drama

ITV have confirmed that gripping new six-part drama Winter starring Richard Armitage will replace Professor T in its schedule as the final episode of the fourth series airs

The fourth series of Professor T comes to an end tonight.

ITV airs the sixth and final episode of the latest season titled The Warrior Gene on Thursday (September 24) evening as Professor Jasper Tempest (Death in Paradise’s Ben Miller) wrestles with his feelings for Dr Helena Goldberg (Bend It Like Beckhams star Juliet Stevenson).

The synopsis reads: “In the run up to Wilfred and Zelda’s wedding, Jasper is wrestling with his feelings for Helena. Dan is stunned by a new case where he sees a dying man admit he killed someone.

“Whilst Dan and Chloe try to track down who’s been killed, Maiya thinks they are going on a wild goose chase, concerned this is about Dan’s grief over Lisa.

“Zelda has second thoughts about the wedding but when Jasper explains to her that ‘love is enough’, he realises his feelings for Helena and invites her to Zelda’s wedding.”

It continues: “Ms. Snares takes Jasper to Lyndon Collins’ lecture on the warrior gene and Jasper is intrigued by something Collins says about the case Dan is investigating.

“On the day of the wedding and Lisa’s memorial event, Jasper uses the case to get Dan to open up about Lisa and gain the strength to attend her memorial.

“After helping Dan, Jasper returns to Zelda and Wilfred’s wedding and is thrilled when Helena appears. Helena spots Jasper has finally removed his gloves. It’s clear he’s come a long way.”

ITV will fill the Professor T shaped gap in the schedule next week by airing Richard Armitage’s new drama Winter as the actor takes on the role of an unconventional forensic pathologist whose unique approach to murder investigations puts him at the heart of a series of complex cases.

Winter kicks off on ITV1 on Wednesday (September 30) at 9pm with each episode featuring a self-contained murder investigation alongside an ongoing personal storyline for Armitage’s character.

The synopsis for the new six-part series reads: “Although Winter does not always follow the expected rules, he has an exceptional ability to examine the evidence and uncover clues that others might miss.

“His skills bring him together with DI Lauren Bell, played by Annabel Scholey, a meticulous and no-nonsense detective who is equally determined when it comes to solving a case.

“Together, Winter and Bell form a formidable investigative partnership as they attempt to solve some of the most challenging murder cases.”

Professor X is available to stream on ITVX

BBC The Split spin-off The Split Up is here and it features a number of exciting guest stars.

Two British comedy icons are taking on rather less cheerful roles in BBC drama The Split Up.

Sir Lenny Henry and Jane Horrocks play a couple whose marriage is falling apart in the Manchester-set spin-off from The Split.

Their characters’ divorce puts them at the heart of a high-profile case for the Kishan family’s law firm.

Comic Relief co-founder Henry appears in the opening minutes as Alex Edwards, an old friend of the Kishans.

Meanwhile, Absolutely Fabulous, Little Voice and Trollied stra Jane Horrocks features later on in the debut episode as his wife Tash Edwards.

Alex decides to end their marriage after photographs emerge suggesting Tash has been having an affair with “someone half your age”, reports Wales Online.

Speaking to lawyer Aria Kishan (played by Ritu Arya), a devastated Alex looks back on the start of their relationship: “We met when I was 19. Working in a chippy.

“I didn’t know what I was doing or where I was going. And then she turned up and just made sense of it all.”

The role also brings Henry into a drama alongside his life-long friend Sanjeev Bhaskar, who plays Aria’s father, Dhruv. Henry previously appeared in Bhaskar’s sitcom The Kumars at No 42.

Bhaskar was full of praise for his friend’s performance when he told Digital Spy: “I saw Lenny last week actually and I told him how brilliant I thought he was in it and I think he was quite surprised at his own performance.

“I think it’s a testament to the writing and to the directing to get that out of him.”

Henry and Horrocks are not the only recognisable names joining the cast either with The Good Place actress Jameela Jamil also set to feature as Nisha Mantri.

Away from Alex and Tash’s marital troubles, the six-part series follows Aria as she prepares to take over the family firm while planning her wedding.

Her mother died six months earlier, and Dhruv, the founder of Kishan Law, is beginning to doubt whether his daughter is ready for the responsibility.

In addition, the return of a former flame adds another complication to Aria’s life.

The Split Up is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

ITV’s new drama The Blame starring Michelle Keegan and Douglas Booth tackles misogyny that can be found in the UK police force

Deeply offensive messages sent by serving police officers in a group chat are the basis of a storyline featured in ITV‘s gripping new drama starring Michelle Keegan.

Six-part series The Blame, based on the 2023 book of the same name by Charlotte Langley, starts off when the body of a young woman is found in a small town where DI Crane (Michelle Keegan) and DI Radley (Douglas Booth) work.

The duo team up to uncover what happened to a teenage figure skater, Sophie Madsen, and discover “a tangled web of lies, institutional cover-ups and a moral compromise”.

The show tackles misogyny that can be found in the UK police force, and the official synopsis confirms that Keegan’s DI Crane “must navigate both a murder investigation and the treacherous politics inside her own team”.

It also depicts actual text messages from the real-life Metropolitan Police group chat scandals, in which multiple investigations exposed deep-rooted and systemic racism, homophobia, and sexism, dismissed as “banter”, poisoning the country’s top police force.

Speaking about The Blame at ITV Showcase 2026 earlier this year, actor Douglas Booth explained: “There was a Panorama about the Charing Cross WhatsApp messages and texts that are completely sickening, and that was a bit of a basis and model for this group chat to let this toxic behavior spread and rot the department.”

He added: “Every single character in this show is trying to be a good person and nearly all of them are touched by some sort of institutional failure and hold some form of moral injury.”

An official investigation was launched by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which exposed the highly damaging revelations involving officers based at London’s Charing Cross Police Station who shared deeply offensive, racist, misogynistic, and homophobic messages on WhatsApp and Facebook.

First exposed globally in a landmark February 2022 report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the scandal triggered widespread public outrage and directly contributed to the resignation of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick.

The IOPC’s Operation Hotton uncovered a toxic culture within the station’s impact team between 2016 and 2018, which officers routinely dismissed as “banter”.

The watchdog noted a pervasive culture of bullying where good officers were too intimidated to challenge or report their peers. The initial 2022 report led to multiple fast-track misconduct hearings, resulting in several officers being sacked, forced to resign, or barred from policing.

Secret filming aired during BBC’s Panorama Undercover in the Police revealed evidence of racism, misogyny and officers revelling in the use of force at Charing Cross.

Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said at the time: “Enquiries were immediately launched by our Directorate of Professional Standards into allegations of criminality and misconduct by officers and staff based at Charing Cross Police Station.The behaviour as reported is disgraceful and rapid steps to secure evidence and protect the public have also been taken.

