A woman has been badly injured after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony while celebrating her 30th birthday on a dream holiday in Greece. Denby McLaren suffered a broken vertebra, multiple broken bones in her foot and other injuries in the fall.
She his now in hospital in Greece, with her family desperate to bring her home to Larkhall, South Lanarkshire. Denby had been enjoying a birthday getaway with her mum.
A fundraiser set up to help get her home said: “No family should ever have to experience something like this, and never in a million years did we imagine we would find ourselves in this position. Denby was on holiday in Greece with her mum, celebrating what should have been a very special milestone – her 30th birthday.
“What should have been a happy time filled with memories has turned into every family’s worst nightmare.”
The fall left Denby with serious injuries and facing a long road to recovery far from home and her loved ones.
The fundraiser adds: “Denby has now spent four days in hospital in Greece, far away from home, her family and the people who love her most. It is impossible to put into words the fear, heartbreak and uncertainty that Denby and our family are experiencing right now.
“In a matter of moments, everything changed, and we are now facing a situation none of us could ever have prepared for. Our biggest wish is simple: we just want to bring Denby home.”
Denby requires specialist repatriation by air ambulance, travelling on a stretcher with medical assistance throughout the journey. But the cost has added further strain to the situation.
The fundraiser said: “We want nothing more than for Denby to be back on home soil, surrounded by her family, where she can receive the ongoing medical care and treatment she needs and begin the long road to recovery with her loved ones by her side.
“Right now, being able to get her home safely is our greatest priority. No one ever expects something like this to happen to someone they love, and the emotional and financial strain has been overwhelming.”
Who doesn’t love a Hollywood ending — or a beginning?
The only guide you need for fall entertainment.
As summer gives way to the inevitable grunts of awards-season jockeying, how wonderful it is to crawl back into the head of our favorite portal John Malkovich, returning with his most complex work in years in “Wild Horse Nine” (hitting theaters Nov. 6). Meanwhile, Jordan Firstman made his name with viciously funny online “Impressions” and a spotlight-stealing turn on HBO’s “I Love LA,” but did you know he was Trojan-horsing in a triple threat? “Club Kid” (out Nov. 6) marks the arrival of a serious screenwriter, director and star making a feature debut of rare wisdom.
Read on for features about those two movies, and if you’d like more options, here are 17 fall titles worth getting excited about in the coming months.
‘Resident Evil’ (Sept. 18)
Austin Abrams in “Resident Evil,” directed by Zach Cregger.
(Sony Pictures Releasing)
Milla Jovovich brought stony-faced supermodel moxie to 2002’s underrated first film and her subsequent franchise was a mixed bag. But there’s a whole global fandom of obsessives who feel that none of these movies truly got the crux of what made Capcom’s original games such an all-night fixation. One of those people turns out to be filmmaker Zach Cregger, who, between “Barbarian” and his Oscar-winning “Weapons,” can now write his own ticket. As unlikely as it seems, this reboot is a project he has spent a considerable amount of his newfound Hollywood capital pursuing and you have to love him for it. Apocalyptic Raccoon City and a viral zombie outbreak are sure to figure, but also, given the Cregger of it all, spooky subterranean passages and confident performances, this time from Austin Abrams and Paul Walter Hauser. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘Digger’ (Oct. 2)
Tom Cruise in the movie “Digger.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Tom Cruise has been busy these last 15 years, starring in five “Mission Impossible” movies, reboots of “The Mummy” and “Top Gun” and a handful of other would-be blockbusters best forgotten. In nearly all of them, he plays a version of the unstoppable Cruise persona. And that’s a performance for sure. But we haven’t seen him play a real character in a long time, which makes his new movie my most-anticipated of the fall, even if the trailer makes it look like it could be a tonal train wreck. Billed as a “comedy of catastrophic proportions,” “Digger” has Cruise playing a Texas oil man charged with saving the world from an environmental disaster that he appears to have caused. The writer-director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, is a five-time Oscar winner, but not a filmmaker known for his humor. That makes the trailer’s absurdist tone and visual style intriguing (and also concerning). Iñárritu clearly loves “Dr. Strangelove,” as do we all. Fingers crossed. — Glenn Whipp
‘Fjord’ (Oct. 9)
Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve in the movie “Fjord.”
(Neon)
Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival — the second for writer-director Cristian Mungiu and an astonishing seventh in a row for distributor Neon — this is a gripping morality tale specifically designed to make viewers question their instinctive reactions no matter where they sit on the political spectrum. A conservative religious couple (Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, both giving quietly riveting performances) relocate from Romania to a small village in Norway and soon find that the outwardly progressive locals are less than welcoming. The Gheorghius’ five children are taken into protective custody amid allegations of abuse and soon enough, it seems that their beliefs and values are being put on trial. Fans of “Anatomy of a Fall” (another Neon title) will appreciate the detailed glimpse inside another international legal system, as the courtroom scenes are full of tension, emotion and surprise. — Mark Olsen
‘The Social Reckoning’ (Oct. 9)
Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg in the movie “The Social Reckoning.”
(Leah Gallo / Columbia Pictures)
It’s been 16 years — an eon in internet time — since David Fincher made gripping drama out of coding, depositions and bruised male egos in “The Social Network.” Facebook’s story has since then taken a far darker turn: Russian troll farms, growing concerns about worsening teenage mental health and election misinformation. Aaron Sorkin, who scripted the first film, both writes and directs the follow-up, drawing on internal Facebook documents that whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) leaked to Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) for the paper’s “Facebook Files” investigation. In a particularly inspired bit of casting, Jeremy Strong succeeds Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. After playing Kendall Roy, a would-be mogul desperate to seize power in HBO’s “Succession,” and Roy Cohn, a fixer who wielded it ruthlessly in the Trump biopic “The Apprentice,” Strong may have been preparing for Zuck all along. That alone might be reason enough to log back onto Facebook. — Josh Rottenberg
‘Sense and Sensibility’ (Oct. 16)
Daisy Edgar-Jones, left, and Esmé Creed-Miles in the movie “Sense and Sensibility.”
(Focus Features)
You come to “Sense and Sensibility” for sisterly love, for Edward and Elinor, for wit and cleverness, for nosy neighbors, for passionate longing, brooding, Byronic suitors and happily-ever-afters. The 1995 film adaptation of the Jane Austen classic, directed by Ang Lee with Emma Thompson starring and writing the screenplay, was damn near perfect, setting a high bar for any and all comers. So it’s with pleasure (and relief) that I can report that the latest version, directed by talented British filmmaker Georgia Oakley, will delight Janeites and anyone else who appreciates a smart, charming costume drama. The film faithfully adheres to the text, foregrounding the relationship between the Dashwood sisters, the passionate Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles) and the pragmatic Elinor (Daisy Edgar-Jones). It’s fresh without needing to lunge for all the compulsively shocking aesthetics that undid Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” earlier this year. Oakley crisply delivers everything you want, everything you need. — G.W.
‘Whalefall’ (Oct. 16)
Austin Abrams in the movie “Whalefall.”
