movie “Car Wash.”
(Margaret Herrick Library / Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
A raucous comedy set around the location of the title, “Car Wash” is also a sharp, politically minded satire about labor and money. Directed by Michael Schultz from a screenplay by Joel Schumacher, the film has an extended ensemble cast that includes Richard Pryor, Franklyn Ajaye, George Carlin and many others.
In his original review Charles Champlin compared “Car Wash” to films such as “American Graffiti” and “Nashville” and called it “light but not foolish. … The experience is exhilarating.”
A 50th anniversary screening at the Academy Museum on Saturday of a new 4K restoration will include a panel with Schultz and actors Bill Duke, Antonio Fargas, Melanie Mayron, Garrett Morris and Pepe Serna.
Collision report
James Spader in the 1996 movie “Crash,” directed by David Cronenberg.
(Jonathan Wenk / Fine Line Features)
The controversy that surrounded David Cronenberg’s “Crash” when it premiered at Cannes in 1996 and received a U.S. release in 1997 tended to overwhelm the actual movie. Shockingly explicit, the film is about a secret underground world of people who create a sexual fetish out of car crashes. An adaptation of the novel by J.G. Ballard, Cronenberg’s movie explores the cinematic obsession with sex and violence.
Over time, “Crash” has been evolving from a seemingly cursed object dogged by scandal into something that audiences can come to appreciate and admire — even if it is not a movie you can ever exactly fully understand. Part of Cronenberg’s brilliance is how enigmatic and unknowable his work can be: strange, inviting and enveloping while refusing easy or direct analysis.
The movie is playing twice locally this week, on Saturday at Vidiots in partnership with the Cinegogue, with special giveaways and exclusive merch, and again on Monday at the Academy Museum in 4K. Who will be brave (or perverse) enough to go twice?
A different view of Rio
Milton Gonçalves, center, in the 1974 movie “The Devil Queen.”
(Kino Lorber)
A drag queen (Milton Gonçalves) rules the criminal underworld of Rio de Janeiro in Antonio Carlos da Fontoura’s 1974 gangster drama “The Devil Queen,” an unlikely mix of camp aesthetics and gritty violence. Among the film’s many fans is Kleber Mendonça Filho, the filmmaker behind the recent Brazilian hit “The Secret Agent,” who referred to “The Devil Queen” as “bloody, nasty and full of personality.”
The movie is playing in a new 4K restoration at the Lumiere Cinema in Beverly Hills.
A musical melodrama returns
Raul Julia, left, and Teri Garr in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1981 movie “One From the Heart.”
(Rialto Pictures / American Zoetrope)
We have talked before about Francis Ford Coppola’s “One From the Heart,” a movie of such delirious audacity that it nearly ruined the filmmaker‘s career. A throwback musical about two lovers who break up in search of more excitement, the film stars Teri Garr, Frederic Forrest, Nastassja Kinski and Raul Julia.
On Saturday the film will screen at the American Cinematheque’s Aero Theater in a 70mm print for the first time in L.A. since 1990. The event is being dedicated to Dean Tavoularis, Coppola’s longtime production designer, who died in April. For “One From the Heart,” Tavoularis re-created the Las Vegas Strip on a studio back lot.
New this week
Amy Nicholson is not a fan of the new “Toy Story 5,” writing in her review, “Pixar has continued adding shades to the same plot outline like a child with a box of 128 crayons (or a company clinging to its billion-dollar idea).”
Glenn Whipp cast back into the “Toy Story” universe for a highly personal ranking of his 10 favorite “Toy Story” toys.
Two gay teenage boys attempt to survive a supernatural entity and conversion therapy in Adrian Chiarella’s debut feature “Leviticus.” Jen Yamato spoke to the filmmaking team.
I spoke to writer-director Michael Sarnoski about his new “The Death of Robin Hood,” starring Hugh Jackman in a subversively revisionist telling of the last days of the medieval bandit.
Television viewers are being encouraged to watch this visually breathtaking series, which was filmed on location at Lambton Castle in County Durham.
The Paradise is a British costume drama adapted from Émile Zola’s 1883 novel, Au Bonheur des Dames. While Zola’s original work focused on retelling the tale of Aristide Boucicaut, the Bellême-born founder of Le Bon Marché, the series instead transfers the story to the North East of England.
It centres on an “intoxicating love story” unfolding within England’s first department store during the 1870s.
The series made its debut on BBC One in 2012, before crossing the Atlantic to American audiences the following year. A second series subsequently aired in 2013, reports Chronicle Live.
The opening season begins in 1875, charting the lives, romances and ambitions of those who worked, shopped and traded in and around England’s first department store. The proprietor of The Paradise is widower John Moray, a former draper’s boy at Emersons, the modest shop that flourished under his stewardship into The Paradise itself.
Into this world arrives Denise Lovett, a young woman hailing from the small Scottish town of Peebles, whose uncle Edmund is among the local shopkeepers desperately fighting to stay afloat.
Denise secures a position at The Paradise and swiftly catches Moray’s eye as a rising talent, much to the irritation of Miss Audrey, the formidable head of ladies’ fashion, and fellow shopgirl Clara.
Joanna Vanderham leads the cast as Denise Lovett, with Emun Elliott portraying John Moray. The ensemble further includes Peter Wight, Matthew McNulty, David Hayman, Sarah Lancashire, Sonya Cassidy, Stephen Wight, and Elaine Cassidy.
Viewers can now lose themselves in all things retail, as all 16 episodes of The Paradise are available to stream without charge on U.
Fans have expressed their admiration for the drama across numerous social media channels, with one IMDb reviewer declaring: “This was a thoroughly delightful series to watch. Stunning costumes and scenery. Outstanding performances. Flawless masterpiece.”
Another proclaimed: “The best ever!! Just as good as Downton Abbey,” while a third stated: “Absolutely captivated by the brilliance of Denise and the charm of Mr Murray.”
One viewer remarked: “The Paradise is just that! An amazing show which captivates you very quickly and has you thinking constantly,” with another revealing: “My wife and I have enjoyed other period shows such as Downton Abbey, Bridgerton, and The Gilded Age, and I think it’s better than all of them.”
A sixth enthusiast reinforced this view, declaring: “One of the most underrated shows. It compels you to binge watch! It’s a stand out series. So flawless.”
Another fan concurred, stating: “Better than Mr Selfridge,” while someone else observed: “Impeccably cast, extremely handsome, predictably soapy and a trifle slow moving, it’s another first-rate costume drama.”
One of the most devastating moments in world history will be brought to life on Disney+ by a beloved star of The Night Manager and Marvel blockbusters
The Night Manager star bags role in ‘gripping’ period drama(Image: BBC)
It’s shaping up to be one of the year’s most gripping docudramas.
BBC The Night Manager star Tom Hiddleston will be playing time detective in an immersive new historical series coming to National Geographic and Disney+ later this year.
Pompeii: Out of Time will reunite the iconic Marvel star with Loki executive producer Kevin R Wright for the three-part series that promises to lift the lid on the explosive historical moment.
The first-look trailer has given fans a glimpse of Hiddleston stepping into his new role as he makes the case that the eruption of Vesuvius wasn’t just a catastrophic day of death and destruction.
His latest series will feature an eye-opening investigation into those who may have survived the blast, brought to life with immersive and thrilling dramatisations.
Along for the journey is a team of ancient Rome experts, from archaeologists and historians to geologists and disaster experts, who will uncover remarkable real-life stories that challenge assumptions people have about the fateful day in 79 AD.
A teenage apprentice, a powerful businesswoman and a mysterious Praetorian Guard are all vital pieces of the puzzle as Hiddleston steps back in time to explore the hours before and during Vesuvius’ eruption in what is shaping up to be an essential watch for any history buff. A synopsis from Disney+ teases: “As the volcano awakens and the countdown to catastrophe begins, the evidence converges in a gripping race against time to uncover who survived, who perished, and what determined their fate.”
Hiddleston says in a statement: “The ancient world has compelled my imagination and curiosity for as long as I can remember: I’ve been fascinated by it all my life.
“Classical Antiquity is the foundation and cornerstone of Western and European culture. To visit Pompeii is to feel the distance of the 2,000 years between now and then compress. The past becomes the present; the past feels so close. Tangible, honest and real.
Content cannot be displayed without consent
“Our relationship with the past is alive — studying who we were in order to understand who we are. Pompeii is a gateway for that conversation. It’s a privilege to host this visually immersive and dynamic series.”
He added: “Pompeii is often remembered for how its story ended. But by looking closer, we can uncover the details of people’s lives, the choices they made, and the moments that came before the city was buried.
“To revisit the final hours of those ordinary people, caught in an extraordinary moment, and to help bring these remarkable human stories back into the light, is a genuine honour.”
The upcoming series is already generating excitement amongst fans, with one user commenting below the trailer on YouTube: “Omg this seems so interesting.”
“This is absolutely fascinating — Pompeii is an incredible place, and this approach brings its story to life in a very powerful way,” someone else replied, adding they’re “really looking forward” to tuning in.
Get Disney+ for £3.99 for three months
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Disney+ is offering a discounted subscription at £3.99 per month for three months when signing up by May 6. This provides cheaper access to hit series like Rivals, Only Murders in the Building and The Bear, plus countless titles from Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and more.
“I want to see it NOW!” another fan exclaimed, and a final fan wrote: “For someone who’s survived Ragnarok, Tom Hiddleston couldn’t be better suited for this doc. Looking forward – or back – to it.”
Mark your calendars, as all three episodes will be available to stream in just over a month’s time.
Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston premieres Thursday, 23rd July on National Geographic and Disney+.
A new BBC crime and detective drama, created by Jim Cartwright, is the perfect watch for Beyond Paradise fans
A new BBC crime and detective drama, created by Jim Cartwright, is the perfect watch for Beyond Paradise fans(Image: BBC)
Beyond Paradise fans looking for their next fix need look no further as a new BBC detective drama is on its way.