“In addition, we are scrutinising more widely the leadership and culture within these teams, led by Professional Standards and senior leaders, to root out any further failings. The leadership of these teams failed to create the right culture that identified warning signs or generated confidence in junior colleagues to report. This is one of the reasons we are taking such assertive exceptional action.

“The Met’s leadership has been very clear that it will not tolerate behaviour that fails to meet the organisation’s standards of professionalism and integrity.”

The Blame airs Sunday, September 20 on ITV1 at 9pm

Premiering Sunday on PBS, “Trespasses,” a four-part adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s 2022 debut novel, is a story of love in a time of choler. Set outside of Belfast in 1975 during the Troubles, it follows a clandestine affair between Cushla Lavery (Lola Petticrew, the serial killer in “Furious”), a 24-year-old Catholic elementary school teacher, and Michael Agnew (Tom Cullen), an older, married Protestant barrister known for defending stone-throwing Catholic youth with an eye to keeping them out of the IRA.

Emptying the thesaurus, press materials stress the hot stuff — “scandalous,” “risqué,” “racy,” “torrid,” “titillating” and “steamy” — and while there is more than a modicum of modest sex scenes, the actual tone of the limited series, as adapted by Ailbhe Keogan and directed by Dawn Shadforth, is quite measured; it runs on talk. That’s not to say, given the setting and the setup, which betokens tragedy as surely as Romeo meeting Juliet, it doesn’t throb with tension, let’s say, three-quarters of the time.

Along with teaching, Cushla works for her brother Eamonn (Martin McCann) at the family bar. The clientele includes Catholics and Protestants, united in their love of whiskey, lately including Michael — whose opposition to extremism grants him the honor of being disliked by both sides — seemingly there expressly, even too expressly, to gaze upon Cushla while he pretends to do crosswords. And she gazes back. Moving through discussions of Malcolm McDowell’s typecasting and group lessons in Irish, led by Cushla, they will go beyond gazing.

She’s a ray of light; he’s magnetically mature. You may or may not buy the mutual attraction the series insists upon, or for that matter, trust the lovers’ motivations. (I think we’re meant at least not to wholly trust Michael, as the older party, with a reputation as a womanizer — I didn’t, anyway.) But you will also be invited to change your mind. Because the camera never leaves Cushla’s side, anything there is to learn we learn along with her, which pays some dramatic dividends and means we’ll be forced to revise earlier judgments, usually for the better.

It’s a dangerous liaison. Michael, who is given to speechifying (and actual speechmaking), declares, “We cannot let the old bigots and the boys with guns tell us how to live … Otherwise nothing will ever change. Hate wins” and, in a favorite refrain, “We must find the bravery to choose freedom over fear.” Cushla, however notes that she comes “from a long line of Catholics that have survived by keeping their heads down and their mouths shut. Having a big opinion like yours, it’s a luxury I don’t have.”

Gerry Harkin (Oisin Thompson), left, Cushla’s colleague and confidant.

(Peter Marley / Channel 4)

Many shots are framed as if Cushla and Michael are being watched, whether or not they are, though sometimes they are, including by each other. (“They like to let me know they know where I am,” Michael says, when Cushla mentions seeing a patrol car outside his flat.) We’re shown the oppressive presence of loyalist troops, and some anti-Catholic vandalism, and a neighbor reflexively checking his car for a bomb, but the greater violence comes through as background noise on the radio or TV news, or reported by Cushla’s young students.

Fortunately, if no less terribly, there is more to the story, and many of the most compelling scenes have little or nothing to do with Michael. (Every scene is a Cushla scene.) She’s wonderful with her class, and her colleague and confidant Gerry Harkin (Oisin Thompson), who will jump onstage at a school assembly to interrupt a strident, bigoted superior, leading the students in a peace song — “Take away the hate and the violence / Bring love into our hearts.” Viewers will consider his bowl haircut a romantic nonstarter, but there are levels to be revealed.

Cushla may not have the luxury of big opinions, but as an obviously good person, whatever one thinks of adultery, she’s unafraid to go against the grain in support of her student Davy McGeown (Daithi Ó Haragain), whose mother (Emily Taaffe) is Protestant and whose Catholic father, in the child’s words, has been “beat up for loving my mummy.” She’s also supportive of Davy’s bright older brother Tommy (Conlaoch Gough-Cunningham), teetering on the edge after the attack on his father.

Above all, there is Cushla’s mother, Gina, played by Gillian Anderson, in a downward spiral since the death of her husband, some two years earlier. Introduced in a state of drunken collapse, Anderson — fearful, bitter, despairing, protective — is quite magnificent limning different levels of intoxication. But she’s even more impressive in her sober scenes, participating in the world beyond her couch, bringing food to the McGeowns and, finally, acting as a mother to Gina.

Michael’s declarations not even aside, Keoghan has a gift for writing dialogue that feels native to the speaker and doesn’t land heavily on a point, and apart from the lovemaking interludes and a gauzy montage of a romantic trip to Dublin, Shadforth’s naturalistic direction enhances the drama by not underscoring it. She has an especially convincing way with party scenes — a school disco, a wedding, an art opening, a birthday party (at which Michael performs a soulful, foreshadowing version of the Carter Family’s “The Last Move For Me”) — where so many productions fall down.

Come for the promised steaminess. Stay for the rest of it.

EXCLUSIVE Coronation Street actress Sair Khan, who plays Alya Nazir on the ITV soap, has teased drama with the Barlows, and told viewers to watch out for Idris Nazir

There could be trouble in paradise for Coronation Street couple Alya Nazir and Adam Barlow very soon.

Sair Khan teased drama with the Barlows, an “uneasy journey” for Adam and Alya, and Sair also teased we should watch out for Alya’s villainous relative Idris Nazir. Sair spoke exclusively to the Mirror while promoting This Girl Can’s recent campaign, Move for 10.

The campaign aims to empower women – particularly those from underrepresented groups or communities – to reconnect with their bodies and find joy through movement. Sair spilled all about what was ahead on the cobbles, and whether she thinks her character Alya’s romance with Adam will last.

She said: “I think for Alya and Adam, there’s definitely not going to be an easy journey. As much as I want to see them committed, it’s not going to be the easiest journey for that to happen. So keep watching just for that. There might be a few obstacles in the way.”

Hoping to revisit the past, she added: “Don’t forget Tracy Barlow was actually responsible for Alya’s father’s death. I guess somewhere that’s not forgotten, even though time has passed.

“So, there is a lot of history there, and a lot of untapped potential either way, whether that’s them repairing and being unlikely friends, or there being a fallout.” Teasing Barlow drama on the way, Sair said she hoped Alya and Adam will make it through.