(20th Century Studios)
If you’re a sucker for that “Pinocchio” sequence in which Geppetto gets swallowed by a whale, you’ll dig Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Daniel Kraus’ “Whalefall,” a drama about a Californian scuba diver stuck in the stomach of a 60-ton behemoth. That’s bad enough. Worse, the kid’s oxygen tank is running low. One part survival quest, one part ghost story, the narrative centers on the young man hallucinating his abusive dead father, who advises him on how to escape. I devoured the book in one weekend, but couldn’t imagine how this claustrophobic nightmare could possibly translate to film. Director Brian Duffield (“Spontaneous,” “No One Will Save You”) has braved the challenge. Austin Abrams plays the trapped swimmer; Josh Brolin is his seafaring dad. It’s a reunion for two of the leads in last year’s “Weapons.” Steel yourself for slimy bile, sticky emotions and wet tears. — Amy Nicholson
‘Clayface’ (Oct. 23)
Tom Rhys Harries in the movie “Clayface.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Even comic-book obsessives will mention a dozen other DC villains before digging out Clayface, the nom de gloop of a disfigured actor transformed into human Play-Doh. But after the animated series “Harley Quinn” stretched the character into a squishy, vulnerable showboat, I’m curious to see what he looks like in the hands of James Watkins, director of the mischievous 2024 thriller “Speak No Evil.” Watkins has a vicious sense of humor and the casting of Welsh theater actor Tom Rhys Harries in the title role is a signal that the film might be a performance showcase in the vein of Tom Hardy’s roiling split-personality turn in “Venom.” Early glimpses of footage at CinemaCon hint that the script by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini is most hyped to mix the superhero genre with icky body horror. Apparently, there are images in which Clayface doesn’t even have a face. — A.N.
‘Fatherland’ (Oct. 23)
Sandra Hüller and Hanns Zischler in the movie “Fatherland.”
(Agata Grzybowska / Mubi)
Paweł Pawlikowski has made a specialty of looking at European history from close range: the aftermath of the Holocaust in the Oscar-winning “Ida” and the Iron Curtain era in “Cold War.” Eight years after the latter, Pawlikowski returns with this spare black-and-white drama, for which he left Cannes with a directing honor. Hanns Zischler plays author Thomas Mann, the Nobelist and critic of Hitler, returning to Germany in 1949 after 16 years in exile, with his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller) behind the wheel. Their journey takes them through a ruined country eager to reclaim one of its greatest writers without dwelling too much on why he fled. After the moral minefields of “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest,” Hüller seems ideally cast as Erika, a writer and committed anti-Nazi unlikely to let her father, or the country around him, off the hook. — J. Rottenberg
‘Klara and the Sun’ (Oct. 23)
Jenna Ortega in the movie “Klara and the Sun.”
(Sony Pictures)
When novelist Kazuo Ishiguro published “Klara and the Sun” in 2021, a book narrated by an artificial intelligence still felt safely like science fiction. Five years and one AI boom later, the future has arrived early. Jenna Ortega plays Klara, a solar-powered “artificial friend” purchased as a companion for an ailing teenager (Mia Tharia) whose mother is played by Amy Adams. Klara observes the humans around her with extraordinary attentiveness but only a partial understanding of their behavior, gradually forming her own ideas about love, loneliness and what makes one person irreplaceable to another. Taika Waititi, whose movies have ranged from the antic Nazi satire “Jojo Rabbit” to the candy-colored superhero spectacle of the “Thor” films, is an unexpected match for Ishiguro’s quiet, melancholy story. But with people already turning to chatbots for companionship, the film’s central question no longer feels quite so theoretical: What happens when the machine stops feeling like a machine? — J. Rottenberg
‘Wicker’ (Oct. 23)
Alexander Skarsgård and Olivia Colman in the movie “Wicker.”
(Kristof Galgoczi Nemeth / Black Bear Pictures)
Most of the questions you have following the recent trailer that sent the internet into a tizzy are in fact answered by seeing the movie itself. Set in an indistinct Mitteleuropean village of an uncertain era, the story follows an unmarried fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) who asks her friend, a master basketweaver (Peter Dinklage), to make her a husband. And does he ever, sending over a mass of reeds fashioned into Alexander Skarsgård. Their little community goes berserk, full of curiosity and more than a hint of jealousy at their loving and compatible albeit unconventional union. Adapted from an Ursula Wills-Jones short story by the husband-and-wife writer-director team of Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, the film never overlooks how absurd its premise is, but also finds tender emotional notes within it as well. “Wicker” is a wise, warm allegory examining community and relationships — and why we need the things we do. — M.O.
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ (Nov. 6)
A scene from the movie “Godzilla Minus Zero.”
(2026 TOHO)
Three years ago, the post-World War II period thriller “Godzilla Minus One” was a monster smash, earning the 72-year-old franchise its first Oscar win and biggest box office haul to date. (What, you thought the radioactive lizard wouldn’t come back?) Takashi Yamazaki’s sequel — the 39th Godzilla movie, if you’re counting — takes place in 1949 Tokyo after disgraced kamikaze pilot Kōichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki) has begun to rebuild his life with new wife Noriko (Minami Hamabe). In still-traumatized Japan, simply having hope for tomorrow is brave and foolhardy with an angry kaiju sulking in the Pacific. Yes, Godzilla exploded in the last film. Since when has that mattered? “Godzilla Minus Zero” has giant shoes to fill, but personally, I couldn’t care less if the green guy wins another Academy Award as long as the multiplex enjoys a shivery blast of his atomic breath. — A.N.
‘Paper Tiger’ (Nov. 13)
Adam Driver in the movie “Paper Tiger.”
(Neon)
A favorite of international festival programmers and film critics for decades now, James Gray has never quite had his breakthrough with mainstream audiences. That may finally change with his latest, which finds him again exploring the rich, complicated bonds of family amid the betrayals and uncertainties of New York’s outer-borough criminal underworld in a way that feels totally fresh and new. Miles Teller is a family man drawn into a business scheme by his ex-cop brother (Adam Driver) that puts them both afoul of the Russian mob in a story set in Queens in the 1980s. Scarlett Johansson plays Teller’s wife. All three give what are easily among their career-best performances as Gray steadily ratchets up the tension with a master’s hand, melding the crime thriller with domestic drama in a distinctive way. With a tremendous payoff in its devastating climactic sequence, this feels like the film Gray has been building toward his entire career. — M.O.
‘Elsinore’ (Nov. 20)
Andrew Scott as Ian Charleson in the movie “Elsinore.”
(Anthony Dickenson / Focus Features)
The Scottish actor Ian Charleson would forever be an Olympic runner on the beaches of “Chariots of Fire,” head tipped back in a kind of spiritual ecstasy. The role brought him international acclaim, but there weren’t enough of them, and a secret battle with HIV and AIDS took its toll. But what Charleson didn’t know was that, near the end, he would embark on the run of his life, performing a legendary Hamlet onstage in a race with death. Andrew Scott carries the whole of this exhilarating biopic on his knitted brow, diving deeply into the metaphysical darkness of Shakespeare’s text, into the rituals and camaraderie of actors and, ultimately, into the defiance of an artist who only wants to disappear once more into his art. Inexplicably overlooked for “All of Us Strangers” and “Blue Moon,” Scott is just now arriving at a kind of effortless humility, dazzling yet approachable, that puts him in the company of the all-time greats. — J. Rothkopf
‘Josephine’ (Nov. 20)
Mason Reeves in the movie “Josephine.”
