However, a new series will rewind the clock back to World War II and feature younger versions of beloved characters Sisters Julienne, Monica Joan, and Evangelina, originally portrayed by Jenny Agutter, Judy Parfitt, and Pam Ferris, during the London Blitz.
The three-part mini-series, called Sisters In Arms, is expected to take pride of place during the forthcoming Christmas period.
Fans will no doubt hope Dr. Turner’s character is explored in the prequel, given his previous hints of a troubled past.
The much-loved family man has been a staple of the drama since its launch, and viewers have been gripped by his professional and personal life.
Fans will remember the touching moment when Dr. Turner (Stephen McGann) found love with former nun, Shelagh Mannion (Laura Main), with the couple now raising four children together in their cosy home.
However, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Dr. Turner, as it was revealed that he suffered a severe mental breakdown in 1945. The horrors of World War II became too much to bear for the doctor, requiring a five-month stay in a psychiatric hospital.
During series three of the BBC show, Dr. Turner and Shelagh attended an in-depth adoption meeting where he was asked about his career break from April to December 1945.
“I was injured”, Dr. Turner protests before declining to comment further on the reason why he was discharged from the army.
He sternly added, “You must understand. It was the end of the war. I was medical Corps, trying to save lives at the front.”
It was then confirmed that Dr. Turner had been an inpatient at Northfield Military Psychiatric Hospital for five months, where he was treated for war neurosis, now known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), leaving Shelagh shocked.
“I was worn out. There was too much death. I recovered. I’m recovered”, he bravely confirmed as heartache wiped across his face.
As he failed to tell the finer details of his agonising experience, the Call the Midwife prequel should explore the trials and tribulations of Dr’Turner’s life during World War II.
The former armyman has an extraordinary medical knowledge, but how did he cope with the war? What was Dr. Turner’s experience of a psychiatric ward during the 1940s, at a time when treatment consisted of electroconvulsive shock therapy?
We are so invested in the character that we need to see how his historic experience during the conflict shaped his commitment to being a doctor, serving the gritty community in Poplar and becoming a much-loved character.
Call the Midwife is available to stream on BBC iPlayer
Early in “The Drama,” things are still good between Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson). The young happy couple, about a week away from getting married, have enjoyed a whirlwind romance. As this dark comedy’s opening credits roll, they’re blissfully practicing their first dance, laughing and stumbling as they try to get their twirls and steps right.
But the scene’s highlight is the song that plays in the background, airy, gentle and simple. Spare guitar chords give way to a female voice that sounds unpolished but beautiful: “I want to lay with you/ In an open field/ Where yellow flowers are suns of Earth.”
For many viewers, this will be the first time they’ve ever heard “I Want to Lay With You,” one of the most gorgeous love songs of the 1970s. It’s also likely they’ll have no idea who the singer is. Her name is Shira Small, and in 1974, she recorded an incredible album, “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now,” when she was 17. She never recorded another — at least, not yet. Now nearly 70, Small may finally be getting her moment in the spotlight.
“I’m cracking up,” says Small over Zoom from her Cooperstown, N.Y., home, “because I had no idea whatsoever that that movie was coming out until my dear sister informed me via you.” Flashing a relaxed smile and sporting long gray hair, Small knows little about the controversial “The Drama,” an A24 film with a heavily guarded twist.
Robert Pattinson and Zendaya in the movie “The Drama.”
(A24)
But it’s becoming a delightfully frequent occurrence that Small learns after the fact that her music is featured prominently in a movie or television show. “The record company does what they do and then they send me royalties and I get it in a statement,” she explains. “I had a song that HBO bought for ‘Pause With Sam Jay.’ They sent me an email that was not even to me — it was this interdepartmental thing. At the bottom, it said, ‘Oh, by the way, it airs tonight.’”
Jemma Burns, music supervisor for “The Drama,” had been a fan of Small’s album, thinking “I Want to Lay With You” would be perfect for this idyllic scene, right before Emma and Charlie’s relationship implodes over a disturbing revelation that turns their dream wedding into a nightmare.
“He was trying to set up the rom-com tone,” says Burns of the movie’s writer-director Kristoffer Borgli, “one that would contrast with the modernity of the setting and where the film goes. He wanted something that was from a bygone era, but also something that felt disarmingly charming. The two lead characters are very switched-on, fashionable, arty. So it felt like something they would’ve had in their record collection.”