She said: “I really like the idea of them as a power couple, they’re both serious about their work, they’re kind of a modern day version of what we’ve seen before. I love working with Sam [Robertson] as well, and I really hope it does continue.

“Who knows, their relationship might get more serious in terms of the drama, which you can’t avoid if you’re in a soap opera! I know that Alya is going to be getting in between some of the Barlow drama, but, they’ve been so great with me and really welcomed me into that family, so I’m here for it. I’m here for the drama.”

As for Idris, Sair said she hopes Alya catches him out and holds him to account over his recent manipulation tactics. She said: “I think everyone would be wise to proceed with caution when it comes to Idris!

“As much as he’s family, he’s also a businessman, and he wants to look out for himself, and he’s not come from money and he’s come into it. I think he’s got the taste for success and he won’t necessarily let anyone or anything stand in his way.

“I would like to see him go further, and I would like to see Alya realise the way that she was gently manipulated into giving over her shares of Speed Daal, because at the moment, I think maybe it’s been a bit glossed over, or he’s made her think it’s her idea, whereas is that what she really wants? But there’s always time. Maybe she’ll get it back one day.”

Sair also spoke to us about her reason for taking on the Move for 10 challenge, revealing the positive impacted it has had on her. She told us: “I’ve always admired the This Girl Can campaigns that they’ve run since 2015.

“I just think it’s such a positive and encouraging message that they always send. I think this particular campaign really hit me in a different way. I’m in such a different stage of life than I was when I first started on Corrie.

“I think the campaign really resonated with me because it’s just so easy to do. I think that’s what I need at the moment, to just be able to slot something in into my life without too much fuss.”

She went on: “It’s just difficult because it’s all about balancing, with work and family life, but I almost think that that’s a bit of a myth these days, because sometimes you can do it all, and other weeks work is really busy, or someone at home is sick, and there is no balance to be seen. And I think in those times, you just have to be realistic with your expectations of what you can achieve and just do what you can.

“That’s why the Move for 10 really appealed to me, because it was something realistic, which meant I could still prioritise my own well-being, and still manage to do what I needed to do for my family and what I needed to do for work. I think that’s so important.”

Sair features in This Girl Can’s recent campaign – Move for 10 – which encourages women to move for 10 minutes, 10 times a month. Empowering women to reconnect with their bodies and find joy through movement, unlocking the powerful benefits that small but regular sessions can offer. To find out more search, This Girl Can Move for 10 .

SUPERSTAR Ed Sheeran quietly donated £1.5million to aid in the Middle East ongoing conflict amid the fallout from Macklemore being removed from his Loop tour.

The four-time Grammy Award winner asked US stadium owner Robert Kraft to match his donation to bring aid to the region.

Rather than publicize the generous move himself, Ed’s donation has come to light after Macklemore publicly challenged Robert to match his own £750,000 ($1 million) donation to Palestinian organizations.

Taking to Instagram, Robert wrote: “Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.

“Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.”

Ed’s huge donation comes after 15 years of supporting countless charities around the globe.

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He teamed up with Médecins Sans Frontières across both his Mathematics and Divide tours to help raise money for some of the world’s most conflict-torn states.

The charity provides humanitarian medical care—focusing on projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases.

The fallout comes after Robert Kraft took the unprecedented move to ban Ed’s support act Macklemore from performing at his Gillette Stadium near Boston.

The rapper had used previous support slots to call for a “Free Palestine” on stage and flashed up images of Gaza.

As well as referring to the war as “genocide,” Macklemore also dedicated a song to pro-Palestinian protesters.

Macklemore took to social media to slam the move, prompting a global backlash.

In his statement on Tuesday, Ed, who has tried to keep out of politics all his career, said: “I am appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

“The suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy. There are too many wars across the world causing immeasurable pain, none of which should be tolerated.”

He added: “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living.”

Trigger Point is “reaching a shocking conclusion” in tonight’s season four finale.

Trigger Point season four is almost over and ITV has already confirmed what will be taking its place.

Line of Duty legend Vicky McClure won Best Drama Performance at this week’s National Television Awards and now the explosive series four finale is airing tonight, Monday, September 14.

Fans were left stunned by the penultimate episode when DC Neil Brenton (played by Tom Glenister) was fatally shot as he tried to track down DS Helen Morgan (Natalie Simpson) on his own.

Now, Expo Lana Washington (Vicky McClure) “must fight against the ticking clock to save thousands – perhaps even hundreds of thousands – of lives.”

But as the explosive final airs this evening, ITV has already confirmed what will be taking its place next week.

ITV thriller The Blame will be making its debut on Sunday, September 20, at 9pm, with its second episode airing the following night, Monday, September 21.

The official synopsis for the upcoming drama reads: “While investigating a murder, detectives Emma Crane and Tom Radley find evidence of serious misconduct within Wakestead police, uncovering a web of lies, institutional cover-ups and moral compromise.”

Based on the novel of the same name by author Charlotte Langley, The Blame stars Coronation Street and Our Girl star Michelle Keegan as Detective Emma Crane.

She is joined by The Sandman’s DI Tom Radley, Shetland star Ian Hart as DCI Kenneth Walker and House of the Dragon’s Gavin Spokes as DC Joel Stevens.

The Blame will consist of six episodes with two episodes airing every week on Sundays and Mondays.

Once the series premieres, the entire boxset will be ready to binge-watch on ITV’s streaming service ITVX.

But before The Blame can begin, there is Trigger Point’s grand finale to get excited about.

Its description continues: “Entering a space filled with enemies and the potential for devastating collateral damage, Lana is pushed beyond her limits to stop the bombers’ final plan from reaching a shocking conclusion.”

Trigger Point is available to watch on ITV and ITVX.

The Blame debuts on Sunday, September 20, at 9pm, on ITV.

As the scorching heat of the summer reaches its peak and the calendar brings hope of cooler temperatures, it’s time to fluff the pillows and settle in to enjoy the comfort of the new television season.

But before we turn the page, the Emmy Awards will honor the shows of the past year that had audiences crying, laughing and glued to their screens — some returning this fall, while others bid adieu last year.

The 78th Emmy Awards, honoring the standouts from the 2025-26 television season, will celebrate the shows that gave viewers plenty of reasons to stay in. Whether it was the nail-biting anxiety over the chaos in HBO Max’s drama “The Pitt,” the most nominated show with 25, or laughing at the silly situations of Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay,” which earned 19 nominations, television gave viewers different reasons to watch.

Some of the top contenders are already coming into the ceremony as winners after the first round of awards were handed out earlier this month. “Widow’s Bay” currently leads with eight Emmys, following by six for “DTF St. Louis,” and “The Pitt” won four. Notably, Rob Reiner received a posthumous Emmy for his guest appearance in Season 4 of “The Bear.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2026 Emmy Awards:

Where are the Emmys?