(Sumerian)
If we are to have things like a “Sundance Film Festival” or “independent cinema,” it should be to support and nourish movies like Beth de Araújo’s powerful San Francisco-set thriller, about a violent sex crime witnessed by an 8-year-old, who is altered by the experience but then called upon to be a courtroom voice in the world of adults. Everyone who has come together to make this tricky but meaningful project seems to be operating on a higher plane: For Channing Tatum, playing a dad increasingly out of his depths, it’s an opening door to the kind of complex roles he has earned from being a dependable goof. For Gemma Chan, as a parent dealing with the unthinkable, the film is a promise fulfilled. But for young Mason Reeves, imbuing the title character with an evolving mystery that suggests a prodigy, “Josephine” is a revelation. — J. Rothkopf
‘Minotaur’ (Nov. 20)
A scene from the movie “Minotaur.”
(Mubi)
The whispers were fierce at a recent Academy Museum screening of Adrian Lyne’s windy erotic thriller “Unfaithful” as plugged-in attendees looked for points of similarity with Andrey Zvyagintsev’s sleek domestic drama, one that dominated this year’s Cannes conversation. Both movies are remakes of Claude Chabrol’s 1969 “The Unfaithful Wife,” but Zvyagintsev kicks the concept up to expert level, turning an affair and its brutal repercussions into a referendum on Russia’s new-money detachment: eating, lying and screwing with the Ukraine war out of mind. Was Zvyagintsev able to shoot in Russia itself? Of course not — he needed to film in look-alike Latvia. That’s how dependably infuriating he is to the authorities. But it’s a miracle he’s shooting anywhere at all: A case of long COVID, a coma and a yearlong hospital stay almost snuffed out one of the boldest filmmakers on the planet. His return to action is a grand piece of fortune. — J. Rothkopf
‘The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth’ (in Imax Nov. 25; on Netflix Dec. 23)
Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in a scene from 2019’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”
(Andrew Cooper / Sony Pictures Releasing)
Three years ago, Quentin Tarantino teased that his 10th and final film would be “The Movie Critic,” centered on a film reviewer for a 1970s porno rag, but he scrapped it and pivoted to a sequel featuring Brad Pitt’s stuntman from “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.” Tarantino didn’t want to direct it, though, preferring to challenge himself with something more ambitious for his sign-off. So he handed the screenplay — an “unwieldy thing,” he calls it — to David Fincher, tasking him to shrink it down. And that’s how we’ve arrived at a collaboration between two defining American filmmakers who came to prominence in the ’90s and share an interest in dark impulses that often turn violent. How Fincher will meld his clinical precision to Tarantino’s yo-gabba-gabba gonzo spirit is the movie question of the season. — G.W.
‘All of a Sudden’ (Nov. 25)
Tao Okamoto, left, and Virginie Efira in the movie “All of a Sudden.”
(Neon)
It still feels like a magic trick, the way Japan’s Ryusuke Hamaguchi turned “Drive My Car,” a three-hour movie about grief and chauffeuring (among other subjects), into a 2022 Oscar juggernaut. The director is back to remind you of everything you loved about that one, plus he’s got even more in the trunk. Many filmmakers are indulged with long running times; few of them make them as worthy and unnoticeable as Hamaguchi. He’s also in a class with Richard Linklater and virtually no one else when it comes to the lingering, evolving conversation, the kind that drifts into flirtation, debate and something soul-revising. Here it’s between two women (Tao Okamoto and the emotionally reverberant Virginie Efira) who, over the course of a walk along the Seine as dusk turns to night, find themselves bonded by something unexpected. “All of a Sudden” has death on its mind, but also how we live and care for each other en route to that destination. It’s a conversation we all need to have. — J. Rothkopf
As we head into fall television season, you might notice some familiar titles, not just because a few shows are returning for new seasons, but because they’re prequels, continuations or adaptations of well-known books or films — sometimes both.
The only guide you need for fall entertainment.
Hollywood has leaned into established IP this season, but if you’re seeking an original story, don’t fret, several of those are coming too. Viewers will have plenty to cozy up to, with a slew of series dropping around holidays — a perfect time to binge your new favorite watch.
‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story,’ Sept. 17 (Netflix)
Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden in Netflix’s “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.”
(Netflix)
Described as a “darkly comic spin on a Victorian-era murder,” the fourth installment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s true-crime anthology chronicles the story of Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden, who in 1893 was the prime suspect in the still unsolved ax murders of her father and stepmother inside their Fall River, Mass., home. The 32-year-old “spinster” was tried by an all-male jury who found her innocent of the gruesome crime. Their quaint view of women as meek, docile and powerless clearly worked in her favor. Ella Beatty plays the rage-filled, blood-spattered Borden in this eight-episode series. Charlie Hunnam, who appeared in the third installment of “Monster,” portrays her wealthy but ultimately unfortunate father Andrew Borden, and Rebecca Hall plays his second wife, Abby Borden. The drama reportedly includes the music of modern artists such as Kate Bush, while the trailer simply leans into the haunting Victorian-era nursery rhyme “Lizzie Borden took an axe …” — Lorraine Ali
‘Brothers,’ Sept. 23 (Apple TV)
Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in Apple TV’s “Brothers.”
(Ryan Green / Apple TV)
Twelve years ago, after their chemistry lit up Season 1 of “True Detective,” stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey became Hollywood’s most beloved bromance. When Harrelson later told a tale in which McConaughey’s mother revealed she had known Harrelson’s father around the time McConaughey was conceived, it made a lot of hot-rumor sense. Also, apparently, a fine pitch for a series, with the two men playing fictionalized versions of themselves. After a family crisis, Harrelson flees with his wife and daughters to McConaughey’s Texas ranch where he hears a similar “I knew your father” story from Ma Mac (Holland Taylor). As he decides what to do, McConaughey decides to run for governor of Texas. The personal eccentricities of the two leads, along with their odd-couple vibe, provide most of the show’s humor, but the best reason to watch is Taylor, who shows both stars how it’s done, by stealing the show from under their feet. — Mary McNamara
‘American Hostage,’ Sept. 20 (MGM+)
Jon Hamm as Fred Heckman in MGM+’s “American Hostage.”
(Steve Ackerman / MGM+ / Sony Pictures Television)
Set in the 1970s, this anthology series based on a scripted podcast of the same name tells the true story of Fred Heckman, a respected radio journalist played by Jon Hamm, who also executive produces. Heckman, the news director of WIBC-AM in Indianapolis, is placed at the center of a story when hostage-taker Tony Kiritsis (Giovanni Ribisi) requests to be interviewed by the newsman as police attempt to negotiate the release of his hostage, mortgage broker Dick Hall (Kristoffer Polaha). The series contemplates topics like shady lending practices by financial institutions — something that will resonate deeply with today’s economy — and the ethics of placing oneself in a news story. Shawn Ryan (“The Shield,” “The Night Agent”) and Eileen Myers (“Big Love”) serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. — Maira Garcia
‘East of Eden,’ Oct. 1 (Netflix)
Mike Faist as Charles Trask, Christopher Abbott as Adam Trask and Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames in Netflix’s “East of Eden.”