The Hairdresser Mysteries, created by Jim Cartwright, sees a star-studded cast with Bridget Jones’s Diary legend Sally Phillips, Coronation Street favourite Charlotte Jordan, Game of Thrones star Charlotte Hope, Adrian Hood and Doctors star Elisabeth Dermot Walsh.
A synopsis for the upcoming six-part show teases: “The Hairdresser Mysteries is an original, homegrown drama and a nostalgic nod to the 70’s which sees a high-end hairdresser, Lily Petal (Sally Phillips), opt out of the competitive city scene to buy a small village hairdressers at the top of a cobbled street.
“Everyone tells their hairdresser everything and soon she becomes the hub of her new village’s secrets and revelations.
“Using her own brand of uncannily developed hairdressing intuitive, empathy and understanding, Lily begins to solve the mysteries of the village.”
At the time of the show’s announcement, Will Trotter and Oliver Kent, Executive Producers for Mill Bay Media said: “We are thrilled to be making The Hairdresser Mysteries and working with renowned writer, Jim Cartwright, who has created a joyful world packed with colourful characters.
“None more so than hairdresser, Lily Petal, and we are delighted to have much-loved actor, Sally Phillips bring her to life.”
Meanwhile, Herbert L. Kloiber, CEO Night Train Media and Eccho Rights said: “We are delighted to bring The Hairdresser Mysteries to the international stage. The unique world that Jim Cartwright has created – modern but joyfully retro – and Sally Philips’ irresistible charm, create a fun drama that is both clever and comforting.
“It is exactly the kind of premium yet accessible series that we are looking to develop, offering buyers a fresh spin on the cosy crime genre that they have been crying out for.”
After leaving Corrie, Charlotte joined the radio show as Amber Gordon that June but after landing the new BBC role, she had to leave The Archers. Olivia Bernstone has taken over the role of Amber in The Archers as a result of Charlotte leaving.
A spokesperson for the show told Metro at the time: “After a brilliant performance as Amber, Charlotte Jordan is taking time to pursue other projects and so we are delighted to be welcoming Olivia Bernstone to the cast, who will play the role of Amber going forward.”
The Hairdresser Mysteries comes to BBC One and BBC iPlayer soon.
Emily Atack has been busy filming the new series of BBC drama Reputation.
The Rivals star has been seen on the set of the hotly-anticipated BBC drama, which focuses on the story of a high-stakes celebrity defamation battle. Soon, the legal battle spirals out of control – but at what cost?
In the new photos, Emily can be seen filming in gym gear as she clutches a large bag. Standing outside a nail salon, Emily’s character has sunglasses atop her head as she wears a grey hoodie and blue leggings.
In one picture, she clutches car keys as she hugs one of her co-stars. She is also seen chatting and walking with co-stars Kyle Soller and Marli Siu as part of the scenes.
The series follows the story of a character called Lena, an excellent lawyer who takes on a new case representing global pop star Davina Knight. In her new song, Davina decides to accuse her ex-husband, Billy, of abusive behaviour.
A private split soon ends in a very public libel battle and soon, it is much more than what goes on in the courtroom. There’s social media, PR machines and everyone becomes the judge and the jury.
Lena finds her own personal life thrust into the spotlight as the case continues to unfold. How far will she go to win and how much will Davina do to protect her own reputation?
Lena will be played by Skyfall and Moonlight star Naomie Harris whilst Davina Knight will be played by Mad Men star Christina Hendricks. Naomie said of joining the programme: “I was hooked from page one of Reputation. It’s so rare to read scripts with the wit and flair of Anya’s writing and I knew straight away that I wanted to play Lena.”
Christina added of her part: “Davina’s a fantastic, fierce character. I’m so looking forward to working with Naomie and I’m delighted to be working again with the Forge.”
Emily’s specific role has yet to be revealed but she will also star alongside Alex Jennings (The Crown, The Lady In The Van), David Gyasi (The Diplomat, Interstellar), Emily Atack (Rivals, Inbetweeners), Kyle Soller (Andor, Bodies), Marli Siu (Twenty Twenty Six, Everything I Know About Love) and Alex Heath (Serpent Queen, Prime Target) amongst others.
Tilly Keeper (You, Queenie), Corey Johnson (Digger, The Day of the Jackal), Aidan McArdle (Sherlock & Daughter, Showtrial), Ernest Kingsley Jnr (Washington Black, The Sandman), Jodie Campbell (Boarders, Bitch Boxer), Kayla Meikle (Transaction, Time 2), Mike Noble (This City is Ours, Dirty Business),Enzo Cilenti (Black Mirror, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) and Kat Ronney (Dinosaur, Finding Emily) will all also star in the upcoming BBC drama.
Anya Reiss, writer of Reputation, said: “When I found out London was the global capital of high stakes libel cases – where the rich, powerful and famous come to fight in public for their reputations – I was in. I’ve loved writing this world and now I’m excited to get it off the page and onto the screen.”
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, added: “Reputation is high-stakes, intoxicating and hugely entertaining, with a lot to say about the world. In Lena and Davina the brilliant Anya Reiss has created two lead characters for the ages, and we’re delighted to be working with her, Mahalia and the team at The Forge to bring this very public battle to BBC iPlayer and BBC One.”
One day, when people say “they don’t make ’em like they used to,” they will be saying it about “Industry.”
First filmed before the pandemic and launched in its throes, a survivor of the era of streaming wars, corporate consolidation and Hollywood strikes, HBO’s addictively dissolute workplace drama remains as ambitious and authoritative as ever. Indeed, despite being divided from predecessors like “Mad Men,” “Succession” and “The Leftovers” by a series of epochal crises, it more closely resembles a vestigial tail of the medium’s past than most of its current counterparts: Out of place and out of time, “Industry” can best be understood as the last great drama of TV’s golden age.
Cast member and “Game of Thrones” alum Kit Harington, resident expert on series that reshaped the medium, agrees that “Industry” is a bit of a throwback in this respect.
“If you scroll back to ‘Game of Thrones’ in the first two seasons, it wasn’t a massive Goliath success, and it exploded after Season 3 with the Red Wedding. I think there’s a similar story going on here,” he says. “So often in TV at the moment, you’re given one season and everyone needs to pack in f— everything to get people hooked. But they’re burning through too much story. Season 2 is then done; the characters haven’t got anywhere to go. I think this is where this show has been successful, is that it was given that time to breathe.”
Earlier this spring, I convened “Industry’s” creators and cast in a conference room at The Times to walk me through its evolution into one of the best shows on television, and what to expect from its impending end.
Marisa Abela, left, Kit Harington and Myha’la.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
‘What the f— are you thinking, guys?’
Atrading-floor knife fight of hot, young strivers, or “grads,” competing for a permanent place at the fictional Pierpoint investment bank, the first season of “Industry,” filmed in 2019, premiered in the waning months of 2020 as a warped love letter to office culture. But for Konrad Kay and Mickey Down, the emerging writers at the helm, the voice of the series didn’t fully take shape until they’d found their main cast, including Myha’la, as hard-charging American Harper Stern, and Marisa Abela, as privileged publishing heiress Yasmin Kara-Hanani.
Kay: Season 1, me and Mickey were really green.
Down: We actually pitched HBO on the idea that it was going to be eight episodes, it was going to be in different months, and the big-bang dramatics were going to happen between the episodes. A bit like “Boyhood.” Huge things would happen in between episodes, and the episode would be about the reaction to those huge things. And they were like, “What the f— are you thinking, guys?” It was so antidramatic.
Abela: I had a lot of rounds of auditioning for Yasmin. They weren’t sure about me at all. I think part of it was because they were quite hellbent on her being vulnerable, on her being soft, and that was what I was playing in those first two, three episodes. … And what happens in any functional collaboration is you start to see what they really want from you — what it is that they need from your character. And in those moments of conflict, the moments of change, Yasmin has to stand up for herself at some point, otherwise it’s too wet.
Mickey Down.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Down: Yasmin was all vulnerability masked by Prada in script, and then you came in and you were very hard. [Laughs.]
Abela: There is one scene with [Yasmin’s abusive supervisor] Kenny [played by Conor MacNeill] in Season 2 where … Yasmin turns around to him and tells him to f— off, basically: “You don’t have a disease, you’re a narcissist, with a new excuse to lord it over people. You’re weak.” I think that’s the first time that Yasmin became a gangster. I was watching “Real Housewives of New Jersey” at the time, being completely honest. She can go really mob wife really quick.
Myha’la: I had almost the exact opposite experience in terms of finding or deciding who Harper was. When I read the scripts initially, I just thought, “There’s no way in hell that Harper can’t be steely and [on offense], because she’s clearly feeling out of her depth, and as a young woman of color going into a new space like this, you can’t show up like you’re vulnerable. You’re already expected to do poorly.” … On the page, Harper was an anxious person when I first met her in the pilot episode. She was sweaty and clammy and stammering. And I just thought, “Hell no!”
Down: Sometimes when we write the character, we focus on one thing, and then the actor comes in and then that one thing we thought the character was becomes the artifice that they have to play.
Harington: Great TV writers genuinely learn their actors as well as their characters, and they tie those things in as it goes through.
Abela: As much as they know how we speak now, we know how they speak. If Yasmin has a “F— off,” I know what they want with that. If she says “F— off,” it’s very different to “F— you.”
Down: It’s like playing the piano with the foot pedal, blindfolded.
Kay: When you get super-talented actors doing your writing, you sort of fall in love with them doing everything. There’s no story we can’t tell with them.
‘Am I being fired?’
The series’ second season, which opens with Pierpoint’s post-COVID return to office, found the grads established enough to become “active characters,” and the creators confident enough to begin breaking the mold they’d set for themselves in Season 1. From the nail-biting trade sequence with which Harper wins over hedge fund manager Jesse Bloom (Jay Duplass) to her firing from Pierpoint in the Season 2 finale, it marked the arrival of “Industry’s” distinctive, go-for-broke aesthetic.