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will take place on Monday beginning at 5 p.m. PT at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles.

Earlier this month, a pair of ceremonies, formerly called the Creative Arts Emmys, honored artistic and technical achievements as well as some performance categories. Those ceremonies will be televised Saturday on FXX at 8 p.m. and stream next day on Hulu.

How can I watch the shows?

The live telecast will be broadcast on NBC and streamed simultaneously on Peacock.

Who is hosting?

Mariska Hargitay at the blue carpet rollout at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Mariska Hargitay, known for playing Olivia Benson on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” will make her hosting debut at this year’s award show.

In an interview with The Times, the multihyphenate said she was excited to televise some “razzle-dazzle” and to become the first woman to host in 15 years.

“Am I scared? Of course I am; I’ve never done this,” she recently told The Times. “But at a certain point, you have to go: Why not me? Bring it on.”

When does the red carpet start, and how can I watch that?

The countdown to the award ceremony will begin at 2 p.m., with several opportunities to see your favorite stars arrive on the red carpet — which is actually blue this year in celebration of NBC’s 100th anniversary — at the Peacock Theater.

E! will get the party started with a programming block from 2 to 5 p.m. with “Live From E!: Countdown to the Emmys,” hosted by Erin Lim Rhodes with Lance Bass and Ciara Miller, and “Live From E!: The Emmys,” hosted by Justin Sylvester, Keltie Knight and Will Marfuggi.

People and Entertainment Weekly will be conducting interviews as guests arrive on their websites and social platforms throughout the day, while NBC will be livestreaming pre-show arrivals on the network’s official TikTok account from 4 to 5 p.m.

KTLA will air “Live From the Emmys,” hosted by Jessica Holmes and Melvin Robert with Megan Henderson reporting, from the blue carpet beginning at 3 p.m. And CNN will air “Red Carpet Live: TV’s Biggest Night” beginning at 2 p.m. It will be hosted by CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister and Variety co-president and co-editor in chief Ramin Setoodeh.

What shows and actors are nominated?

“The Pitt” will defend its drama series title against “The Diplomat,” “The Gilded Age,” “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” “Paradise,” “Pluribus,” “Slow Horses” and “Your Friends & Neighbors.”

Zendaya (“Euphoria”) is looking to become a three-time winner for lead actress in a drama. She is nominated alongside Carrie Coon (“The Gilded Age”), Chase Infiniti (“The Testaments”), Keri Russell (“The Diplomat”) and Rhea Seehorn (“Pluribus”).

Noah Wyle (“The Pitt”) is again nominated for lead actor in a drama, along with Sterling K. Brown (“Paradise”), Gary Oldman (“Slow Horses”), Mark Ruffalo (“Task”) and Rufus Sewell (“The Diplomat”).

“Hacks” earned the most nominations in a single year for a comedy, with 24. It’s nominated for comedy series, as is “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” “Nobody Wants This,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Shrinking” and “Widow’s Bay.”

Jean Smart looks to win her fifth award for lead actress in a comedy series for “Hacks.” She is nominated alongside Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”), Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”), Elle Fanning (“Margo’s Got Money Troubles”) and Lisa Kudrow (“The Comeback”).

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“Wonder Man”), Steve Carell (“Rooster”), Matthew Rhys (“Widow’s Bay”), Jason Segel (“Shrinking”) and Martin Short (“Only Murders in the Building”) are nominated for lead actor in a comedy.

See the full list of nominees here.

Who’s going to win?

It’s looking like a year where the winners will be easy to decipher, according to awards prognosticators, which includes The Times’ award columnist Glenn Whipp. If you’re an actor attached to either the medical drama “The Pitt” or the horror-comedy “Widow’s Bay,” consider yourself the front runner. Noah Wyle and Matthew Rhys are both the leading contenders in their respective categories.

Jean Smart is predicted to complete her sweep of lead actress in a comedy for the fifth and final season of “Hacks.” In the leading actress in a drama, it’s a tight race between Rhea Seehorn for “Pluribus” and Keri Russell for “The Diplomat.”

The second season of “The Pitt” currently stands as the favorite for drama series, while the comedy series category is a battle between new series “Widow’s Bay” and departing series “Hacks.”

Harrison Ford could win his first major acting award, for supporting actor in a comedy for “Shrinking,” unless another veteran actor takes the spotlight — Stephen Root of “Widow’s Bay.”

Supporting actress in a comedy also comes down to the top shows, likely to be between Kate O’Flynn (“Widow’s Bay”) and Hannah Einbinder (“Hacks”).

Who’s going to present?

A number of nominees will present the awards throughout the night. Past and recent Emmy winners, including Linda Cardellini, Sally Field, David Harbour, Zendaya and Alan Cumming will take the stage.

The Television Academy will celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and bring together David Boreanaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar as presenters. They will also honor the 50th anniversary of “Charlie’s Angels,” and reunite Cheryl Ladd, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith.

Other presenters include Odessa A’zion, Macaulay Culkin, Jon Hamm, Marcello Hernández, Peter Krause, Dan Levy, Julianna Margulies, Annie Murphy, Niecy Nash-Betts, Keke Palmer, Amanda Peet, Amy Poehler, Florence Pugh and Rachel Sennott, with more to be announced.

Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan will cover Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during the in-memoriam segment of the show.

It’s been five years since “Call My Agent!,” known in its home country as “Dix pour cent” (“10 percent”), ended with the staff of Paris’ bankrupt ASK talent agency moving en masse toward the exit, as in the closing moments of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

The rich workplace comedy mounted four seasons from 2015 to 2020; the fourth was made without its creator, Fanny Herrero (she went on to create the fine but less successful “Standing Up,” about Parisian comics). But she has returned, along with “Standing Up” writer Lison Daniel, for “Call My Agent! The Movie,” premiering Thursday on Netflix, which picks up the scattered ensemble more or less where they imagined they’d be when the series ended, and gets them back in the same frame.

As a movie, it’s its own sort of beast — a complete statement in a single package, with not just A and B stories, but C and D as well, and arcs that might develop over a season of the show compressed into a couple of hours. But its essentials are essentially unchanged: It’s still about the difficulty of making art, and the often unsavory business that lets art get made, with known actors playing fun house versions of themselves and our heroes attempting to wrangle them into order, with whatever works — lies, bribes, real shared feelings. The regular cast, many of whom Americans will first have met here, still feel identical with their characters, rather than just professionals who have been paid to play them, so that even when the action is outlandish the emotions are real.

The focus here is on the fierce Andréa (Camille Cottin), who has left agenting and is about to direct her first movie, a drama set in the woods, and Noémie (Laure Calamy), whom Andrea hires as a replacement producer — she has become the producer of a hit workplace comedy, “Les Colleagues,” the sort of show that produces a lot of branded merch — believing that she can mold Noémie to her will. On the domestic front, Andréa separated from partner Colette (Ophélia Kolb), a co-parent to her daughter Flora — some sticky questions will arrive, doubling the pressure.