(Netflix)
Zoe Kazan has established herself in the past several years as a versatile artist who impressed critics and audiences with her lead role in “Ruby Sparks” and her Emmy-nominated performance in HBO’s “Olive Kitteridge.” The spotlight is likely to get brighter with Netflix’s “East of Eden,” the latest adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel. A previous version of the novel was directed by Kazan’s grandfather Elia Kazan, and is best known as one of three films starring James Dean. Zoe Kazan is the writer and co-showrunner of the Netflix project, which stars Florence Pugh as anti-heroine Cathy Ames — a character sidelined in the 1955 film. Christopher Abbott (“Girls”) and Mike Faist (“Challengers”) co-star. — Greg Braxton
‘Below,’ Oct. 8 (Netflix)
Josh Hartnett as Calvin and Mackenzie Davis as Fonda in Netflix’s “Below.”
(Netflix)
Summer is over, but that doesn’t mean there can’t still be stories about killer creatures under the sea. Netflix’s “Below” joins the watery spectrum already inhabited by “Jaws,” “The Meg,” “47 Meters Down” and numerous other entries as it unveils its premise about a seaside town targeted by a mysterious monster. Josh Hartnett (“Trap”) stars as a fisherman and single father living in a small Newfoundland town who must find a way to protect his family and the community when an unidentified creature starts wreaking havoc. He joins forces with a marine researcher (Mackenzie Davis of “Station Eleven”) who informs him of the town’s mysterious history and buried secrets. — G.B.
‘Cupertino,’ Oct. 8 (CBS)
Rachel Keller as Olivia Siffre, Ella Stiller as Christy Palladino and Mike Colter as Michael Price in CBS’ “Cupertino.”
(Elizabeth Fisher / CBS)
Robert and Michelle King return to the network and territory of their acclaimed series “The Good Wife” with this Silicon Valley-based legal dramedy, replicating that show’s mix of quirk, current events and courtroom nail-biters. To continue the David vs. Goliath comparison the network has put out, it launches its stones at the brow of the tech industry, with Mike Colter and Rachel Keller as lawyers fired with bad cause who team up to defend the little guys from the big jerks. Ella Stiller is their ingenuous aide-de-camp, Busy Philipps a flamboyant investor and Renée Elise Goldsberry as an opposing counsel who has history with Colter. — Robert Lloyd
‘Avatar: Seven Havens,’ Oct. 9 (Paramount+)
Saheli Khan as Pavi, Dee Bradley Baker as Geet/Ruhi and Aishwarya “Aishu” Devan as Nisha in “Avatar: Seven Havens” on Paramount+.
(Paramount+)
When “Avatar: The Last Airbender” premiered over 20 years ago, it introduced audiences to a world inspired by Asian and Indigenous cultures, where certain people can manipulate elements through a martial arts-infused ability known as bending. It also helped show that an animated kids series can tackle weighty themes such as war, genocide, imperialism, sexism, propaganda and political corruption in a serialized story and be a hit. In the world of “Avatar,” there is one special bender who is the master of all four elements — water, earth, fire and air — and is tasked with maintaining balance in the world. Set after the events of “The Last Airbender” and “The Legend of Korra,” “Avatar: Seven Havens” follows the current incarnation of the Avatar, Pavi. Young Pavi and her twin sister, Nisha, live in a world that no longer sees the Avatar as humanity’s savior after it was devastated by a calamity. Pavi and her allies still have to figure out a way to save the world, though. Every Avatar seems to have to deal with problems caused or left unresolved by their predecessors. As a Korra fan, I’m curious to see what sort of legacy she ended up leaving behind. — Tracy Brown
‘VisionQuest,’ Oct. 14 (Disney+)
Paul Bettany in Marvel’s “VisionQuest” on Disney+.
(Marvel)
When we last saw Vision (Paul Bettany), the reconstructed synthezoid and former Avenger had just regained his memories — thanks to an assist from his magically created double — before flying off into the unknown at the end of “WandaVision.” Much has changed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since then, but I’m ready to dive back into this corner of the multiverse occupied by “WandaVision,” “Agatha All Along” and the upcoming “VisionQuest.” Capping off the TV trilogy, the new series will see Vision navigating life after “WandaVision” along with existential questions about his personhood and identity with the help of some friends in the form of other Marvel AI and robots, including Ultron (James Spader). Both “WandaVision” and “Agatha” were meditations on grief, trauma and motherhood, by way of sitcoms and magical escape rooms, respectively. I’m interested to see how this final installment will explore the patrilineal connection between Ultron, Vision and Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica), one of Wanda and Vision’s long lost twins who were magically created in “WandaVision.” Could the series tee up a full Maximoff family reunion? I hope so. — T.B.
‘Crystal Lake,’ Oct. 15 (Peacock)
Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees in Peacock’s “Crystal Lake.”
(Peacock)
Drew Barrymore made a fatal mistake in the opening scene of the 1996 horror film “Scream” when the creepy murderer on the telephone quizzed her about the name of the killer in the original “Friday the 13th.” When Barrymore answered “Jason Voorhees,” she was reminded that the original killer was actually Pamela Voorhees, Jason’s mother. Pamela is center stage in “Crystal Lake,” Peacock’s prequel to the bloody franchise launched in 1980. Linda Cardellini (“DTF St. Louis”) plays the grief-stricken mother who seeks revenge after her son drowns at a summer camp. There will be blood. — G.B.
‘The Diplomat’ Season 4, Oct. 15 (Netflix)
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler and Allison Janney as Grace Penn in Season 4 of “The Diplomat.”
(Netflix)
For those of us who stay ready for the Kate Wyler 2028 campaign, it’s time to lock in. The highly competent, intensely impulsive, deeply flawed and incredibly relatable political power player with unapologetically messy hair is back to clean up more backroom deals and betrayals, volatile international crises and unstable government leadership — all while managing a topsy-turvy marriage tangled up in it. The fourth season picks up directly after the Season 3 finale cliffhanger, where Kate (Keri Russell) learned that her husband, Vice President Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), and President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) secretly conspired to steal a Russian nuclear weapon. The new season will explore the fallout and tension in domestic and international relationships, and the marital strife in between. Somehow, political chaos feels good in a show like this. — Yvonne Villarreal
‘Nocturne,’ Oct. 30 (Apple TV)
Stephen Graham and Liev Schreiber in Apple TV’s “Nocturne.”
(Dennis P. Mong Jr / Apple TV)
Stephen Graham plays the diabolically cunning serial killer Jurek Walter in “Nocturne,” a chilling psychological thriller that promises “Hannibal”-level creepiness (as in the film). The 10-episode drama stars Liev Schreiber as Jonah Lynn, a former soldier turned homicide detective who moves to a small town in western Pennsylvania after working the tough streets of Philadelphia. But the peace and quiet he hoped for is shattered when his family is targeted by Jurek. Lynn’s surrogate daughter, FBI Agent Saga Bauer (Zazie Beetz), steps in the fray, upping the stakes. Based on Lars Kepler’s crime novels “Lazarus” and “The Sandman,” the series also stars Bill Camp, Rory Culkin, Poorna Jagannathan, Chrissy Metz and Gary Carr. The cast alone should make “Nocturne” a killer thriller, but we’ll have to wait until October to see if it slays. — L.A.