The youngest of five siblings, Small always loved singing. But even as an adolescent growing up in Harlem, she felt like an old soul, her thoughts running deeper than the average kid’s.
“My focus was on not understanding war and hatred and bigotry,” she says. “I was seriously into trying to make love happen everywhere.”
Against the backdrop of the war in Vietnam and the Black Power movement, Small was well on her way to becoming a hippie, a transformation amplified by her enrollment in a private Quaker boarding academy, George School, in Newtown, Penn., on a full scholarship. When she arrived at George School, Small recalls, laughing, it was “very rich and very white. But I’ve always been a flotation device. I can walk around like I don’t have a clue about things.”
Shira Small, photographed in 1971 at George School in Newtown, Penn.
(Courtesy of Shira Small)
At George School, Small sported an Afro and smoked weed. She was drawn to theater and music, impressing music teacher and classical pianist Lars Clutterham, who saw she had talent. They worked on songs together, with Small coming up with the lyrics and vocal melodies. Every student had to complete a senior project, so Small proposed that hers be an album. Not long after, she and Clutterham drove to a Philadelphia studio for a one-day session.
The 10 songs on “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now” — each recorded in only one take — mix folk, soul and jazz, radiating innocence. The arrangements, awash in old-school analog warmth, are straightforward: guitar or piano supplemented with drums, leaving plenty of space for Small’s lilting voice, which contains both idealism and, even as a teen, traces of real-life sorrow.
Her mother died while she was at George School, inspiring “My Life’s All Right,” a ballad about surviving tough times, which later appeared on the Sam Jay show. “Eternal Life” sprang out of her in one burst, celebrating the power of love to transcend life’s harsh realities. As for the movie’s “I Want to Lay With You,” it was about a boy Small liked. She just can’t remember who anymore.
“It was somebody who was just as much a friend as a person that I had a crush on,” she recalls. “I honestly felt that we could have a life together.”
Small laughs at her adolescent self. “Like I knew what it would be like to have a freaking life together! To be able to wake up with somebody and have a beautiful day and always make them smile.”
According to Small, George School’s parents and students raised money to pay for the album and 300 copies were produced. “It was a joyous time,” she recalls. “I was on my way — to somewhere!” After graduation, though, she struggled to find her footing, eventually graduating summa cum laude from the City University of New York with a theater degree. But then she chose pre-med, becoming a physician assistant.
“When I became pre-med, it was so hard for me that I was just tunnel-visioned,” explains Small about why she said goodbye to music. “I had to devote my whole self to it. It was so all-encompassing that I could think of nothing else.”
But there was another reason she walked away from music. From an early age, Small suffered debilitating stage fright. “It was so bad that it would twist my stomach into a knot,” she recalls. She gutted it out to do plays at George School and, later, record her album. After a while, though, “It just got to be too much.”
Still, didn’t she miss singing? “Constantly,” replies Small, who retired about five years ago from the medical profession. “I sang unconsciously a lot. My patients always picked up on it — they’d be like, ‘Every time you come in, you’re singing.’”
But although Small abandoned music, “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now” never went away. In 2006, the Numero Group, an archival record label, put together a compilation, “Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From the Canyon,” devoted to under-the-radar female singers from the 1970s. Numero Group co-founder Ken Shipley made sure “Eternal Life” was included.
“I was the first person to ever reach out to Shira,” he says proudly in a separate phone interview. Shipley heard “Eternal Life” on a burned CD of femme-folk artists that was making the industry rounds at the turn of the millennium while he was putting together his “Wayfaring Strangers” lineup. “Shira was a top want for me.”
The Numero Group put “Eternal Life” on Spotify in 2013. But when the label released the full album digitally in 2022, “I don’t know that anybody really cared,” Shipley says. Undeterred, he reissued it on vinyl the following year. Maybe listeners just needed time.
“Music finds a way,” Shipley says. “Music’s like water. It’s going to get down the creek into the river into the ocean. It’s going to find its audience.”
Sure enough, strange serendipitous moments started happening for Small. A future bandmate’s ex had one of her songs on a playlist, having no idea it was Small. She recently started working part-time at a local opera house and one of the opera singers adored “Eternal Life,” unaware that Small was an employee.