Kay: [In] Season 2 we were still figuring out what the show was, and we had Jami O’Brien as our co-showrunner, who really professionalized me and Mickey towards the American system, towards how to be producers, curbed some of our more bombastic instincts, made us more professional in terms of some of the style of the writing we were doing, found a cleaner version of the show and a cleaner version of the story.
Konrad Kay.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Down: [The Bloom trade] was one of the first times in the show where we were like, “Wow, we’ve actually created something kind of singular,” in that we were able to create scenes of people trading, [using] financial jargon that no one understands, and make it feel like a car chase. The contrast between the Harper that’s on the trading floor being able to be in command of that with all the people looking at her, and then the Harper that’s in the loo afterwards in floods of tears, that for me was kind of the moment where we thought that we had a completely 3D, rounded character.
Myha’la: If you asked me to do the Jesse Bloom trade scene again, I’d piss myself. Because at least when I did it two seasons ago, I could have anxiety and fear percolating inside me. If I had to do it today, I’d have to do it confidently, and I would have to try really hard because so much of the language is truly blind memorization and being able to juggle particularly the f— phones. … You have to get the choreo[graphy] so good and you have to know the words so well so that you can do the important part, and that’s the subtext — communicating the feelings of the thing, which are not in the words. Which I love. It is so hard.
Harington: When you first read the scripts, you can’t understand a lot of what’s on the page. … You look at it, you go, “This is f— impossible.”
Myha’la.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Myha’la: This is not spoon-feeding the audience. “I’m sorry that you’re hurting because I know last summer your mom died in a car crash.” They don’t do that.
Kay: Do you know who hates that about us? Network executives. [Laughs.]
Down: We had a kind of mantra the first season especially, and then going into the second, that we would never have a scene that didn’t have one of our four main leads in it. And then, just for the necessity of the storytelling, we said, “We have to pop out of that perspective.” I don’t think HBO realized what a big decision that was, because I don’t think they’d actually realized we’d kept this mantra that we were never going to go away from the perspective of the grads.
Kay: It’s also where we broke the rule of, “We’re not going to just tell the bottom-up story; we’re going to go to the top.” When we sold the show, we were like, “This is a bottom-up story,” and then by that point we were like, “Actually, we have these older characters who might have these really rich inner lives that we should also explore.”
Myha’la: We blew the s— up. [Harper’s firing] forced us all outside the bank, which was dangerous and scary for me and really exciting and was how we got to see all the other things that Mickey and Konrad are capable of doing. I think they didn’t tell me before, so I was like, “Am I being fired?” [Laughs.]
Down: We thought we were all being fired. The reason the show evolves so much is because we basically never know whether we’re coming back, so we just blow up everything. We try to leave the audience with a satisfying conclusion. And then we get renewed, and then we have to basically write ourselves out of a corner. So Harper getting fired could have ended the whole show.
‘Oh, poor Henry’
Given time to develop its characters, refine its style and grow its audience, “Industry” returned for Season 3 with all the trappings of a series that had finally arrived: effusive critical acclaim, proliferating fan accounts and buzzy arcs by Sarah Goldberg and Harington, as playboy and erstwhile green–energy executive Henry Muck. Had it premiered just a few years later, “Industry” may have ended up on the chopping block before finding its footing; instead, it was allowed to achieve “terminal velocity.”
Kay: What happened between Seasons 2 and 3 was, we got renewed. We didn’t think we were going to get renewed. We operated from the principle of, “We might never get to do this again.” And that was incredibly freeing for me and Mickey because it was just like, “We’re gonna get eight hours, let’s just do everything we possibly can within that eight hours. Let’s indulge every creative impulse we’ve ever had. Let’s take the stabilizers off the story. Let’s not necessarily keep it within Pierpoint.” What we felt like was a perfect marriage of creative latitude, trust in ourselves and the right point in our arc of writing the show and directing and producing. We reached terminal velocity, where we could actually do all of the stuff that we were pretending we could do in the first two seasons.
Kit Harington.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Harington: When I joined up in Season 3, I had a good handful of friends who watched the show. It may be bigger than you think it was from the inside. It’s been fascinating for me, joining when I did and seeing it grow again … We all want to do stuff that people actually watch. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t. We’ve all done jobs that we really love and no one’s f— seen. When there’s a focus in on something that you know is good and you love, that’s more rare than you think. I started in this job in “Game of Thrones” and just assumed, “That’s, like, how jobs go. You get invited to the Emmys every year and everyone frigging watches it.”
Kay: The softness in Henry was a function of Kit playing the character and us writing to that vulnerability. There’s a totally different version of that character which never unlocks that kind of thinking in me and [Mickey].
Harington: You know that moment where it’s all going to s— with Lumi and he just gets up and he’s like, “None of this is real” and he f— off? For me, that was it. Because it was like, “Wait a minute, he can’t just leave the f— room” — and he does. I think that kind of sums him up. I got a handle of him properly then, and that was quite an early one we shot.
Down: He has a sense of entitlement most of the other characters don’t have.
Myha’la: But you still manage to make me feel bad for you. I’m like, “Oh, poor Henry.” Do you know what I mean? Isn’t that psychotic?
Down: I said it to him in an email recently. Somehow he managed to make an ex-Tory minister who bankrupted his company twice and needed bailouts from the British public — [a] junkie, adulterer — the most vulnerable and probably most empathetic character on the show, in some respects.
Harington: He’s one of the few characters who is actually trying to do good. Even if it’s about him being perceived as doing good. … It’s also very smartly done in how you demarcate addiction and drug-taking. You’ve got most of the characters, who can kind of put it down, but then you’ve got Rishi [a Pierpoint trader played by Sagar Radia] and Henry, who are a different kettle of fish. And also how it creeps up.
Kay: As a sober person playing that stuff, is there a psychic trigger in your brain that sort of feels like it’s happening?
Harington: I was very worried about coming in and doing some of this stuff, but quite quickly realized I was A) sober enough for long enough to go back there safely; and B) it was a sort of muscle memory, a lot of it. I get to exorcise this stuff in my job. How many ex-addicts get to do that? It was a kind of cathartic thing.
Marisa Abela.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Abela: There’s a real freedom that comes with drugs, alcohol, whatever it is, for the character. Those are the moments when you can really open the lid on something.
Myha’la: When you’re f— up, you’re uninhibited, so you can do your own thing, but I think you’re also taking the other person at face value. I feel like it sort of takes the judgment away. It creates a kind of childlike innocence.
Down: If you’re in a situation like that, you can skip like five stages of relationship if there’s a big bag of drugs in front of you. That’s something we try to capture.
‘Where we leave the characters feels so perfect’
Earlier this year, HBO announced that “Industry” had been renewed for a fifth and final season. But it was Season 4 — which finds Harper and Yasmin’s friendship in tatters, Yasmin and Henry’s marriage at an end, and the structure of the show evolving yet again to draw on new characters and genre influences — that led Down and Kay to determine that the series’ time had come.
Kay: We did think to ourselves, “OK, so we’re going to do a Season 4, which means the show is a kind of success in and of itself, which means we can start to think about ending. If you get four seasons, you’re probably going to get five. So we felt that it created latitude there. What we thought to ourselves was, “We meet these two women in the pilot. If you’re going to spend five seasons of TV with them, what is the starkest contrast you can do between how you meet them and where they end up?” … When we started, the show was about not having power. Five seasons in, they have it. Then what do you do with it? The phrase me and Mickey have been talking about is this idea of “arrival fallacy.” You climb and climb, you’re at the top of the mountain. Is there another peak? Do I sit here and enjoy the view?
Down: We’re writing Season 5 right now, and without giving too much away, we’re approaching that season very differently in terms of how information’s parceled out.
Kay: It’s very dense, though, isn’t it? Honestly, it might be the densest season. There’s a lot of theology in it, actually.
Down: We talked about doing a sixth [season], and then quite honestly we thought that was going to be diminishing returns. … We would have been pulling our punches constantly. This has been one of the most creatively fulfilling versions of the show, because we are writing towards a conclusion that we know is the conclusion. We’re thinking of images for the last 10 minutes that we know are going to be what the audience is left with, and that’s really, really thrilling for us as writers. I’ve never once thought, “God, I wish we were doing a sixth one,” as much as I love writing and making the show. Where we leave the characters feels so perfect.
“The Listeners,” which premieres Friday on Starz, began unusually as a story written by Jordan Tannahill as the basis of Missy Mazzoli‘s 2022 opera, also called “The Listeners” (libretto by Royce Vavrek), which he turned into a 2021 novel, which became a 2024 BBC television series, also written by Tannahill. Starz has cut its original four episodes into five, which means that they end in odd places, but given its controlled, glacial pace, shorter might be better.
Tannahill’s inspiration is an unexplained phenomenon reported in the real world — though exactly how real it is is open to interpretation — generally called “the hum,” where people experience a low but persistent background noise inaudible to others. (It isn’t tinnitus, or any diagnosable medical condition.) One such sufferer is Claire (Rebecca Hall), a high school literature teacher with a husband, Paul (Prasanna Puwanarajah) and a teenage daughter, Ashley (Mia Tharia), with whom she gets along well. We begin on an up note, Claire and Ashley singing along to Richard and Linda Thompson’s “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” as they drive to school (she also has Nick Drake on her phone). And then the 1970s British folk rock gives way to a less pleasant auditory landscape, as the hum appears, bringing on headaches and nosebleeds and affecting her concentration and mood, her work and family.