‘Yellowjackets’ Season 4, Nov. 20 (Paramount+)
Sophie Thatcher as teen Natalie in the finale of Season 3 of “Yellowjackets.”
(Paramount+ with Showtime)
At the end of Season 3, “Yellowjackets” gave us an on-the-nose cliffhanger: We see young Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) reach a cliff, satellite phone in hand, as Aerosmith’s “Livin’ on the Edge” plays. She screams into the receiver, “Can anyone hear me?” Response: “I can hear you.” Over the past three seasons, the Yellowjackets, the New Jersey girls soccer team lost in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash, have been trying to survive harsh weather, a lack of food and medical care — and one another. It appears we’ll finally get to see them rescued, based on the recent trailer for the new season, as well as the aftermath. The series, created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, was originally pitched as a five-season arc, but they announced last year that Season 4 would be the last. The dual timelines in the show, where we see the survivors as teenagers and adults, have felt disconnected at times, but let’s hope this season finally offers clarity. — M.G.
‘Dig,’ Nov. 23 (Peacock)
Hugh Laurie as Neville and Amy Poehler as Elise in Peacock’s “Dig.”
(Colleen Hayes / Peacock)
A new comedy series starring Amy Poehler that she co-created with “Parks & Recreation” executive producer Michael Schur? Sign me up! The workplace at the center of “Dig” is an excavation site in Greece, where Poehler’s Elise is among a team of archaeologists that unearths a rare artifact. According to the logline, this discovery kicks off an “adventure of a lifetime” — and I’m curious what that might mean for people whose careers presumably involve carefully sifting through old dirt all day. The show also stars Hugh Laurie as Neville, a British archaeology professor, as well as Geraldine Viswanathan, Antonia Thomas and Fina Strazza. The series is based on Kate Myers’ novel “Excavations,” and in the book, the four central women have their own issues and hang-ups and don’t really get along, at least initially. If there’s anyone I trust to mine comedy gold with that setup, it’s Poehler and Schur, who is co-showrunning with J.J. Philbin. — T.B.
‘Blade Runner 2099,’ Nov. 25 (Prime Video)
Hunter Schafer as Cora in Prime Video’s “Blade Runner 2099.”
(Clay Enos / Prime)
Having slept on the franchise’s previous sequel, “Blade Runner 2049,” I find myself quite excited by the prospect of this tale of biological and synthetic life forms in a smoggy, next-millennium Los Angeles, not least (and likely most) because Michelle Yeoh stars in it. Yeoh plays an aging replicant detective in search of rogue replicants — here, in a “Planet of the Apes” style twist, the world has turned upside down, with the artificial life forms in power and the people powerless. Hunter Schafer plays Yeoh’s partner, a human masquerading as a replicant. (As to L.A., you will not recognize the old place, which in any case was created in Prague and Barcelona.) — R.L.
‘The Hunting Wives’ Season 2, Nov. 26 (Netflix)
Malin Akerman as Margo, left, and Brittany Snow as Sophie in Season 2 of “The Hunting Wives.”
(Netflix)
For those who are watching the show for the plot, get ready to yeehaw about all the melodrama that’s about to hit your screen. Following its massive breakout success on Netflix, the series about East Texas socialites is back for a twisty and steamy eight-episode second season that will no doubt launch a heavy helping of memes, GIFs and explicit fanfics. For the uninitiated, the series based on May Cobb’s bestselling novel follows Sophie (Brittany Snow), a married East Coast liberal who moves to a wealthy Texas town and immediately becomes infatuated with Margo (Malin Akerman), the local queen bee of a clique of conservative women who have a knack for behaving badly. Their toxic, lusty friendship and the show’s crime mystery subplots had viewers hooked. After the chaotic events of the Season 1 finale, the new episodes pick up with Sophie and Margo on the outs but pulled back into another dangerous game of cat and mouse that will make their situationship all the more complicated and angsty. But fear not, Margo’s wig remains a comforting presence through it all. — Y.V.
‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,’ Dec. 25 (HBO)
Ron (Alastair Stout), Harry (Dominic McLaughlin) and Hermione (Arabella Stanton) in HBO’s “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.”
(Aidan Monaghan / HBO)
In the U.K., Christmas Day telly is a much bigger deal than it is in the U.S., which may be why HBO decided to launch its new “Harry Potter” series, beginning with the U.K.-titled eight-episode “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” on Dec. 25. “Highly anticipated” doesn’t even begin to cover it; a quarter century since the film versions began lighting up the box office, the story of “the boy who lived” continues to entrance fans old and new. Starring newcomers Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Alastair Stout as Ronald Weasley and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, the series promises a richer, more detailed adaptation of the books, along with a more contemporary feel. With John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as Hagrid and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, the cast is just as formidable and star-studded as the films. And with a reported $58-million price tag, the production values should burn just as brightly, especially at Christmas. — M.M.
‘North of North’ Season 2, Fall 2026 (Netflix)
Anna Lambe as Siaja in Season 2 of “North of North” on Netflix.
(Netflix)
No news regarding the coming fall season has made me happier than the return of this sunny, aspirational Indigenous comedy, set in a small town among the Inuit people in Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost territory. A luminous Anna Lambe plays Siaja, who in the first season went a long way toward finding herself in a life bounded by a narcissist husband (estranged, but always around), a once-difficult mother, a rambunctious child, a new love interest, a surprising father, a capricious yet not uncaring boss (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and a mythological sea spirit — in other words, lots to go on in a second season. (For even more Canadian content: “Kids in the Hall” alum Bruce McCulloch joins the cast as a first-aid instructor.) — R.L.
‘Pride and Prejudice,’ fall 2026 (Netflix)
Lizzie (Emma Corrin), Jane (Freya Mavor), Mrs. Bennet (Olivia Colman), Lydia (Rhea Norwood), Mary (Hopey Parish) and Kitty (Hollie Avery) in Netflix’s “Pride and Prejudice.”
(Ludovic Robert / Netflix)
Every generation gets its own Mr. Darcy. Experiencing Jane Austen’s most famous work — whether on the page or on the screen — is a cultural rite of passage for many young women. The 1995 BBC miniseries starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, and the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen, are the two definitive, most popular screen adaptations of the classic novel, often drawing fierce debate from enthusiasts about which is better. (Sorry, but that misty sunrise walk by MacFadyen’s Mr. Darcy changed lives — namely, mine — and will always give the 2005 version a slight edge in my eyes.) Now, the classic novel is getting its streaming-era adaptation. Written by bestselling author Dolly Alderton (“Good Material”), the six-part limited series promises to be a faithful adaptation. Emma Corrin (“The Crown”) and Jack Lowden (“Slow Horses”) take the mantel as the original and ultimate enemies-to-lovers couple, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Will it live up to its predecessors? Will it capture Austen’s witty text and unforgettable scenes of yearning? I don’t know. But I’m going to watch it anyway because — I mean, come on — it’s “Pride and Prejudice” and I’m just a girl who’s always on the lookout for slow-burn tension and hand-flex close-ups. I’m preparing myself now for the hours of sleep I’ll lose getting sucked into the TikTok discourse about it. — Y.V.