And now, royalty checks arrive for the usage of her songs in films like “The Drama.” It still feels unreal to Small that her album generates revenue. “It was never for commercial purposes,” she says. “I can’t believe that I am collecting any royalties on that music and that it just keeps going and going.”
Small’s husband died in 2019 after 34 years of marriage. It sent her spiraling, but then something remarkable happened. “The day I came out of it, the music was gushing out of me so fast that I couldn’t keep up with it,” she says. “I had to walk around with a voice memo. I hadn’t spoken to Lars in more than a decade. I sent him all of these voice memos and he sent me a note: ‘Shira, you still got it.’”
In 2024, she released her first song in 50 years, “Why,” which lays out her fears for the world. Her voice is different, deeper, possessing a lifetime of experience that her teenage self couldn’t have possibly imagined. Small is now plotting out an album and has some shows lined up. Even better, she’s worked through her stage fright.
Eventually, she’ll perform her old songs, but she’s figuring out how to hit that higher register from her youth. “I’ve gone through decades of hormones and cigarettes and all the other things that I did that I’m happy I lived through,” she says, wryly.
“I still have a thing about yellow flowers in open fields,” she admits. “We have these huge sunflower fields here. The whole idea of being in such a beautiful place with yellow flowers that light up a great day is what popped into my head when I wrote that lyric.”
I ask her what she makes of that young woman she hears on “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now” today.
“I know her so well,” replies Small. “You know why? Because she’s still here. I am, at this point, everybody I’ve ever been ever, leading up to this moment.
“I still feel the same way about many things,” she continues. “I’m probably angrier now than I was when I was a child, but I still have this underlying thing about looking at a bigger picture to help me keep my lid on. When I think back on ‘Eternal Life’ and ‘My Life’s All Right,’ that music was born from my core. And my core does not have an age.”
A CLIP of a ‘baby’ Louis Tomlinson on Waterloo Road, long before he was a global superstar, has tickled fans.
The BBC soap dug through the archives to unearth a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from former One Direction star Louis.
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Louis Tomlinson has re-appeared in an old clip from soap Waterloo RoadCredit: BBCOne Direction star Louis can be seen in the resurfaced footageCredit: BBC
The clip shows a baby-faced Louis playing an extra during the show’s very first series in 2006.
In the footage, a concerned-looking Louis can be seen in the background of the school playground as fan-favourites Janeece Bryant (Chelsee Healey) and Donte Charles (Adam Thomas) get into a heated row.
To help fans catch the four-second appearance, the clip has been given the slow-motion treatment, asking: “Can you spot One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson in Waterloo Road?”
The Sun were the first to reveal at the start of the year that Zara and Louis had begun dating each other just weeks after she split from long-term partner, reality star Sam Thompson.
Singer-songwriter Louis is embarking on a world tourCredit: Getty
Fronted by James Blake, the hour-long film exposes a heartbreaking side to the manosphere’s influence
Samantha King Content Editor
17:08, 18 Mar 2026
Men of the Manosphere is now streaming on BBC iPlayer(Image: BBC)
Louis Theroux’s deep dive into the manosphere is officially the most-watched film on Netflix right now, with the documentary lifting the lid on the lives of some of the most well-known content creators in the space.
The respected documentary-maker meets influencers across Miami, New York and Marbella who all have amassed huge online followings by promoting an uber-macho way of life. Among those he meets is Fresh and Fit Podcast host Myron Gaines, who has carved out a niche humiliating female adult content creators on his show.
Louis also shadows streamer Harrison Sullivan who goes by the moniker HS Tikky Tokky and has developed a following for his fitness , dating and finance content. When viewers meet him in the film, he has half a million followers on Telegram alone who are consuming his tips on how to make a quick buck, though Louis finds little success with his own £500 investment.
However, months before Louis made his documentary on the topic, TV presenter James Blake fronted one for the BBC titled Men of the Manosphere. Rather than focus on the loudest voices in the space and give them an even bigger platform, he met three young men based in the UK and Northern Ireland who had been taken in by the manosphere’s messaging.
It makes for a heartbreaking watch, showing how the words of manosphere influencers can have dangerous consequences for those that buy in to it all. Rather than stoke fury and anger at the subjects on screen, it encourages tenderness, kindness and understanding in the face of horror.
Sam, an isolated 16-year-old is one of the subjects in the film. He admits he has swapped real-life friendships for an online community made up of like-minded males all seeking self-improvement.