Noémie is still with Mathias (Thibault de Montalembert), once the most formidable of agents, who has quieted down somewhat owing to a Season 4 heart attack, and the fact that he’s working in the agency his daughter Camille (Fanny Sidney) announced at the end of the series. He’s feeling old (comparatively, he is, at 64 — though Liliane Rovère as agent emeritus Arlette beats him at 93) and things with Noémie are not great, which sets the stage for some romantic comedy, including a wild boar.

Andréa’s movie brings the old cast together, including sensitive junior agent turned aspiring actor Hervé (Nicolas Maury), and I am glad to see them. (Stéfi Celma’s Sophia, a receptionist turned actor, is sadly missing.) Much goes wrong, before things go right. (It’s a comedy, they will — though there are some moving dramatic moments along the way.) To be sure, there are no backstage comedies — or dramas, or dramedies — in which nothing goes wrong, or things even go mostly right. Disaster is the air they breathe.

On the eve of production, Andrea loses her male lead (Laurent Lafitte as himself) to a Wes Anderson movie; the psychologically delicate actor they get to replace him, Vincent Macaigne as himself, who’s represented by former ASK agent Gabriel (Grégory Montel), now working for their old rival, has a messy history with the other lead, Laetitia Casta, also as herself. They can barely work together. (There will be a bit of romantic comedy wrapped around this thread, as well.)

Then there’s a storm.

The French actors playing themselves are not well known here — Casta may be more familiar as a ’90s supermodel, for those who are familiar with that sort of thing — but Americans have been given the gift of cameos from Eva Longoria and an uncredited George Clooney who takes a comically unproductive lunch meeting with Andrea, crashed, in more than one sense, by Noémie.

Though the series finale made for a satisfying ending, there was already talk then of another season or a film. Still, “The Movie” arrives seemingly out of left field, as sort of a happy surprise. It doesn’t betray its legacy. We know from the supermarket magazines and internet scandal sites that some actors are seemingly as crazy as these actors pretend to be. But somehow movies get made. Most every show business satire is also a show business celebration. There’s no business like it.

ACTRESS Michelle Keegan has shared a rare snap of her daughter Palma, 18 months, just days after she quit a new ITV drama.

The mum-of-one welcomed the tot with her partner DJ Mark Wright, 39, in March last year.

Stockport-born Michelle and Essex lad Mark have opted to keep Palma’s identity under wraps but have shared brief glimpses into their lives as parents.

And, Michelle couldn’t help but update fans as her little girl hit a huge milestone.

The soap favourite took to Instagram to reveal they’ve been celebrating Palma turning 18-months-old.

In the snap posted online, Palma can be seen facing away from the camera wearing a stylish denim dress.

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She’s holding a tiny wooden plaque, which says the words: “18 months.”

It’s engraved with flowers around the outside and has a little brown bow stuck to the top.

Michelle recently pulled out of a major new ITV drama just months before filming was due to start in November.

The 39-year-old left ITV bosses baffled by her decision to turn her back on the lead role in a big budget production, focusing on a working-class barrister.

Sources said it was “a huge blow” as she had committed to the drama a few months ago and a filming start date had been decided.

Michelle, who decided not to go ahead with the series written by Sherlock writer Steve Thompson, has said she wanted to focus on family life.

A source said: “Michelle was really keen to take on the meaty role, but the heavy filming schedule would take her away from daughter Palma for too long.

“The hours were quite intense and the project was starting straight after her Netflix drama The Woods and she just couldn’t commit.

“She is dedicated to her acting career, but like all working mums has to prioritise being there for her family, juggling work, parenting and being present for Palma.”

Mark and Michelle, who married in 2015, live in a £3.5million mansion near his family in Essex.

The family of three have enjoyed a string of lavish holidays together over the past year, while Michelle has had some time off.

She first made it big in 2008 as Coronation Street’s Tina McIntyre, and starred in BBC military drama Our Girl from 2016 to 2020.

Michelle Keegan has reportedly quit a drama just weeks before she was set to begin filming and now a former Doctor Who star has is said to have taken over the role

Michelle Keegan has quit a drama just weeks before she was set to begin filming.

The actress, 39, is said to have been gearing to take on the part of a working class barrister in a new series that has been penned by Sherlock creator Steve Thompson, with cameras set to roll from November.

But it’s now thought that Michelle, who has to Palma, 18 months, with husband Mark Wright, has pulled out of the project in what is being called a “huge blow” for the production.

A source said: “Michelle was really keen to take on the meaty role, but the heavy filming schedule would take her away from daughter Palma for too long.

According to reports, former Doctor Who actress Jodie Whittaker has been drafted into the role instead but fans of Michelle will soon be able to see her in in Netflix drama The Woods, which is based on the Harlan Coben thriller of the same name.

Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “The hours were quite intense and the project was starting straight after her Netflix drama The Woods and she just couldn’t commit. She is dedicated to her acting career, but like all working mums has to prioritise being there for her family, juggling work, parenting and being present for Palma.”

Michelle shot to fame when in 2008 when she was cast as Tina McIntyre on Coronation Street, and stayed with the soap for seven years before making a permanent exit when the much-loved Rovers barmaid was killed off as part of a whodunnit plot. Since then, she has Michelle has become one of the most famous actresses in Britain, starring in top-rated programmes like Brassic and Ten Pound Poms.

Michelle previously starred in Fool Me Once for Netflix, which was based on Coben’s 2016 thriller, but this time round, she will play Lucy Silverfield, who helps her former partner, played by Tom Bateman. In

When the latest adaptation of The Woods was first announced, Coben said in a statement: “The Woods is a haunting and very personal story. It has everything you expect from us – twisty, turning, gasp-inducing – but at the core is a story of old love and yearning.

“Working with a cast led by Tom Bateman, Michelle Keegan, Mandeep Dhillon, Pearce Quigley, James Buckley, Tom Allen – it’s an embarrassment of riches.”

Penned by Danny Brocklehurst, the upcoming eight-part thriller begins with a mysterious disappearance 20 years ago that leaves a family devastated.

When new evidence comes to light that convinces barrister Paul ‘Cope’ Copeland (played by Bateman) his missing sister could be alive after all, he begins a relentless investigation to unearth the truth.

The Mirror has contacted Michelle’s representatives for comment

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Jason Watkins and Robson Green are back for the next chapter in their dangerous game of cat and mouse.

Channel 5’s The Game season two is well underway with fans already desperate to find out what happens next.

Patrick Harbottle (played by Robson Green) continues to attack Huw Miller (Jason Watkins) and his family from behind bars but this time, he sets his sight on his daughter Margot (Indy Lewis).