Any condition can be isolating from those who don’t share it, and Claire gets some relief when she’s approached by a student, Kyle (Ollie West), who also hears it. They go investigating possible sources of the sound — wind turbines, a radio telescope — and wind up eventually at something like a support group for hum-hearers run by Omar (Amr Waked) and Jo (Gayle Rankin). There is some sketchiness in their past, including a changed identity, and they like to keep the group on a tight rein, but the breathing exercises and visualizations seem pretty standard, and more benign than, say Scientology, and the suggestion that one may tame an affliction by embracing it is pretty reasonable. Claire’s mistake here is not to get a signed parental permission slip, as it were, or enlist a chaperone, and her growing closeness with Kyle (not romantic, not sexual we are assured) will cause them trouble, cost Claire her job and mess up her marriage. She makes some insufficiently careful decisions, but those around her tend to overreact. This is very much a story about listening and not listening.
Directed by Janicza Bravo and photographed with great intention by Jody Lee Lipes, it has the studied look and tempo of a 20th-century art film. (It is always great to look at.) I was reminded of Antonioni’s “Red Desert” and Bergman’s “Persona,” psychological studies of women going to pieces, but also, thematically, of Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” with its characters driven to what looks like madness by private bulletins from the ether, pushing them away from family and toward others who are getting the same message. No aliens here — not a spoiler — though I might have liked that ending more than this, which in its own way seems to drop from space.
You can look for metaphors and social comment here — there are references to conspiracy theories and industrial noise pollution and such — but it seems to me to operate most effectively as a beautifully rendered mood piece and character study, and, certainly in the case of Hall, whose story this is, a platform for some exquisitely subtle acting.
In “The Little Sister,” a teenager tries to hide in plain sight. Although everyone comments on her beauty, 17-year-old Fatima prefers to tie her hair back in a ponytail, her bright eyes buried underneath a black ball cap, her body concealed in unflattering tracksuits. As played by first-timer Nadia Melliti, who won the actress award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Fatima is encased in a kind of armor, an outward manifestation of her hesitancy to share her sexual orientation with a world she knows will judge her. This graceful film chronicles the process by which Fatima gradually sheds that reserve.
Adapted from Fatima Daas’ 2020 novel “The Last One,” a work of autofiction detailing the French author’s own coming out, “The Little Sister” takes place over five seasons, observing Fatima as she completes grade school and begins attending university. An adept athlete with a tomboyish demeanor, Fatima disappears inside a friend group consisting of immature teen boys who treat her like one of the guys, including her in their raunchy sex talk. Fatima has a boyfriend, Adel (Ahmed Kheloufi), but the relationship feels vestigial, with him constantly complaining that she should dress more feminine. Just as upsetting to Adel: When he tells Fatima that he loves her, she doesn’t respond in kind.
This is the third feature from French actor and director Hafsia Herzi, who herself made an acting splash in 2007’s “The Secret of the Grain.” For “The Little Sister,” Herzi takes a cue from Daas’ book, mapping Fatima’s inner journey as a modest series of tentative steps forward and anxious steps back. Fatima has reason to be skittish. The youngest of three daughters in a loving French-Algerian Muslim family, she conceals any hint of her sexuality from her mother, father and sisters, anticipating their disapproval. Many queer coming-of-age movies position the character’s awakening as an act of defiance. For Fatima, a practicing Muslim who adores her parents, the stakes feel even higher. Melliti’s performance is one of silent suffering, illustrating Fatima’s deference to her family.
But as much as she smothers her desires, others can sense them. An altercation between her friends and a gay male classmate gets heated once the classmate accuses her of being closeted, which she vehemently (and violently) denies. Soon after, Fatima secretly joins a dating app, hoping to understand her queerness. Her first date, in which she uses a fake name, focuses on learning terminology such as scissoring, and she approaches each new encounter like a fact-finding mission. Melliti keeps the shy teenager’s reactions neutral, Fatima’s stoicism a strategy to prevent exposing her inexperience.
That’s when she meets Ji-Na (Park Ji-min, the free spirit of “Return to Seoul”), a physician’s assistant who practically glows in her presence, overwhelming Fatima’s cautious nature. Ji-Na and Fatima’s love story — its blossoming, its unraveling, its possible resuscitation — forms the heart of “The Little Sister,” which also received the Queer Palm at Cannes. Melliti and Park exude a frisky, lusty chemistry, but it’s a film as much about self-love, as Fatima seeks to become comfortable in her own skin. Ji-Na is open and confident while Fatima remains closed off, her shame about her sexuality deeply culturally ingrained. When our main character starts lowering her defenses, however, that’s when she’s hit by a jolt that sends her spiraling.
Herzi’s slender, unassuming drama contains few emotional crescendos or grand insights, although this is the rare French film to center on a Muslim lesbian as its protagonist. “The Little Sister” grows even more intriguing once the love affair runs aground, forcing Fatima to flounder in her heartache. Her odyssey will lead to threesomes and lonely nights, but also difficult questions regarding how her faith and family may leave her perpetually adrift.
“The Little Sister” leaves much unspoken, which is fitting for a protagonist who rarely expresses herself in clear terms. Even during a touching scene near the finale, as Fatima sits at the dinner table weeping, upset over the end of a relationship, she and her mother (Amina Ben Mohamed) engage in a nimble dance: Fatima doesn’t feel safe explaining precisely why she’s crying, while her supportive mom chooses her words carefully, perhaps knowing more about her daughter than she dares say aloud. But despite the character’s rocky path to sexual awakening, Herzi navigates toward a hopeful conclusion that doesn’t peddle phony uplift. Fatima still faces a community that won’t embrace her true self. But maybe, at last, she’s willing to be seen.
‘The Little Sister’
In French, with subtitles
Not rated
Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes
Playing: Opens Friday, June 12 at Laemmle Glendale
A gripping mystery drama featuring an EastEnders icon is now available to watch for free.
Little Disasters, previously described as a “complex psychological thriller with a mystery at its heart”, lands on Channel 5 tomorrow (June 14), after initially premiering on Paramount+ last May.
Based on Sarah Vaughan’s bestselling novel of the same title, the series charts the decade-long bond between Jess (Diane Kruger), Liz (Jo Joyner), Charlotte (Shelley Conn) and Mel (Emily Taaffe).
The story follows four expectant mothers who were brought together with little in common beyond their due dates, yet have supported each other throughout the journey of motherhood, reports Wales Online.
As the synopsis reveals: “The world of seemingly perfect stay-at-home mother Jess begins to unravel when she brings her baby daughter Betsy to the hospital with a head injury she can’t explain.
“Her close friend and on-duty AandE doctor, Liz, must make the excruciating decision of whether to call social services.”
This pivotal moment sets off a chain of events that threatens to tear apart both their friendship circle and their individual families.
The Little Disasters cast also features Ben Bailey Smith from The Split, alongside Patrick Baladi (Line of Duty), Stephen Campbell Moore (The Gold), and JJ Feild (The Peripheral).
Discussing the programme, Jo previously revealed that this style of storytelling not only inspired her to accept the role, but is unlike anything she had previously encountered on television.
She said: “I know somebody who suffered with postnatal OCD and I had only recently found out about it myself. So, I thought it was a really great topic to explore actually.
“Any kind of postnatal depression must be horrendous, I was lucky I didn’t suffer from it myself. I can’t imagine having such intrusive thoughts about your own child and I think that was another brilliant thing to bring up but also serves well for a thriller, doesn’t it?”.
The six-part series remains available for streaming on Paramount+, but will also broadcast on Channel 5 from this weekend, with the opening episode debuting in the 9pm slot on Sunday, 14 June.
Predictably, viewers have wasted little time making their feelings known, with one writing: “Worth the binge! #littledisasters.”
Another commented: “#littledisasters is everything I needed…” Meanwhile a third added: “Good show, oh my days, the suspense got me.”
Little Disasters premiered on Paramount+, and will air on Channel 5 on Sunday, 14 June.
An HBO miniseries has been hailed as the ‘best of the best’ by fans, who say no show or film compares – and it’s streaming on Amazon Prime and NOW
The war miniseries has been branded the “best of the best”(Image: HBO)
TV fans have lauded a gripping war drama, calling it “the best of the best” and insisting no other show or film matches it. The series proves perfect for admirers of the popular 2001 American war drama miniseries, Band of Brothers.
So, what’s the show? It’s the seven-part television miniseries Generation Kill, which was produced by HBO and originally broadcast from July 13 to August 24 2008.
It was adapted from Evan Wright’s 2004 book sharing of the same name, which documented his experiences as an embedded reporter accompanying the US Marine Corps’ 1st Reconnaissance Battalion throughout the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The extensive ensemble cast includes Alexander Skarsgård, Jon Huertas, James Ransone, Lee Tergesen – playing Wright, though characters only address him using nicknames – alongside many others.
The series earned recognition for its authenticity and emphasis on the bizarre circumstances facing Marines navigating prolonged boredom and volatile combat while dealing with questionable administrative decisions from senior command.
These often incompetent decisions – coupled with inadequate communication – result in troops experiencing frustration and confusion, while simultaneously managing constant equipment shortages.
The miniseries additionally captures the camaraderie among Marines and the gallows humour they employed as a survival strategy during such challenging, intense and unpredictable circumstances.
Generation Kill was created by The Wire’s David Simon and Ed Burns and is renowned for its unflinching use of authentic military terminology, while depicting the Marines as genuine, imperfect people rather than the steadfastly patriotic heroes typically portrayed in war films.
Though it originally broadcast on HBO in 2008, the miniseries is now accessible to stream on platforms such as NOW and Amazon Prime, although subscription add-ons are necessary to view through Prime.
Generation Kill continues to receive regular praise from TV fans and holds an impressive 86% rating on popular review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.
One viewer said: “Right up there with Band of Brothers, Peaky Blinders, and The Pacific. The best of the best. First watched this over 12 years ago when it was new, and it’s still the greatest to this day.”
Another agreed: “It’s Band of Brothers during the 2003 Iraq invasion. Great writing and remarkable acting make this one a must watch TV show.”
A third wrote: “The action is a little over-the-top, but the characters, the dialogue and the attitudes all pretty perfectly capture 21st century military life. This is one of HBO’s truly great pieces of art.”
While a fourth said: “The more you watch it, the better it gets. It’s difficult for me to put into words, but to this day I still have not watched any show or even movie as good as this.”