LAS VEGAS — Mitch Marner scored a power-play goal from the high slot at 2:41 of overtime to give Vegas a 2-1 victory over the Kings on Saturday on a night in which the Golden Knights paid tribute to their past.
Trevor Connelly scored the other goal for the Golden Knights. Connelly, Marner and Mark Stone each had two points, with Stone getting both of his on assists. Carter Hart made 26 saves.
Artemi Panarin scored for the Kings and Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves.
Vegas (5-1) is off to a quick start this season, and the Kings (0-2-2) are still searching for their first victory.
Each club swapped power-play goals in the second period, with the 20-year-old rookie Connelly scoring after Stone’s pinpoint cross-ice pass. Panarin answered with a shot from the high slot later in the period.
In overtime, the Golden Knights quickly took advantage of a tripping penalty on Kings center Scott Laughton. Marner skated from near the blue line toward the slot, scoring just seven seconds into the penalty.
The Golden Knights, in their 10th season, paid tribute throughout the game to their inaugural “Misfits” team that reached the Stanley Cup Final. Gerard Gallant, who coached that team, was in attendance along with several players from that squad. Fan-favorite Ryan Reaves, who retired last month after 16 NHL seasons, cranked the pregame siren.
Referee Furman South briefly went down to the ice early in the third period when Vegas center Nic Dowd collided with him. South got up holding his midsection, but remained in the game.
Up next for the Kings: vs. Edmonton at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.
Michael Harris II shouldn’t have been 90 feet away from scoring the go-ahead run in the first place.
But he was, after Teoscar Hernández took a bad route to his line-drive triple. Then, to make matters worse, Dodgers left-hander Kris Bubic lost control of a sweeper. It flew high and outside, off the end of catcher Will Smith’s glove and to the edge of the grass behind home plate.
Harris scored standing up. And the Dodgers handed the lead back to the Atlanta Braves.
The Dodgers had every advantage heading into Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Braves. In a 3-2 loss to even the series at one win apiece, they gave away every edge they had.
“The advantage for us is we have an opportunity to not let their pitching staff come up for air,” manager Dave Roberts said this week, when asked about how taxed the Braves pitching staff was coming out of their wild-card series. “… We have an opportunity to really expose them if we take the right at-bats and the right approach.”
Braves left-hander Ray Kerr, who excelled out of the Braves bullpen down the stretch as a long reliever, served as the opener Sunday, in the Braves’ second straight bullpen game this series and third overall. And for the second straight day, the Dodgers failed to score against the Braves opener or even run up his pitch count to get him out of the game early.
The Dodgers managed just two hits off Kerr, each to open an inning. Freddie Freeman lined a single into right field to kick off the second inning. And Miguel Rojas sent a double into the left-field corner to begin the third.
The Dodgers stranded both.
The failure to bring in Rojas was especially egregious. Tommy Edman popped up a bunt immediately after. Then Mookie Betts, the Dodgers’ only other baserunner before Kerr handed over the ball with two outs in the third inning, drew a four-pitch walk. Shohei Ohtani came up to the plate with two runners on and popped up a high cutter on a full count. He was the last batter Kerr faced.
So, the Dodgers offense let the Braves come up for air. And Dodgers left-handed starter Blake Snell’s short start forfeited their starting pitching advantage Sunday.
His first inning could have been a bigger blow. With one out, Snell gave up a single to Ronald Acuña Jr. and then walked Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies to load the bases. He escaped with just one run scored, on a grounder up the middle from Mauricio Dubón. Betts made a diving stop but had no chance at throwing out Dubón at first.
Snell then struck out Sean Murphy to end the inning, finishing the at-bat with three straight curveballs for strikes.
The one-run deficit could be erased. But the damage on his pitch count, up to 27 in that first inning, was done.
Snell surrendered just one more hit, but when he issued his fifth walk of the game, with two outs in the fourth inning, his pitch count was already up to 90 pitches. Roberts strode from the dugout to pull him from the game. Snell had lasted just one inning longer than the Braves’ opener.
In the bottom half of the inning, Freeman, who was optimistic that he could shake off his September slump over the bye week, tied up the game with a solo homer. But in the fifth, the Dodgers handed the lead right back to the Braves.
With two outs, in an 0-2 count, Bubic got Harris to chase an outside sweeper moving away from him. Harris leaned over to get his bat out to it and send a line drive into the left field corner.
Hernández took a circuitous route to the ball, trying to cut it off and then having to adjust back when it became clear he was too shallow. He still only missed the ball by inches, and it carromed off the wall, allowing Harris to reach third base, in position to score on a wild pitch.
The Braves expanded their lead in the seventh inning against Dodgers hard-throwing right-hander Edgardo Henriquez, who gave up a single to Olson and an RBI double to Harris.
Then right-hander Roki Sasaki got himself into a bases-loaded situation in the eighth, with Ronald Acuña Jr. at the plate, but got out of it with a double play. Sasaki then retired the side in order in the ninth.
By contrast, the Dodgers offense barely threatened in the late innings. The Braves relievers retired 15 of the last 16 batters they faced to end the game, with Max Muncy’s solo home run in the ninth the only exception.
Rookie Josue De Paula made his psotseason debut as a pinch hitter, with two outs in the ninth. But he popped up in foul territory to end the game.
Next, the series heads to Atlanta, where the Braves will have home-field advantage for two games.
A Northern California community college wrestling star slipped and fell to his death Sunday at Yosemite National Park, officials confirmed.
Santa Rosa Junior College sophomore Ryan George died in an apparent accident, his college coach, Fred Duerr, posted in a statement Tuesday.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat broke the news Tuesday, saying the 19-year-old “was hiking with friends near Illilouette Falls in Yosemite when he reportedly slipped and fell to his death.”
“Details are limited right now, and it’s been a really hard time for us all trying to process everything,” Duerr said in the statement. “If you knew Ryan, you know he was one of the most genuine, positive people you could ever meet. He had this way of lighting up a room, making you feel welcome, and bringing out the best in everyone around him.”
Yosemite National Park officials did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
George is listed as a Santa Rosa native in the school’s media guide and graduated from Montgomery High School in that city.
Last season, he enjoyed a strong run through the state championship in the 197-pound division. He entered sixth-ranked and finished with five victories, including two falls, en route to third place.
His finish was impressive considering he lost in the second round of the double-elimination tournament.
George rallied with perhaps his best effort of championships, defeating No. 5-ranked Dominic Sanders Jr. with a pin in 2 minutes, 38 seconds, in elimination bracket action.
He picked up the bronze in that tournament by defeating teammate Joe Ellis via a 6-2 decision.
“He was an amazing leader and wrestler, but more than that, he was an amazing human — kind, loyal, funny, and the kind of friend everyone wishes they had in their life,” Duerr said. “We love you and we will miss you so much, Ryan. Thank you for everything you gave us all.”
Shohei Ohtani’s swing was a little out in front of a slider delivered by Padres left-hander Robbie Ray. But Ohtani held back his hands long enough to extend them to the pitch and shoot it through the right side of the infield.
It wasn’t flashy. But considering it was his first at-bat in more than two weeks, in a tough matchup no less, it was a promising sign.
“It’s been a while since he’s played in a game, but it just felt like he wasn’t sped up at all,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 5-1 loss to the Padres. “And I think he came out of it pretty well.”