This time around, Patrick goes a step further in the second episode, getting prison guard Jackie ( Tanya Franks ) to break into her flat and steal her diary in a bid to really get under Margot’s skin.

Things get even more intense though when she discovers that Huw has secretly visited Patrick in prison again, causing her to “explode”.

But the worse could still be yet to come as she grows suspicious that Patrick has hired someone to stalk her.

But as she grows suspicious that Patrick is hiring someone to stalk her, will Margot be able to trust that her own father wasn’t somehow involved?

When is Channel 5 The Game season 2 next on?

Channel 5’s The Game has returned one year later for its second series which made its debut last night, Tuesday, September 1.

Fans have since been treated to episode two this evening, Wednesday, September 2, but unfortunately, its third instalment won’t be airing on Thursday night as expected.

Channel 5 viewers are going to have to wait until the following week for the remaining two episodes of the four-part drama.

The Game season two, episode three, will be shown on Tuesday, September 8, and the grand finale on Wednesday, September 9, both at 9pm, on Channel 5.

What will instead be taking its place tomorrow night will be the sixth and final episode of Benidorm is Murder starring John Hannah.

The intense official synopsis for the finale reads: “A farewell party takes a deadly turn after a power cut plunges the gathering into darkness.

“When the lights return, one guest lies dead on the floor, a kitchen knife in his chest.

“Forced to investigate to clear his name, Dennis reconstructs the blackout second by second, exposing contradictions in the guests’ stories and asking whether the killing was a sudden act of rage or meticulously planned.”

The Game is available to watch on 5.

The series is based on a best-selling book

A book adaptation hailed a “masterpiece” by viewers is coming to ITV’s streaming service for the first time.

Nine Perfect Strangers, which debuted on Hulu in 2021, will arrive on ITVX in September. It’s not the only new launch landing next month, with all five seasons of Poldark also making its way to the streaming service.

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty, the mystery drama has a star-studded cast list with big Hollywood names such as Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarth.

Luke Evans, Christine Baranski, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Shannon, Annie Murphy and Mark Strong also star.

A synopsis reads: “Nine Perfect Strangers is set at a boutique resort which promises healing and transformation to nine stressed city dwellers.

“Watching over them during the ten-day retreat is resort director Masha (Nicole Kidman), a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. However, these nine perfect strangers have no idea what is about to hit them.”

Nine Perfect Strangers was directed by David E. Kelley, known for Big Little Lies, and has been described as a “suspense-filled drama” with lighter comedic moments. The series explores how far people will go to face their personal demons and get well, shining a light on the world of health and wellness and our constant quest for self-improvement.

And while the drama is new to ITV, those who watched it on Hulu back in 2021 have a lot to say about it.

One viewer wrote on IMDb: “This show is amazing I honestly could NOT stop watching, Great casting very thrilling and suspenseful it definitely had me hooked. Going into this show I honestly did not expect much but boy was I wrong, I’m not gonna spoil anything but trust me you should definitely give this show a watch it will not let you down. 100000 out of 10 perfection, thanks Hulu.”

While another added: “Modern masterpiece.Perfectly relevant. Wonderfully acted across the board. This is top tier production of story.

“Filled with character and drama and poignant climax each episode. There is direction and building and thorough relation with everything. No disappointment episode to episode and an overall positive outcome that closes with satisfaction and optimism. Fiction steeped with reality.The music, cinematography, acting, animation, and overall direction really sends this into the upper echelon. Brilliant.”

Overall, Nine Perfect Strangers has mixed reviews, with some calling the plot “confusing”. Reflecting on this, one fan of the book wrote: “The TV adaptation follows the novel very closely. If you read the book you’ll enjoy it on the screen. If you haven’t read the book, sit back, shut up, and get ready for a bumpy ride. THEN leave your review.”

Nine Perfect Strangers will land on ITVX on September 27.

The star is a mainstay on British screens now but was just at the start of the their career in the costume drama

One of the stars of Silent Witness looks worlds away from their role on the BBC crime drama in these images from their first big screen role.

The star was just starting out at the time they landed a part in BBC’s iconic 1995 Pride and Prejudice adaptation with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Emilia Clarke took on the role of Mr Darcy’s younger sibling Georgiana Darcy in Jane Austen’s cherished romantic classic.

The role saw her character Georgiana making friends with Ehle’s witty Elizabeth Bennet, who was the object of her brother’s affections. The role was just the beginning of an impressive career that saw Fox going on to feature in the BBC’s 1999 Charles Dickens adaptation of David Copperfield, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), and Oscar-winning film The Pianist with Adrien Brody.

The BBC’s 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice is still considered by many to be the most faithful screen adaptation of the literary classic. However, Netflix will be hoping to steal this crown when it launches its version of Pride and Prejudice starring Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden.

Fox spoke last year on Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time podcast about starring in Pride and Prejudice. She explained how she had “tiny, weeny, weeny part in it” in the Regency series.

She went on to admit that she’d never actually seen Pride and Prejudice, despite starring in the series because she was at university at the time, studying at St Catherine’s College, Oxford.

Nonetheless, Fox said she still had plans to watch Pride and Prejudice at some point. She praised the cast of the drama, which also includes David Bamber, House of Cards actress Susannah Harker, Gavin and Stacey star Alison Steadman and Jonathan Creek’s Julia Sawalha.

Fox hails from an acting dynasty, with her brother being White House Farm and House of the Dragon star Freddie Fox. Meanwhile, her actor parents are Joanna David and Edward Fox.

Her uncle is The Remains of the Day actor James Fox and her cousins are Lewis star Laurence Fox, Sanditon’s Jack Fox, and Lydia Fox. The star has been portraying forensic pathologist Dr Nikki Alexander in BBC series Silent Witness since 2004 after taking over as the show’s lead from Amanda Burton.

Despite being busy on Silent Witness, Fox has managed to squeeze in other projects, such as Legend Has It, Signora Volpe, The Trial of Christine Keeler, and Delicious. She is next going to be featuring in the forthcoming season of Silent Witness, which will be out in 2027.

Pride and Prejudice is streaming on U and BBC iPlayer now

John Slattery is leading the cast in US legal thriller, The Rainmaker, which starts on ITV tonight

The Rainmaker starts on ITV tonight.

The ‘one of the best’ legal thriller, which first aired in the US back in 2025, will be airing on Friday, 28 August, at 9pm on the broadcaster. The star-studded show will also be broadcast weekly and also be accessible to stream on ITVX.

A synopsis reveals about the legal thriller: “Based on the best-selling novel by John Grisham, Rudy Baylor, who is fresh out of law school, goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond as well as his law school girlfriend, Sarah.