Another shared: “One of my favourite HBO offerings!”
Generation Kill is streaming on Amazon Prime and NOW.
Very few have heard of the ‘phenomenal’ World War II drama on Netflix, as viewers call the powerful and engrossing series an ‘exceptional masterpiece’ that’s a ‘must watch’.
Viewers can’t stop praising the ‘extraordinary’ war drama(Image: NETFLIX)
For years, the television drama Band of Brothers has been establishing the standard for war-themed dramas.
Crafted by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the series is widely regarded as the gold standard of its genre, having elevated expectations considerably when it comes to war epics.
Available on Netflix, the relatively obscure war drama limited series comprises three episodes running approximately an hour each, and acclaim for the programme has been widespread.
War Sailor, originally titled Krigsseileren, is a Norwegian war drama that was selected as Norway’s official submission for Best International Feature at the 95th Academy Awards – and audiences cannot stop praising it, reports Wales Online.
It first premiered as a film in late 2022, and when it eventually arrived on Netflix in April 2023, it emerged as a three-part miniseries with 30 minutes incorporated into its original running time.
Written and helmed by Gunnar Vikene, it happens to be the most costly Norwegian film ever produced, created on a budget of $11.1m.
The drama features Kristoffer Joner and Pål Sverre Hagen in leading roles, alongside Ine Marie Wilmann, Henrikke Lund Olsen, Armand Hannestad, and Leon Tobias Slettbakk.
The war drama draws from the genuine, real-life experiences of 30,000 Norwegian civilian sailors who participated in Allied convoys during the Second World War.
The war drama’s official synopsis reads: “Merchant sailors are caught in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean during Germany’s invasion of Norway and hijacked into working for the Allied war effort.”
Boasting an impressive 92% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, War Sailor has been hailed as “heart-in-your-throat moving” by viewers.
An IMDB user review of the war drama says: “One of the best war movies I’ve seen. I thought I’d seen so many war and catastrophe movies I’d become numb to the emotional drama and could only be stimulated by history lessons and battlefield action but this one gripped me.”
While another viewer said of the series: “Intense but phenomenal. It’s difficult to sum up the experience of watching this film. It weaves suspense, devastation, love, hope, and the horrors of war together into a picture that will stay with me for a long time to come.”
Another audience review added: “Brilliantly written, directed and acted, this is a gripping, at times excruciating, film. The characters are beautifully, painfully individual, the story unexpected and painfully convincing. It takes us inside the actions of war but the unforgettable moments are the still ones in which nothing happens but meaning.”
While one viewer crowned it “a masterpiece”: “Wow – what an intense film. Excellent acting and period sets. A masterpiece.”
Yet another audience review said: “A sweeping epic. Structured like a sweeping epic, Krigsseileren tells about the efforts of Norwegian commercial sailors in the Atlantic theatre during WWII. A combination of authenticity, technical brilliance, and a clear artistic framework makes this into an all-encompassing viewing experience.”
While one fan described the drama as something that “transcends the ordinary”: “Something Extraordinary Finds its Way to Our Screens. Just when we thought nothing of quality is left, nothing worth our time, what we have left of it, War Sailor shows up on Netflix.
“As real a depiction of events which shaped our world as you are likely to see. Transportation to another place and time at a historic moment in history, for the price of your Netflix subscription. Empowering performances that transcend the ordinary. Highly recommended.”
Critics have branded the war drama “powerful and engrossing”, with one reviewer writing: “War Sailor is the best kind of war movie: a character drama that happens amidst war, focusing most on how the characters are changed by the atrocities over the years.”
Another critic said: “War Sailor offers some of the best ensemble acting seen in recent years. It’s been perfectly cast down to the smallest role.”
Call the Midwife favourite Judy Parfitt appeared on ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh
Sister Monica Joan passed away in Call the Midwife(Image: BBC/Neal Street/Olly Courtney)
A Call the Midwife legend has opened up about their emotional exit from the BBC drama.
Judy Parfitt is best known for playing Sister Monica Joan in the long-running series. Viewers were therefore left heartbroken when the cherished nun passed away peacefully in her bed at Nonnatus House in the season 15 finale.
During her final moments, Sister Monica Joan was emotionally reunited with Sister Evangelina (played by Pam Ferris), who unexpectedly died during the season five finale from a suspected stroke.
Actress Judy Parfitt appeared on ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh on Sunday (June 7), where she was joined by Brian Conley, Freddie Fox, Julian Ovenden and Honeysuckle Weeks.
After being shown an “enormously sad” clip of Sister Monica Joan being reunited with Sister Evangelina, Alan said: “I can’t watch that,” with Judy admitting: “Neither can I!”
She added: “Showing me at my best, I see. Also, [I] had a cap and it had the thing [go] round, so all the wrinkles were pushed up. So, [you think], ‘God, do I look as bad as that?’ And the top lighting, it looked like the Grand Canyon!”
On being reunited with Pam Ferris, Judy went on: “It was absolutely wonderful, because, I think, Pam left after four years, and we used to sit together quite a lot during the time she was there, swapping recipes and everything – it was wonderful.
“I hadn’t seen her, we only phoned a couple of times after she left, and it was so wonderful to do that scene with her, because it’s like you’ve found your teammate, sort of [like] tennis or something, and she was throwing the ball back.
“It was just a lovely atmosphere, and we’ve kept in touch ever since then – it was lovely.”
Judy then looked back on being part of the drama for so many years, sharing: “It was like a family, and that’s what I miss terribly. We’d seen each other through marriages, births, deaths, divorce – everything. And we helped each other.
“It was lovely because it was mostly women. Sorry guys, but it was wonderful to be in a show where instead [of there being] 13 men and two women – one young one and one old one – you have a show with all these women. There was no jealousy, no rivalry or anything. It was wonderful.”
BBC viewers will be pleased to learn that they haven’t seen the last of Sister Monica Joan.
Following the latest season of Call the Midwife, the show will rewind the clock to World War II with a prequel series, titled Sisters in Arms, which will be set in Poplar during the London Blitz.
Creator and writer Heidi Thomas revealed that it will include younger incarnations of Sister Monica Joan, as well as Sister Evangelina and Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter).
The returning Sisters will also be joined by three new young midwifes, who are new to the East End.
Call the Midwife is available to watch on BBC iPlayer, while Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh is streaming on ITVX
“He passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family,” his daughters Emily and Daisy said.
Their statement went on: “It has been, and forever will be, an honour and a privilege to be his daughters, and to have witnessed firsthand the impact both he and his work have had on so many.”
Fans have now taken to social media to share they’ve been watching some of his works, including Persuasion, Ted Lasso and Vanity Fair.
“It’s a lovely tribute to remember artists for their work,” one fan wrote on Reddit.
Another replied: “My favourite was him in Merlin,” to which another said: “He was incredible as Uther! So intimidating!” “Right he was so good as Uther,” a fan agreed.
The beloved actor starred as Uther Pendragon, King of Camelot in the BBC fantasy series, alongside Colin Morgan as Merlin, Bradley James as Prince Arthur and Richard Wilson as Gaius.
Merlin aired for five seasons between 2008 and 2012, and followed a reimagining of the legend, in which the young warlock was sent to live with Gaius in Camelot after his mother feared for his life because of his gift of magic.
Working in court, he becomes Arthur’s manservant and spends his talent trying to protect him from evil forces.
Over years, the pair become trusted friends, despite Merlin keeping his magic a secret from all those around him, as he works to help Arthur become the King he was destined to be.
Fans have hailed Merlin as “spellbinding” and “one of the best,” with one writing: “The ending is heartbreaking and may leave you in an eternal sadness but it’s worth it.”
Another said: “I love Merlin, from the 1st episode I knew this would be an excellent show.”
“One of the best TV series of BBC,” another echoed, as one called it “perfection”.
Someone else called it “phenomenal”, as another fan called it “an epic masterpiece”.
Anthony Head previously spoke about how much he enjoyed playing his role in Merlin.
“He has so many levels, and that makes him fascinating,” he said in a 2010 interview.
“We established early on that he wasn’t just a two-dimensional baddie, and now his past transgressions have manifested themselves, which is great fun to play.”
He joked: “I also get to wear the cloak and sword, which reminds me of dressing up as a knight when I was a child.”
A crime drama on BBC iPlayer has been branded a “masterpiece” and a “must-watch” by fans
James Norton’s 2018 crime drama has left viewers hooked(Image: BBC)
Fans of crime dramas have been devouring a “masterpiece” series that’s currently available on BBCiPlayer.
Television viewers are being encouraged to tune into a gripping drama centred on a respectable businessman, who attempts to outrun his family’s sinister past.
McMafia is a series created by Hossein Amini and James Watkins, who also took on directorial duties. It draws inspiration from the non-fiction book McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld by journalist Misha Glenny – which has been hailed as “riveting” and “chilling”.
The drama features James Norton as Alex Godman, the British-raised son of a Russian mafia boss residing in London, whose father is desperately attempting to break free from the world of organised crime.
The official synopsis reads: “Alex Godman, the English-raised son of Russian mafia exiles, has spent his life trying to escape the shadow of their past, building his own legitimate business and forging a life with his girlfriend, Rebecca,” reports Wales Online.
“But when a murder unearths his family’s past, Alex is drawn into the criminal underworld where he must confront his values to protect those he loves.”
Alongside James Norton, the ensemble cast also includes David Strathairn, Juliet Rylance, Merab Ninidze, Aleksey Serebryakov, Maria Shukshina, David Dencik, Oshri Cohen, Sofia Lebedeva, Caio Blat, Kirill Pirogov, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Karel Roden.
McMafia was shot across numerous international locations, with key scenes unfolding in London, Zagreb, Split, Opatija, Mumbai, Prague, Cairo, Belgrade, Istanbul, Moscow, and Tel Aviv.