The good news quickly dried up for the Dodgers after that, as they missed a chance to clinch a first-round bye with a win. But Ohtani’s return was still significant, and the success of his end-of-season tune-up will have playoff implications.
Ohtani did not address reporters Wednesday and has only done so once in the last five weeks, despite multiple requests.
The Dodgers activated Ohtani, who went one-for-four Wednesday, from the 15-day IL before the game and optioned rookie Josue De Paula to Triple A. De Paula is still under consideration for the National League Division Series roster as a bat off the bench.
“This was the original thought, that once Shohei gets back, we’re going to send him out,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We had a runway to give him, which we gave him and he performed more than admirably. This also, as far as the timing, just gives us an opportunity to potentially have him back for the postseason. He’s a part of the conversation, and he’s earned that, and that’s what I told him last night.”
De Paula joined triple-A Oklahoma City for Game 2 of the PCL Championship on Wednesday. And Ohtani slid into the Dodgers lineup, hitting second in the batting order for the first time this season, with Mookie Betts leading off against the Padres southpaw.
“I know Shohei, Mookie, they’re always on board with whatever I decide to do,” Roberts said. “I think it just makes it tougher to navigate versus left. There’s a Mookie tax [to get to Ohtani]. If you want to get to Freddie [Freeman], there’s a Will Smith tax. I like that. And versus a right-hander, I like kind of flipping those two for the same reasons.”
Ohtani, welcomed back in his first at-bat by a partial standing ovation, walked in his second plate appearance. And with two out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning, he appeared to have walked again.
Then Padres catcher Ethan Salas tapped the top of his head to challenge the ball call. And an ABS review showed the fastball had clipped the top of the strike zone. Ohtani fouled off the next two pitches before whiffing on a sinker to end the inning.
That missed opportunity rolled right into a sloppy fifth inning for the Dodgers defense.
Starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto had given up a two-run homer to Manny Machado the previous inning but had otherwise avoided damage.
To open the fifth, he induced Salas to hit the ball on the ground, but it got away from second baseman Tommy Edman as he dove up the middle, for a single.
Yamamoto then got a soft grounder out of Fernando Tatís Jr. But it was too soft, giving Tatís time to reach first before third baseman Max Muncy could get off a throw.
With runners on first and second, Yamamoto had a chance to contribute on defense, fielding Dustin Harris’ comebacker bunt. But Yamamoto’s throw to third sailed wide, allowing a run to score. Machado then made it a 4-1 game with a sacrifice fly.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto reacts after a throwing error to third base in the fifth inning.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Ohtani came up to the plate again in the seventh inning and put Dodgers fans on the edge of their seats by sending a long fly ball to straightaway center field. But the cheers died down as it fell shy of the fence.
“I think if you look back at the last couple weeks when he was active, he wasn’t really getting to that pitch,” Roberts said of the high fastball. “I think there might have been one pitch late that he squared up to left field that was at the top of the zone. But outside of that it was hard for him to catch up. I think tonight showed that he’s in a good spot physically.”
The top of the Dodgers order got one last chance to start a rally in the ninth inning, against star closer Mason Miller. Only Will Smith reached base, on a walk, and advanced to third on defensive indifference. Ohtani struck out on a slider.
“[Ohtani] certainly feels way better with the rest,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said before the game. “The biggest thing with five games to go is get him as many at-bats as we can, some rhythm and timing.”
Ohtani could get a day off in that span, Friedman said, but the Dodgers will make those decisions based on how he’s feeling.
“Just getting as many at-bats as he can and that rhythm and timing back before we head into October is going to be really helpful,” Friedman said.
Ohtani was not in rhythm before he landed on the IL. In the last three weeks before the Dodgers finally shelved him, he had a .130 batting average. And he only had two hits in his last seven games (26 at-bats) before the move.
“You end up making subconscious adjustments where you’re protecting yourself,” Friedman said, “and there’s just slight degradation as that’s happening that compounds over time.”
Though the Dodgers downplayed the correlation before Ohtani landed on the IL, they now hope that Ohtani’s improved health will go hand-in-hand with better performance.
“Shohei says he feels back to where he was earlier in the year, which is great, which is a good start,” Friedman said. “As they are coming back, it’s important for them to feel that way … now the question is, as you start to load on real games and that intensity and that workload, it’s making sure that what we’ve done keeps guys in position to be at their best.”
Lorraine Kelly sent a sweet message to her mum, Anne Kelly, on Tuesday’s episode of the show
Lorraine Kelly sent a sweet message to her mum, Anne Kelly, on Tuesday’s episode of the show (Image: ITV)
Lorraine Kelly revealed her mum had suffered a ‘bad fall’ on Tuesday’s episode of Lorraine.
During the latest installment, Lorraine, 66, marked her mum Anne Kelly’s 85th birthday with a sweet message live on air before sharing a sad update regarding her mother.
Lorraine said: “Happy birthday to my wee mum. Happy birthday. There we are” to which a photo of Lorraine and Anne appeared on screen before a picture of Lorraine, Anne and her brother Graham was also shown.
In a sad update, Lorraine added: “Sadly, she’s back in hospital. She had a bad fall. She’s in Hairmyres Hospital. So thanks to everybody that’s looking after her, saw her at the weekend, of course. But yeah, God bless her. I hope she has a good day.”
Lorraine continued: “Mum, have a great day. Have a great day as much as you can. Happy birthday!”
Taking to Instagram, Lorraine also shared a post for her mother, writing: “Happy 85th birthday to my mum. Sadly celebrating in hospital today after a bad fall resulted in broken arm.
“Saw her at weekend and she’s getting well looked after. Hopefully back home with us soon #birthday #mum.”
Responding in the comments, one person said: “Happy birthday to your mum, hope she gets well soon” with a heart emoji.
Another account wrote: “Happy birthday hope you’re better soon xx” while another follower added: “Happy Birthday wishes to your lovely mum. Hope she has a good recovery.”
A different show watcher put: “Happy birthday/speedy recovery” while another fan added: “Happy birthday to your gorgeous mum. It’s my birthday tomorrow xx.”
Earlier this year, Lorraine announced the death of her dad. The Scottish broadcaster took to Instagram at the time to share the devastating news with her online followers.
Lorraine’s father, John, worked as a TV service engineer and was known for his passion for science and astronomy, which the TV presenter had inherited from him.
Sharing a snap of herself and her late dad, the ITV star said: “Very sad news. My dad has died. I am mourning the man who bought me a telescope when I was five years old, who watched the moon landings with me and taught me to always be curious and interested in everything. He was in poor health but it has still been a shock.
“Any of you who have experienced a similar loss will know how my brother Graham and I are feeling. Our priority is taking care of my mum and the family would very much appreciate privacy at this distressing time. We will miss you dad.”
Lorraine continues on weekdays at 9:30am on ITV and ITVX
High pressure is building across the UK and this means the weather will become more settled with brighter conditions.
After a chilly start on Monday morning, with sunshine and light winds across much of England and Wales, temperatures will climb into the low 20s.
Even with more cloud in Scotland and Northern Ireland, it will turn warmer with highs also reaching 18 to 22C.
It will also start to feel more humid again.
That more humid air combined with light winds across England and Wales into Tuesday means it will start off rather misty and foggy with areas of low cloud for some.