“Rudy, along with his boss, Bruiser, and her disheveled paralegal, Deck, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son”.

Mad Men legend John Slattery will be playing Leo Drummond in the drama. John, 64, is also known for Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, Spotlight, Avengers: Endgame, Captain America: Civil War and Ant-Man – to name just a few.

Away from his impressive acting career, John is married to actress Talia Balsam with the two tying the knot in 1998. They have a son together, Harry, 27.

Much like John, Talia is famous in the acting world too. The actress, 67, who was previously married to George Clooney from 1989 to 1993, has an impressive career with shows such as Happy Days, Dallas, Taxi, Hill Street Blues, Family Ties, The Larry Sanders Show, and Magnum, P.I.

Other roles include Without a Trace, Homeland and Divorce. In a funny life imitating art twist, John and Talia played husband and wife Roger and Mona Sterling in hit series Mad Men.

Elsewhere, John and Talia, as well as their son Harry, all appeared in the drama The Subject Was Roses.

John previously gushed about his wife in a sweet interview in 2019, telling Closer Weekly: “I just found the right person, you know, I lucked out.

“I guess marry someone you like. We get along well, we always have, and I guess being in show business, some people say it’s difficult.”

He added: “I don’t know. We understand the rhythms of this life, which aren’t easy sometimes and there’s insecurity. You’re not sure where you’re going to be. So I don’t know. I got lucky.”

The Rainmaker is available to watch on ITV and ITVX from Friday 28 August

Fans of Beyond Paradise will love the BBC detective drama created by Robert Thorogood

A BBC detective drama written by Death in Paradise creator Robert Thorogood is airing tonight.

The Marlow Murder Club returns tonight and will air at 9pm on BBC Two. Part one of two of the adaptation of Robert Thorogood’s novel will be shown, starring Samantha Bond, Cara Horgan, and Jo Martin.

The synopsis for the episode reads, “Retired archaeologist Judith Potts’s peaceful evening in Marlow is shattered when she witnesses the murder of her neighbour.

“With the local police, led by newly promoted DS Tanika Malik, reluctant to believe her story, Judith starts her own investigation, enlisting the help of the vicar’s wife, Becks Starling, and local dog walker Suzie Harris.”

Fans can tune in to watch the repeat as they eagerly await the fourth series of the crime drama’s return.

Series four is set to return on free-streaming service U in 2027, and will feature an adaptation of Sunday Times Best Seller Robert Thorogood’s novel Murder on the Marlow Belle, alongside brand-new original mysteries.

Returning to solve more complex and intriguing murders in Marlow are meticulous crossword-setter Judith Potts (Samantha Bond), pillar of the community and vicar’s wife Becks Starling (Cara Horgan), and no-nonsense dog walker Suzie Harris (Jo Martin).

Working tirelessly alongside DI Tanika Malik (Natalie Dew) and her police team, the crime-solving trio put their unconventional methods into practice to catch the killers across three brand-new stories.

Series four begins with the discovery of a body in the river, soon linked to the Marlow Amateur Dramatics Society and a homegrown Hollywood star.

The team must also unravel the truth behind a man’s sudden death at his mother’s wake. He appears to have died from an allergic reaction, but is there more to it than that? And when the co-owner of a vineyard is found dead, drowned in his own wine, the women work to make sense of this seemingly unmotivated murder.

Masterpiece Head of Scripted Content and Executive Producer Susanne Simpson shared about the new series: “The Marlow Murder Club has quickly become one of our most popular Mystery! series.

“The strong female characters with unique skills and a special bond that resonates with our audience. And who doesn’t like to solve a good puzzle?! The fourth season is sure to deliver on everything the fans have come to love about the show.”

The Marlow Murder Club airs tonight at 9pm on BBC Two.

Days after the top elections official in Shasta County announced that he planned to hire an election denier who served prison time for tampering with voting machines, county leaders there made an extraordinary plea to state and federal authorities: Please come investigate.

A statement released by the county Tuesday afternoon said Clint Curtis, the registrar of voters, had made “frivolous” claims and “unproven statements” about the June primary election, which he administered and certified.

“The County condemns the conduct of the Clerk-Registrar of Voters and invites all relevant state and federal agencies to review the allegations he has made and to proactively investigate his official actions and practices as Shasta County’s elections official,” read the statement released by Stewart Buettell, the county’s deputy chief executive officer.

Curtis — whose name was on the ballot, in a race he lost — has sequestered primary ballots in a room in the elections office in Redding, sealing the doors with locks, duct tape and red-lettered signs that read: “KEEP OUT PER ROV CLINT CURTIS.”

Curtis has told reporters that the ballots did not look, feel or smell right and that he had directed facilities workers to put a lock on the room and destroy the keys so that if anyone tries to gain access, they will need a warrant and bolt cutter.

Curtis said he, too, had asked the FBI to investigate.

The county fired back, saying in its statement that it wanted the FBI — as well as the California secretary of state and the attorney general — to investigate Curtis, whose short tenure as registrar has been fraught with controversy.

“Mr. Curtis was appointed to enhance transparency, strengthen election integrity, and restore trust in the democratic process,” the county wrote. “While some progress has been achieved, including the promotion of meaningful observation within the Elections Office, Mr. Curtis has failed significantly in other core responsibilities, undermining the very principles he was appointed to uphold.”

Curtis could not immediately be reached for comment. The FBI field office in Sacramento said it was unable to comment.

The new observation area at the Shasta County elections office.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson, in a statement Tuesday, said he was “aware of the controversy involving the ROV and ballots,” including claims on social media that he had been requested “to sequester alleged illegal or illegitimate ballots locked in the ROV’s office [and] addressing threats made to burn down the facility.”

Johnson said Curtis had agreed to provide a statement regarding a person who allegedly threatened the facility and that it was “an active investigation.”

“It is the Sheriff’s understanding that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is investigating the matter; therefore, Sheriff Johnson is urging members of the public to be patient and await the results of that investigation,” Johnson wrote. “At this point, launching a second investigation could complicate a process already in place.”

In an interview on Lindell TV, created by MAGA conspiracy theorist and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, Curtis said that the ballots “are being held at my office, which is kind of problematic because it’s a really old building and we have a lot of Antifa people,” including one who “once commented how easy it would be to burn that building down.”

The showdown in Shasta comes as Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — who in February used armed deputies to confiscate more than half a million ballots from last year’s special election for Proposition 50 to determine if they were fraudulently counted — is defending that seizure before the California Supreme Court this week.

The Supreme Court justices hammered Bianco, a Republican who came in fourth in this spring’s crowded California gubernatorial primary, in back-to-back hearings Monday. They appeared poised to order the ballots returned and to sharply limit the sheriff’s power to snatch election materials in the future.

In February, Curtis was the first person to publicly announce Bianco planned to confiscate the ballots.