The drama debuted on BBC One in 2018, running for a single series. Crime drama enthusiasts can now delve into Alex’s perilous world, as all eight compelling episodes are available to stream free on BBC iPlayer.
McMafia currently maintains a 71% critic score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 38 reviews. Audiences have likewise expressed widespread acclaim for the programme on social media, with numerous viewers declaring it superior to James Norton’s other popular crime series Happy Valley.
One IMDb user penned: “One of the best series I have ever seen. Binged in one night. 100 stars.”
Another contributed: “Best show since The Night Manager. A 10+ for intrigue and suspense,” while a third stated: “Thriller of the year! An outstanding and engrossing series that grabs your attention from the start and ramps up the suspense as each episode progresses.”
Someone else remarked: “I loved McMafia. The best TV series yet. Great acting. On par with Breaking Bad,” with another individual posting: “Chilling, thrilling and re-watchable.”
A sixth audience member reinforced the sentiment, declaring: “This series is a masterpiece, and a must-watch for thriller lovers. The plot is obviously complex, but absolutely intriguing and well developed, with a large number of themes connected to the most topical reality. For me, McMafia is one of the most interesting shows I have seen in the last few years.”
Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.
It seems odd that the biggest news of the week was the fact that tickets for a movie went on sale, but apparently Christopher Nolan’s upcoming “The Odyssey” is no typical movie. Having already made tickets available for some shows a full year in advance, Universal put more of them on sale for the July 17 opening weekend of the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s ancient epic. There were reports of long online wait times, crashing ticketing systems and the kind of problems more often associated with pop stars than movie nerds.
“The Odyssey” will be playing in a variety of formats, with the Imax 70mm screenings among the most coveted. More venues than usual have also been announced as playing the film in 70mm, including the Village Theatre in Westwood. (A handy visual guide to the different fomats is on the film’s website.) While there is a hint of the ridiculous to some of this mania — popcorn buckets in the shape of Imax cameras and movie tickets going on the resale market for hundreds of dollars — there is no denying how exciting it is to see this kind of anticipation building around any movie.
Back to a ’90s phenomenon
Ewen Bremner, left, Ewan McGregor, Johnny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle in the movie “Trainspotting.”
(Liam Longman / Sony Pictures Classics)
When it first came out in 1996, “Trainspotting” was an instant cultural phenomenon, capturing the vibes of the “Cool Britannia” moment with its sparkling soundtrack, inventive, high-energy style and cast that included up-and-coming talents such as Ewan McGregor and Kelly Macdonald. It was only the second feature directed by Danny Boyle, who would go on to be an Oscar winner, mount an Olympics opening ceremony and remain a reliably exciting filmmaker all the way to his recent “28 Years Later.”
“Trainspotting” is now back in theaters in a 4K restoration for its 30th anniversary, having lost none of its brash vigor. In his original review, Kenneth Turan said of the film, “Exuberant and pitiless, profane yet eloquent, flush with the ability to create laughter out of unspeakable situations, ‘Trainspotting’ is a drop-dead look at a dead-end lifestyle that has all the strength of its considerable contradictions.”
Appearing like magic
Kathy Najimy, left, Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker in the 1993 comedy “Hocus Pocus.”
(Disney)
Directed by Kenny Ortega, “Hocus Pocus” is one of those movies that has seen its fanbase grow steadily over the years — it is now much more beloved than it ever was on initial release. (It even inspired a 2022 sequel.) Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimi play the Sanderson sisters, 17th century witches who find themselves inadvertently brought to modern day by a group of teenagers messing around with casting spells.
The film will play Saturday at the Gardena Cinema, featuring a live commentary from cast members Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Larry Bagby, Tobias Jelinek and Vinessa Shaw followed by a Q&A. This is a rare appearance by Katz in particular, who has retired from acting. Fans of the movie should make the effort to attend.
The Gardena, the last family-owned single-screen theater in Los Angeles, suffered a blow last weekend when a burst pipe flooded the venue. Though they are operational, a campaign has been started to help them recoup repair costs.
Examining the life of the mind
John Turturro in the 1991 movie “Barton Fink.”
(20th Century Fox)
Ranking the films of Joel and Ethan Coen has become a cottage industry of its own. Personally, I go back-and-forth on where to place 1991’s “Barton Fink,” which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, as well as prizes for director and actor. The movie is by turns funny, disturbing and inscrutable (all good things), with John Turturro in the title role as an intellectual New York playwright who goes to Hollywood to write screenplays — and slowly goes insane.
The movie will play Friday in 35mm at Vidiots with an introduction from Noah Segan, who directed Turturro in one of the breakout titles from this year’s Sundance, “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.” Hopefully, this will turn into a year in which Turturro gets some long-deserved accolades.
Christmas in June
Elliott Gould on the set of 1978’s “The Silent Partner.”
(Anwar Hussein / Getty Images)
There is something particularly charged about watching a Christmas movie at other times of year — an odd sense of dislocation and maybe even something a little naughty, a circuit-scrambling frisson. So it is particularly notable that as part of their salute to the independent studio Carolco Pictures (behind such films as “Basic Instinct,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Reservoir Dogs”), the Vista will be showing 1978’s “The Silent Partner.”
Just the kind of tight and gripping thriller that people pine for all year round, “The Silent Partner” has a screenplay by Curtis Hanson, who would go on to make “L.A. Confidential.” Elliott Gould plays a Toronto bank teller who tries to rip off the thief (Christopher Plummer) who robs his branch wearing a Santa costume as a disguise. Soon they are both scheming against each other.
In his original review of the film, Kevin Thomas called it “tense and ingenious.” In a reconsideration of the film some months later, Charles Champlin called it “a stylish crime-suspense story, a cat-and-mouse game between Christopher Plummer as a clever, sadistic bank robber and Elliott Gould as a bored bank teller who sees a way out of his boredom and into riches.”
So much beauty
Brooke Adams and Sam Shepard in the 1978 movie “Days of Heaven.”
(Criterion Collection)
Terrence Malick’s 1978 “Days of Heaven” is still strikingly singular: a love story told with a stirring visual style. The film’s beauty — aside from its impossibly good-looking lead actors, Richard Gere and Brooke Adams — in part comes from gifted Spanish cinematographer Néstor Almendros, who made his American debut after a career in Europe that saw him working with filmmakers such as Eric Rohmer and François Truffaut. Almendros would win an Academy Award for the film.
The New Beverly will show “Days of Heaven” in 35mm Tuesday through Thursday as a double bill with Truffaut’s 1970 “The Wild Child,” shot by Almendros in black-and-white. Writing about “Days” in 1978, The Times’ Charles Champlin called it “an extraordinary and original visual experience and a movie which is thrilling in its uncompromised purity.”
Perverse fun
Ha Jung-woo, left, and Kim Min-hee in the 2016 movie “The Handmaiden.”
(TIFF)
Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook was just president of the Cannes jury and has become a much-beloved figure on the international circuit for his wicked sense of humor and sharp sense of style. Nowhere is that on better display than his 2016 film “The Handmaiden,” which is somehow at once a period drama, a con-man thriller and an erotic lesbian romance. Vidiots will be showing the movie Sunday.
As Justin Chang wrote when the film was released, “Without sacrificing his taste for psychosexual perversity or his flair for violent grace notes, Park has given us a teasingly witty and elegant puzzle-box of a thriller whose pleasures are rooted not in visceral shock but in narrative surprise, and which wisely opts to seduce rather than pulverize its audience.”
In an interview at the time, Park said the film’s unpredictability was part of the project’s appeal. “That’s the exact kind of fun to be had with this film and the reason why I chose to make this film. Everything becomes a game of perception. Rather than to say it’s a difficult thing to navigate, it is fun to deal with. Not only for me as a filmmaker but for the audience to see that and engage in that game.”
New this week
Amy Nicholson reviews the latest attempt to make a movie out of a popular Mattel toy with the lightly-tongue-in-cheek “Masters of the Universe.”
Amy also reviewed the revival of the satirical “Scary Movie” franchise, with original stars Anna Faris and Regina Hall returning to make fun of such recent hits as “Sinners,” “Weapons” and “The Substance.”
The documentary “Time and Water” looks at climate change through the life and work of Icelandic writer Andri Snaer Magnason as directed by Sara Dosa, who had a hit with her last film “Fire of Love.” Robert Abele reviews.
One last thing…
This week, our colleagues at De Los launched a podcast hosted by Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito. The interview-style video podcast will feature conversations with the people shaping Latino culture in the United States.
The first episode features singer and actor Leslie Grace, who talks about her experiences working on the film “In the Heights” as well as being the star of the canceled “Batgirl.”
Eleanor Tomlinson, Matthew Lewis and Callum Woodhouse star in Channel 5 series The Fortune
Viewers have shared their thoughts on The Fortune(Image: CHANNEL 5)
Viewers of The Fortune were left disappointed as the new psychological drama made its debut on Channel 5.
The series centres on waitress Amanda Blakefield, portrayed by Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson, whose world is thrown into chaos when a solicitor arrives at her workplace to inform her she stands to inherit a vast estate from a complete stranger.
She continues to dodge the solicitor yet pays a visit to the deceased man’s widow Fiona (Rebecca Front) and son Anthony, played by All Creatures Great and Small’s Callum Woodhouse, who are outraged and make abundantly clear their intention to contest it.
Meanwhile, Amanda’s husband Jimmy (Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis) appears to be embroiled in a mystery of his own, repeatedly receiving suspicious phone calls.
As the opening episode aired on Tuesday night (June 2), numerous viewers took to X to voice their scepticism, with some calling the storyline into question, reports Wales Online.
“Wouldn’t they phone her and ask her into their office instead of just barging into her workplace?” wondered one viewer.
Another posted on the platform, formerly known as Twitter: “How to sort out an unexpected inheritance: (a) consult a solicitor, and get it sorted out; or: (b) throw away the solicitor’s letter and barge in uninvited to a grieving family.”