Once the sun has broken through though, it will feel warmer still.
Temperatures could peak at around 24 or 25C in south-east England, but reach the low 20s Celsius in many other parts of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Eastern Scotland.
The highest temperature though will be determined by how much the cloud breaks allowing the strong September sunshine through.
2026 has already been a record-breaking year for the number of days above 25C, with last week exceeding the record of 89 days set in 1959.
Morocco’s Justice and Development Party (PJD) went from a decade of being the main political beneficiary of the country’s post-2011 reforms to suffering a dramatic electoral defeat in 2021.
The party won 107 of the 395 seats in Parliament in the November 2011 election, after protests that year called for political reform, greater accountability and a more responsive government. Its leader, Abdelilah Benkirane, became head of government.
Morocco’s 2011 constitutional changes expanded the formal powers of Parliament and government while retaining significant authority for the monarchy. The king appoints the head of government from the party that comes first in the House of Representatives, while he chairs the Council of Ministers, where strategic orientations of state policy are considered.
In the 2016 election, the PJD increased its seats to 125, but Benkirane spent months unable to form a governing coalition. In March 2017, King Mohammed VI ended his mandate and appointed Saadeddine Othmani to replace him. The PJD remained in government until its electoral collapse four years later.
In the September 2021 election, the party fell from 125 seats to just 13, losing 112. The National Rally of Independents (RNI) won 102 seats and became the largest party.
How much of the comeback rests on Benkirane?
Benkirane’s return raises another question: How much of the PJD’s comeback is being built around him?
A recent Al Jazeera Studies analysis describes Benkirane as a political “brand” whose long public career, media presence and direct communication style have created a personal profile that can function as electoral capital for the party.
It examines whether his visibility and personal appeal can help the PJD rebuild after its 2021 collapse.
Benkirane remains one of Morocco’s most recognisable political figures. But his return does not by itself show that the PJD has rebuilt its support.
The party lost 112 seats in 2021; its task now is to turn the attention generated by its leader into support for the party itself.
A broader programme
The PJD’s 2026 programme contains 467 measures across five broad areas: identity and family; political and institutional reform; public services and social protection; the economy and employment; and foreign policy.
It calls for greater transparency in public procurement, rules addressing conflicts of interest and illicit enrichment, and improvements to public services. It also highlights housing, social protection, food, water and energy sovereignty.
Its programme foregrounds practical issues such as prices, jobs, schools, hospitals and corruption.
The PJD is campaigning on public services, jobs, purchasing power and political reform as it seeks to rebuild after its 2021 electoral collapse [Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP]
Saad al-Sabahi, 38, who works with the PJD’s regional secretariat in Casablanca-Settat, said the programme was developed through studies, consultation meetings and proposals submitted through an online platform.
“These commitments cover a range of sectors and areas affecting the lives of the Moroccan people,” he told Al Jazeera, pointing to political participation, fighting corruption, public education, healthcare, employment and economic sovereignty.
“These commitments, among others, form the basis of the agreement between the party and voters. We will work to fulfil and implement them with integrity and competence,” al-Sabahi said.
What changed after 2021?
The PJD says one of its main lessons from the 2021 defeat has been the need to reorganise internally and examine more critically its years in government.
“The party was able to overcome its crisis following its extraordinary and regular congresses, and after Secretary-General Abdelilah Benkirane took over the leadership,” al-Sabahi said. “The party also reorganised its internal affairs through communication and the renewal of its structures.”
The party’s own assessment of the 2021 defeat includes criticism of its political and organisational choices. It has also accused unnamed actors of undermining democratic choice and pointed to what it describes as electoral corruption and disinformation.
Those are the PJD’s explanations for the result, rather than independently established findings. But the scale of its losses forced the party to confront how far its record in government had separated it from parts of its former support base.
That matters particularly when it comes to younger voters.
Imane Traifi, 37, of the PJD Youth, said the party needed to create sustained opportunities for young people to take part in political life rather than treating them simply as voters during election campaigns.
“We are keen to ensure that young people move from being recipients to becoming participants, initiators and people who take on responsibility,” she told Al Jazeera.
The ghosts and crocodiles
However, a question for any future PJD government is not only what it would seek to change, but what it could change once in office.
Benkirane repeatedly referred to “ghosts and crocodiles” as a metaphor for powerful or hidden interests that he said had obstructed his government when it was in power.
The clearest example is the party’s position on Israel.
The PJD has campaigned against Morocco’s normalisation with Israel and continues to support the Palestinian cause. Its 2026 programme explicitly calls for opposition to normalisation. Yet Morocco restored diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020 while the PJD was in government and Saadeddine Othmani was head of government.
The PJD opposed the move, while Othmani later defended it as a state decision and said Morocco’s support for the Palestinian cause remained unchanged. The agreement went ahead in December 2020 as part of a US-brokered deal that included Washington’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Six years later, the relationship has moved further. On September 16, Morocco and Israel agreed to elevate their diplomatic missions to embassy level and appoint ambassadors, while also expanding air travel and advancing economic and trade agreements.
The PJD reaffirmed its opposition to normalisation and cooperation with Israel the following day, describing its position as longstanding.
But it also leaves a question for the party’s return: If such forces were powerful enough to constrain the government then, what has changed?
Has the PJD developed a different understanding of the limits of government authority or will it find itself once again beset by “ghosts and crocodiles”?
The limits of government power
The PJD has made clear on several occasions that the change it seeks is from within Morocco’s existing political and constitutional system, rather than a challenge to the monarchy itself.
Benkirane has repeatedly reaffirmed his support for the monarchy while arguing that elected institutions should play their role in governing and improving the country.
That distinction is important to understanding the PJD’s return. Its opposition to policies such as normalisation with Israel sits alongside its acceptance of a constitutional and political framework in which the monarchy retains a central role in strategic state decisions.
Under the constitution, the king chairs the Council of Ministers, which considers the strategic orientations of state policy.
That applies not only to Israel but to other areas where major policy decisions remain closely tied to the monarchy.
For the PJD, rebuilding means more than recovering the seats it lost in 2021. It means showing what it learned from a decade in government, what it can deliver and how it would avoid the political costs of its collapse.
Al-Sabahi said the party wanted to regain what he described as the gains citizens had previously enjoyed.
“We will work to restore the gains that citizens previously enjoyed and to restore their dignity and rights,” he told Al Jazeera.
Yassine Elachiri, a member of the National Bureau of PJD Youth and the party’s National Council, said the relationship with younger Moroccans had to be built over time rather than during campaigns.
“Earning the trust of a new generation of young people cannot be reduced to electoral mobilisation or short-term campaigns in the run-up to voting day,” he said. “Rather, it is a cumulative process built on sustained engagement, guidance, training and creating opportunities for young people to participate actively in public affairs.”
“Our goal is not simply to reach young people at the moment of an election, but to build a lasting relationship with them based on trust, training and active participation,” Elachiri said.
![The PJD is campaigning on public services, jobs, purchasing power and political reform as it seeks to rebuild after its 2021 electoral collapse [Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP]](https://i0.wp.com/occasionaldigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/AFP__20260912__C84F3GR__v1__MidRes__MoroccoPoliticsElection-1789565328.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)