Curtis had worked with the Riverside County citizens group whose fraud allegations sparked Bianco’s investigation, even traveling 600 miles south to speak on their behalf.

Potential hiring of election denier sets off alarm bells

Last week, Curtis drew national headlines by saying he wanted to hire election denier Tina Peters, a former Colorado county clerk who was released early from prison this summer amid a pressure campaign from President Trump.

Curtis, himself a longtime election denier, told The Times in an email that he wanted to hire Peters as a consultant to “to assist with supervision of the November election.”

Tina Peters speaks at the Colorado State Capitol in downtown Denver on April 5, 2022.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

“None of our consultants have access to the voting systems, so she would be insulated from false claims,” he wrote.

Peters was convicted in 2024 and sentenced to nine years behind bars for breaching her county’s voting machines as part of a scheme to show that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump, a claim that has been repeatedly debunked.

She was found guilty of helping an outside computer expert, an associate of Lindell, gain unauthorized access to Mesa County’s Dominion election equipment in 2021 and make copies of its hard drive before and after a software upgrade.

Peters was released from prison in June. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, commuted her sentence after months of haranguing from the president.

Shasta County officials told The Times that any prospective employee or consultant would have to go through the same hiring process as anyone else seeking employment with the county.

Talk of hiring Peters drew swift condemnation from California lawmakers, and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said it was looking into whether a contract with Peters violated state law.

And on Aug. 19, Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, both Democrats, wrote in a letter to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber that they had “grave concern” about Curtis’ plan to hire Peters.

“We are concerned that this hiring decision in Shasta County has less to do with Ms. Peters’ qualifications, and more to do with the President’s obsession with interfering in the midterm elections,” they wrote.

The senators said that if the county hires her, Weber should “provide the maximum oversight possible to ensure that Ms. Peters does not improperly access ballots, voting systems, or sensitive information that could impact the rights and privacy of the over 100,000 registered voters in Shasta County.”

Controversy and censure

Curtis, a 68-year-old attorney, was appointed by the Shasta County Board of Supervisors in the spring of 2025 to fill the position vacated by two previous registrars who resigned for health reasons.

Curtis lived in Florida then, had no previous ties to the area and had never run an election. He got the position after advocating for hand-counting ballots and bragging in a public job interview that he had worked with Lindell.

He promptly eliminated nine of the vast, mostly rural county’s 13 ballot drop boxes. He accused his predecessors, without evidence, of stuffing ballots to sabotage conservative Republicans, and repeatedly called on federal authorities to raid the office and seize ballots from previous elections.

The Board of Supervisors censured Curtis on Aug. 11 for his treatment of staff.

A ballot drop box at the Shasta Lake Visitor Center in February.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

He responded by inviting reporters to the elections office in downtown Redding, where he shared security footage that, he said, showed employees breaking into a room in the building. He allowed reporters to take video of the footage.

The county condemned those actions in an Aug. 14 news release, saying he “has repeatedly been advised of appropriate procedures for addressing and investigating personnel matters and advised of the importance of maintaining confidentiality of such matters.”

Earlier this spring, the county released the findings of two personnel investigations into Curtis’ conduct that were spurred by concerns raised by elections employees and their union representatives.

An internal investigation and an external inquiry by Oppenheimer Investigations Group found that Curtis made phone calls related to his own campaign during county work hours and casually threatened to kill, spank, slap or “throat punch” staffers.

He threatened to have one employee dragged out of the office by their hair, according to an internal investigation report by Monica Fugitt, the county’s director of support services, who wrote that he had “demonstrated a clear pattern of unprofessional and abusive conduct toward staff.”

Curtis has denied the findings.

In its statement Tuesday, the county said he “has made and continues to make unsubstantiated accusations of illegal activities against employees without due process or an investigation.”

Buettell, the deputy chief executive, told The Times that the county does not have the power to terminate Curtis’ employment because he was appointed to fill a vacancy in an elected position.

“As soon as they assume that office, it’s as if they were elected,” Buettell said. To be removed from the office, he said, Curtis would have to be recalled by voters.

A new drama following Nicola Sturgeon and her estranged husband’s fall from grace has been commissioned as television movie for Channel 5 following his embezzlement scandal

Nicola Sturgeon and her estranged husband’s dramatic fall from grace is to be turned into a movie length drama for TV.

Channel 5 announced today they will make a 90 minute factual drama about how Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, embezzled £400,000 from the SNP over a 12 year period.

Called ‘To Nicola, Love Peter’ it will follow the channel’s success with Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards. The drama creators say they will draw on an extensive range of factual sources including evidence gathered by Police Scotland, The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service as well as extensive TV and newspaper interviews with Nicola Sturgeon and interviews with other key protagonists.

Ben Frow, Chief Content Officer, 5 said: “This is an epic tale of Shakespearean proportions. An extraordinary tale of power, envy, deception and greed.

“It’s both a high-stakes political melodrama and bizarre domestic drama that has dominated headlines and gossip columns. We will be pulling together the events and characters involved to create a compelling revealing drama, as well as answering that very important question – why would anyone pay £2,600 for a pair of salt & pepper grinders…?!”

In June, former SNP chief executive Murrell was sentenced to five years and three months in jail after he admitted to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party.

Murrell – the estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon – used the funds to buy goods ranging from cars and a motorhome to kitchenware and toiletries.

The Glasgow home he shared with Sturgeon was searched as part of the police operation, as was the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh.

Murrell’s largest single purchase, in 2020, was a £124,550 luxury motorhome, paid for entirely with party funds. When it was seized by police three years later, it had only ever been driven four miles.

Murrell also used party funds to buy further items including a £3,223 coffee machine, a £3,000 robotic lawn mower, £2,600 salt and pepper grinders and a £425 gold pendant that Sturgeon was photographed wearing.

Sturgeon has said she was not aware that Murrell had purchased many of the high-value items listed in court documents. The former first minister has consistently insisted that she had no reason to believe that Murrell had not used his own money for the items he was buying.

Sturgeon had stepped down as first minister in March 2023 and was arrested In June 2023. But she was later told she was not being investigated.

Last year Sturgeon announced that the pair were ending their marriage. She appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe earlier this month and in an on stage interview told the audiences she “feels like a mug” for caring about estranged husband Murrell.

She also claimed he “lied right up until he pled guilty”, and said she won’t be visiting him in prison.

Sturgeon also said: “Over the years, he never really levelled with me. The day he pled guilty, I was still learning about some of the detail of what he had done for the first time. I suddenly realised I had been living with somebody that I never really knew properly.”

Casting for ‘To Nicola, Love Peter’ is currently underway with filming likely to begin later this year. it is expected to air on 5 in 2027.

Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards pulled in almost two million viewers when it aired earlier this year on 5.

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