One viewer branded the show “a dud” while another confessed: “Oh I really want to like this but so far I’m struggling.”
“This is absolute s***e,” insisted another viewer, as one posted: “Mrs Poldark the only thing saving this so far…”
“Channel 5 either do b****y brilliant dramas or shockingly bad am/dram… #thefortune is tipping ever so slowly to the latter… ludicrous,” remarked another viewer, while one complained about the “exaggerated sighs” and “pauses”.
Meanwhile, The Telegraph awarded it merely one star out of five in its review, branding it “rubbish”.
Yet others felt the series – shot on location across Hartlepool, Northumberland, Newcastle and north Yorkshire last year – showed potential.
“So far looking good,” observed one viewer. Another highlighted the impressive ensemble, which also features Denis Lawson, Stephen Tompkinson, Paula Wilcox, Danielle Walters and Nina Wadia.
“It’s got a really good cast too,” they wrote. “Well known faves.”
The Fortune sees a woman mysteriously inherit £2 million and a country estate from a stranger.
Hayley Anderson Screen Time TV Reporter
21:15, 02 Jun 2026Updated 21:16, 02 Jun 2026
The Fortune – Channel 5 trailer
The Fortune has landed on Channel 5, with audiences eager to discover everything about the drama.
Following the unexpected inheritance of a substantial fortune from a stranger, mother and wife Amanda (portrayed by Eleanor Tomlinson) finds herself in conflict with the deceased man’s relatives.
She simultaneously starts uncovering the truth regarding her own family’s sinister history, which may shed light on why she’s been selected as the beneficiary of the enigmatic man’s estate.
Where was The Fortune on Channel 5 filmed?
Filming for Channel 5’s The Fortune occurred during autumn 2025 across Hartlepool, Northumberland, Newcastle and North Yorkshire.
The bulk of shooting took place in Hartlepool, with the historic Headland district serving as a crucial location.
Another significant filming venue was Hartlepool Marina, where the exterior alongside local establishments and eateries were utilised to depict Amanda’s everyday existence.
The programme’s principal production headquarters was also situated in Hartlepool at The Northern Studios on Lynn Street.
Certain scenes were additionally captured in Newcastle, with the drama produced by Newcastle-based Lonesome Pine Productions.
The cast and crew travelled to Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, where the mid-Victorian country residence Cleveland Lodge served as the Worrall family estate in the Channel 5 series.
The Grade II listed building was constructed between 1848 and 1851 and sits within approximately 35 acres of private parkland, featuring paddocks and a tennis court. Meanwhile, the more rural and coastal scenes were shot in and around the Northumberland region.
All Creatures Great and Small star Callum Woodhouse, who plays vengeful son Anthony Worrall in the series, hails originally from Stockton in the North East.
The Hartlepool Mail reported Woodhouse describing the experience of filming The Fortune as something of “a homecoming”.
He said: “Obviously, staying with my parents and filming in places I grew up visiting was a huge draw, but also being able to do something set in the modern day was really exciting.
“We were filming just over the road from where my mum works, so we’d meet up for lunch sometimes.”
Sit at a table with a bunch of actors and it inevitably becomes an impromptu acting class, one in which even theMichelle Pfeiffer is leaning over to observe. At least that’s what happened on a recent afternoon when The Envelope gathered six actors from some of this season’s most talked about television series for its 2026 Emmy Drama Roundtable.
It all began when Pfeiffer (“The Madison”) shared that, while studying acting, she couldn’t grasp the technique created by Sanford Meisner, which trains actors to stop overthinking and encourages them to listen and respond actively to their scene partners. The revelation immediately activated Katherine LaNasa (“The Pitt”), who beckoned Tom Pelphrey (“Task”) to join her in a spontaneous application. (Both had studied the method.)
“I like your jacket,” LaNasa said, locking eyes with Pelphrey.
“You like my jacket?” he replied playfully.
“I do like your jacket … You’re smiling at me.”
The exchange, which had a flirtatious energy, continued for a minute, before Pelphrey and LaNasa emphasized that it’s essentially looking at and listening to what the other person is doing.
“Somehow I was doing it wrong and I didn’t understand why I was doing it wrong,” Pfeiffer said.
This openness and encouragement carried the entire conversation, which brought together Pfeiffer, who plays Stacy Clyburn, a wealthy New York City matriarch whose life is upended by the tragic death of her husband, which compels her to move to Montana; LaNasa, who brings depth to the burnout plaguing steadfast, straight-talking charge nurse Dana Evans; Pelphrey, in his turn as Robbie Prendergast, a sanitation worker who robs drug houses at night to provide for his family; Zahn McClarnon, who stars as Det. Joe Leaphorn, a stoic man battling his past and the loss of his son in “Dark Winds”; Billy Magnussen, who portrays Duncan Park, the eccentric and profit-hungry CEO of a tech company in “The Audacity”; and Karolina Wydra, who plays Zosia, the eternally cheerful liaison to a utopian, hive-minded collective in “Pluribus.” Read on for excerpts from our discussion.
I know all your characters are going through some personal things, but if you were to transform into them for 24 hours, what would you do with that day?
Magnussen: I live with Duncan daily because I think your job as an actor is to check the morality of the character you’re playing. And at the same time, you have to question your own morality, see where you stand, to then deal with that character. Duncan’s a really messed-up guy, and doing it for five months … I was on set 16 hours a day every day. I was with him nonstop. And his temperament and pace was just out of this world. It’s exhausting. So what would I do? I would try to go to a spa, personally, because it’s exhausting.
Wydra: Do you find that it gets blurry after a little while?
Magnussen: I still know who Billy is.
McClarnon: But there’s times where you can’t see that line between [fiction and] reality, just moments. I’ve found myself in those moments where I know the difference, obviously, but I’m so emotionally attached to Deanna Allison, who plays my wife on the show, where I can’t separate them anymore. It’s not like 24 hours, but just moments where I’m like, “Wait a second, where am I? Am I in the show? Is this Joe Leaphorn or is this Zahn?” Usually in the middle of the season, it starts to get a little blurry for me.
Magnussen: Do you think it’s the job, though, to keep it separated? Or do you guys believe in Method acting?
Wydra: Rhea Seehorn, who is on “Pluribus,” who’s incredible, who’s my partner in crime, she gave me a book about Method [acting] — the Method and what really Method was. And it’s not what we think it is. We all do Method acting, but it’s not staying in the character and living in the character forever. … And that’s what people think Method is, is that you never break the character, you take the character home, but it’s not. It’s building a world. Building it, personalizing it.
Pfeiffer: Isn’t that what we all do? Some actors will go live on the ranch. They won’t take a bath for six months. They really take it to another level, which I’m not willing to do … From the minute I commit to something, it’s right there [in my head], I’m thinking about it. It can be a year away, and it’s right here torturing me, which is I think why I’m a bit of a commitment-phobe. My agents always call me “Dr. No” because I know no matter what, even if I’m not consciously aware of it, it’s there just badgering me.
LaNasa: I have found that people want Dana, want my character, in real life. And it’s cool because she’s very comforting to people. But I had an experience recently in New York where this table of girls, they were having some party, and someone said, “Oh, you mean a lot to us.” And I said, “Oh, are they nurses?” Well, some of them are. And then they asked at the end of their dinner would I take a picture. And then one girl told the other people to leave and then she told me her illness journey. And I had breast cancer. She was going through breast cancer. And it was really interesting. And it was the most meaningful that I’d ever felt about taking a character home where it’s like … I think I spoke about my wellness journey because I was playing the role. It ended up coming up through the press. … And for some reason, because I was Dana in someone’s mind, it meant something. And I thought, “Well, this was actually useful. This breaking of that wall between character and person was actually useful.”
Tom, you get the call that you’re cast as Robbie in “Task.” What’s the first thing you do to figure him out?
Pelphrey: When I read the first two episodes, I felt like I understood Robbie’s soul perfectly, but I knew that I would have to break my ass to get that accent right. So that was where I focused most of my conscious energy and discipline and time, was just [on the] technical, just on the accent. The fun part was, because he would be my age, thinking about growing up in Philly at that time and who his heroes would be, having ideas for tattoos, stuff like that. We had more time than you get sometimes before we had to start filming because we knew and then the writers’ strike happened. I had a lot of months to sit with him and emotionally and spiritually. And I’d just become a father. Obviously [with] Robbie, everything he does is for his kids.
Pfeiffer: It changes everything. It opens your heart.
Pelphrey: I was a new person. And I understood him in that regard perfectly and I couldn’t have before. I could have imagined it and now I knew for sure.
For “The Audacity,” Billy, you spoke with some tech folks. What did you come to understand about what they’re after as innovators versus what you’re after as a creative?
Magnussen: Listen, no one’s a villain in their own story. I believe that from Day 1, these people probably came to the Valley with genuine ideas. The genesis of their idea was to connect and really bring something powerful and important to society and people. And, “Oh wait, we’re making a lot of f— money.” And through that lens, you start being blinded by this humanity that’s around you or caring for people around you rather than a bottom line. When you’re in an incestuous pool or in a small bubble, culture is created. And like Facebook, their slogan was “Move fast and break things.” Being a bull in a china shop is not a good idea anywhere, but for some reason that was the culture. People just started doing that more and more and breaking things and breaking things and breaking things. I don’t think they started off that way, but the culture just bred them to become this way. I personally relate that to, I don’t want to say Hollywood or the entertainment world, but we’ve seen the toxicity. And we’ve been slowly trying to filter that out, I think, of Hollywood. But when you have a microclimate kind of culture feeding in toxic behavior and rewarding toxic behavior over and over again, it breeds it. So you start to have to scrape away that cancer. But again, the genesis of all these ideas were pure. We were 6 years old just dreaming to be something or being like, “I could do this.”
Pfeiffer: Pretending to be something else, other than what we were.
Magnussen: I empathize with that. I don’t think people are bad. I just think they’re lost sometimes.
Karolina, your character in “Pluribus,” Zosia, is carrying the weight of almost every person in the world. What do you remember about those discussions with [creator] Vince Gilligan and how he helped you unpack this character and the relationship with Carol, Rhea [Seehorn]’s character?
Wydra: I took a break for five years from acting before Zosia came into my life. I walked away at 39 to have kids and my agent and my manager dropped me and it was really terrifying to also be a woman and turning 40, to have children at that time. When Lou [her second son] was maybe a year-and-a-half [old], I got the itch of like, “God, I miss acting so much. How am I ever going to come back? How am I going to get an opportunity?” And I was 43 at the time and out of nowhere I got an email being like, “Hey, there’s this thing …” from a commercial agent that I was on their roster, but I did not work with them. And they said, “There’s this audition.” And I go, “OK.” I read it and I said, “Who wrote it?” And she said, “Vince Gilligan for Apple TV.” I went, “What? OK.” And I didn’t know anything about the project and it was always my dream to work with Vince from when I saw “Breaking Bad.”
Long story short, I’m here and the whole journey has been so wild, so insane. When I first would talk to him about Zosia, I was like, “God, how am I going to tackle the world and someone that has the highest emotional intelligence, someone that does all these different things? And how do you see the Others? How do you want them to move about the world and the complexities of who they are?” Vince is such a beautiful human being. He’s like, “They’re just happy and content.” You go, “OK, yeah, but … what else?” For me, Zosia is extremely spiritual. Meditation was my key, my go-to to get into that zone of connection to humanity, not in the physical but very spiritual way where, [if] you meditate enough, the ego gets lifted and you truly feel connected, and you feel one with everyone. And the wild thing, I think the greatest gift, was becoming a mother; I understood what it means, unconditional love. Because my heart lives outside my body all the time. And so becoming a mother was a gift to play Zosia, because I unconditionally love Carol. And now, no matter what she throws at me, I just love her, and take care of her, and I want to nurture her.
Michelle, you get the call from Taylor Sheridan, who also created “Landman” and “Yellowstone.” He says he wants to meet with you and he wants to do it on his turf in Texas, not yours. There’s no script. What does someone like Taylor Sheridan say to someone like Michelle Pfeiffer that will get her to agree to the show?
Pfeiffer: Well, he gave me a lot of tequila.
LaNasa: Writing this down: Tequila, check.
Pfeiffer: I got a call that he wanted to meet with me, that he had an idea for something, “But you have to come to Texas.” And I said, “Is there anything? Is there an outline? Is there a paragraph?” “No, no. He wants to explain it to you in person.” I had to stay the night in Fort Worth and then met with him and he gave me tequila, and then after a while I had to stop drinking. He gave me a very rough outline of the show, of the character … She’s been with the love of her life for 50 years. It’s the marriage that we all dream of having. And he dies suddenly, tragically, and … all of a sudden the rug is really just emotionally and psychologically pulled out from underneath them. And it’s how do you rebuild a life and it’s the study of grief. He said that I had committed that night, which I did not. I’d had a few cocktails. We went back and forth a little bit about [the fact] that I really would like to read something. And he said, “Well, I would really like to cast this before I write anything.” Then I realized I wasn’t going to win this battle and I reached out to Helen Mirren [who starred in Sheridan’s “1923”], who I don’t know, but I figured she doesn’t suffer fools and she would give me the truth about what it’s like to do this. She couldn’t have spoken [more] highly of everything. She said the scripts are wonderful. The production is wonderful. And loves Montana. And so I took a leap of faith. I never do that.
What stands out to you about his process versus then working with your husband, David E. Kelley, also a prolific writer, who adapted “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”?
Pfeiffer: I couldn’t be luckier working for two of the most talented and prolific writers in the history of television. [They’re] not that much different. I purposefully didn’t want to bug David because it’s not like we had any hard-and-fast rules about not working together, but we weren’t really actively seeking it out because that can get a little dicey, just looking at it from afar. I really cherish my marriage, and our family, and I just didn’t want to mess it up. I really mostly went to the director and every now and then I might throw a little something his way. And [with] Taylor … I would go through Christina [Alexandra Voros], our director, because he’s just not honestly that accessible because he’s got a bit going on. I personally don’t like to spend my time trying to rewrite things. It’s more interesting to me to try to make something work and then I end up finding something I never would’ve decided. It just takes you to a new place and it’s so much more interesting than anything I would have conjured up.
Zahn, you’re not only the lead in “Dark Winds,” but also an executive producer and directing episodes. I know there was a moment where your character was supposed to shoot someone in the face early on. And you felt strongly, “My character’s not someone that would do this.” Talk to me about leaning into speaking your mind.
McClarnon: There’s not a lot of Native characters on television. The foundation of that character obviously comes from Tony Hillerman’s books. So the foundation was set for that character. And when I got to a point in the season where I’m supposed to kill a man, shoot him in the head in the middle of the desert — first off, I didn’t see that in the books. And I know it’s television and we want drama and all that stuff, but also, to be honest with you, I want Native kids — see, I’m going to cry now — to have something to look up to. We grew up with these stereotypes and we grew up with these tropes of Native Americans. The only one I can really remember that I really looked up to was Will Sampson in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” because he was playing a trope, but he becomes the hero at the end of the story. It’s one of my favorite films. So when it came to that point where the writer said, “He’s going to kill this rich white man in the desert and shoot him in the head,” morally, I think Joe Leaphorn is more than that.
And it was simple. I sat down with the showrunner [John Wirth] and we talked about it, and we went back and forth for about a week. And I’m so glad that I have access to somebody like that. I have access where they’re not telling me, “No, this is the way it’s written. This is what you’re going to do.” So yeah, we decided not to shoot the guy in the head, where I’d just leave him out in the desert to fend for himself.
Katherine, you’ve talked to nurses and medical professionals in the making of “The Pitt,” but you were also a patient during your breast cancer journey, interacting with them a lot from the other side. What is something that they’ve told you or even something you observed in that time that really spoke to you about what they’re going through on the day to day in these jobs?
LaNasa: It’s funny, I’d always wanted to work with John Wells. I go through this period of all this unemployment, and then I get this job for John Wells. I had had cancer a year before and then had complications up to like six months before. It wasn’t until I got to the emergency room set that I was like, “Oh, this whole period … ” — the spirituality of that. I really believe that we need to be grateful for our life while we’re living it, no matter what’s going on. Because I still have my children, and I have nature, and I have my husband, and cooking, and my dog, and so many wonderful things. And I was really trying to hold onto that. It’s always this idea that maybe something is for a reason or whatever — now I’m going to cry. The fact that that was so purposeful, that I understood so deeply what it was to be a patient, what it was to be terrified going into the emergency department. I also understood how much it mattered when a nurse took a little extra time and was a little bit kind.
Pfeiffer: You’re going to make me cry.
LaNasa: And there was one particular nurse — I had my cancer, went through my radiation and then [went] back and forth, back and forth [to the ER]. And there was a week, the second trip to the ER [they thought I might have multiple sclerosis]. “Now do I have MS on top of having had cancer?” And I had a breakdown in the ER. And she’s like, “Listen, first six months after cancer are really bumpy, and it’s not going to stay like this. Do you need an Ativan?”
Magnussen: Did not see that turn.
LaNasa: It was that human touch. Or when they would come and give you a warm blanket or something. There’s a nurse, Kathy Garvin at County, who told me she wouldn’t do the job that she does being the [emergency department] charge nurse if it wasn’t in a county hospital. She wants to do that hard work for people that really need her. For the most underprivileged, for the unhoused. And I try to honor that in the story and to just bring that to life — their generosity and their humility.
The Envelope’s 2026 Emmy Drama Roundtable: From left, Zahn McClarnon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tom Pelphrey, Katherine LaNasa, Billy Magnussen and Karolina Wydra.
There’s a lot of discussion in the industry right now about runaway production and can L.A. rebuild and what’s lost. I’m curious how you feel about this topic.
Magnussen: I live in Georgia and … one of our biggest exports as Americans is our culture. And if we just keep it isolated to Hollywood, I think we lose out at expressing everything we are as Americans.
McClarnon: We shoot on the Tesuque Pueblo. There’s 19 pueblos in New Mexico. We have taken over their old casino and we’ve converted it into a soundstage. We use their back lot. We obviously help out the tribe with renting the place out. And so I like shooting in New Mexico and supporting the local community, especially local Natives.
Pfeiffer: I think there’s room for all of it. We shot [a movie] in London that took place in Los Angeles. And it’s ridiculous that our entire industry has left. Los Angeles is really hurting. And a lot of people are hurting. All those jobs, all of those restaurants where people used to eat, people used to shop. And I think to not give the same sort of tax incentives that other states are doing — look, if it takes place in Georgia, you should go to Georgia. But I think Los Angeles was really built on the movie [industry].
LaNasa: I have a 34-year-old and a 12-year-old. I remember with my 34-year-old, even just being a young, starting-out mother, I would be like, “Well, I’m not going out of town. I have a child.” I would never go do a TV show out of town. I had a kid and the kid was in school and I needed to provide consistency for that child. And then with my second one, that was impossible. We would just not have been able to work. But it’s really hard on families. We are actors and we’ve come here to pursue the industry. We’ve moved here and we’ve risked something … L.A., for all of its problems, is a city of dreamers. It’s a city of people that came to pursue their art. And I am one of those people. And so in a way, I wasn’t really a citizen like the other citizens of Atlanta. I was outside. I didn’t have my community.
Magnussen: I know, but that’s the thing I have an issue with is this idea that, “It’s only there.”
Pelphrey: I’ll say this. Love that we get to film all over our beautiful country. Would love to keep the jobs in this country. That would be the nice part. Because when everybody’s like, “Oh great, we can go to Belarus or London.” Guess what? All of us get to go. Our crew doesn’t get to go — the people that we know that we need, that we work with, that we make these things with. We get to go wherever the f— we want, actors, directors, but the crew doesn’t.