One of these boys is a 17-year-old from the US named Vincent, who Sam says is his best friend, despite never having met in person. He shows Vincent’s attempts at making his own YouTube videos, in which he tells his viewers: “You should do things that hurt every single day because that’s what makes you grow. You should hate your body so that you have the motivation to get nice and strong.”
Elsewhere in the film, James also meets university graduate Shayne, from Liverpool, who struggles to feel secure in his relationships and finds solace in the ‘red pill’. Meanwhile builder Jack, from Northern Ireland, is chasing discipline, status and direction when James meets him.
Documentary host James said his film was about “understanding”, and this is clear from the opening minutes. His calm approach and genuine curiosity results in some fascinating – and deeply disturbing – revelations from his interview subjects, with the consequences of the manosphere’s insidious messaging laid out plainly for all to see.
Men of the Manosphere is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
THE OSCARS is back for another year, and will see the crème de la crème of Hollywood clamouring to snatch one of those famous golden statues.
But despite the prestigious nature of the Academy Awards, they don’t always guarantee an A-list life forever in Tinseltown – as these past winners have found out…
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Mo’Nique
Mo’Nique was riding high in her career when she scooped the Best Supporting Actress gong for PreciousCredit: AlamyHowever, shortly after winning the gong, the actress says she was ‘blacklisted’ from HollywoodCredit: Getty
Let’s kick off our look at forgotten Oscar winners with Mo’Nique, who claimed she was “blacklisted” after her win at the Academy Awards.
When she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2010 for her performance in Precious it was her acceptance speech that got people talking, which began: “First, I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics.”
Mo’Nique was referring to a fallout which started long before the Oscars.
It came when she refused to travel the world to promote the film – against the advisement of director Lee Daniels and producers Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey – despite the movie having “Oscar buzz”.
Following this fallout, Mo’Nique declined to thank filmmaker Lee during her acceptance speech, leading to a HUGE Hollywood feud – during which the actress alleged that he had “blackballed” her from the industry.
And shortly after winning the coveted statue she practically vanished from Tinseltown.
The star has since reflected on being a victim of so-called “Oscarscurse” – where stars suffer bad luck in their career after winning an Academy Award.
Speaking to CNN in 2020, Mo’Nique said: “I believe winning that Oscar award, just as Hattie McDaniel, she said, ‘I felt like I was cursed instead of winning something that should be congratulated’.
“That award was something that I did not ask for, but because I didn’t respond the way people thought that I should have responded, as Lee Daniels said, I was blackballed.”
Mercedes Ruehl
Mercedes Ruehl won the Academy Award for The Fisher King in 1992Credit: AlamyThe actress returned to the stage after the movie roles failed to pour in after her Oscar winCredit: Getty
At the 1992 Oscars, Mercedes Ruehl was having the time of her life after scooping the Best Supporting Actress gong.
Despite her movie The Fisher King being led by Hollywood heavyweights Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, Mercedes was the one who took home that coveted gold statue.
But even though she won such a huge award, the movie roles failed to pour in after her night of glory and the actress “vanished” from Hollywood.
Reflecting on the “curse” of winning such a top prize, she told the HuffPost: “It’s hard to get a job after that.
“People think you want more money.”
Instead, Mercedes returned to the stage and went on to win a Tony award the same year as her Oscar – she has remained a fixture of Broadway ever since.
Harold Russell
Harold Russell (centre) won the Best Supporting Actor gong for The Best Years of Our LivesCredit: AlamyHarold was the first non-professional actor to win an OscarCredit: Getty
Harold Russell’s Oscars tale is very different to the others.
The late star lost both his hands in World War II and had them replaced by hooks.
Harold had never acted before when he played the role of Homer Parrish in The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946.
He was cast after the director of the film saw him in Diary of a Sergeant, an Army film about rehabilitating war veterans.
Despite his lack of acting experience, Harold proved to be a huge hit in The Best of Our Lives, and he won not one, but TWO Oscars for his role.
At the 1947 Academy Awards he was awarded the Best Supporting Actor and a special Honorary Academy Award for bringing hope and courage to fellow veterans.
Harold was also the first non-professional actor to ever win an Oscar.
But despite all this glory, he took a step back from acting and didn’t appear in another film until 1980.
Instead, he decided to get a business degree and devoted his life to charity.
Speaking about why he didn’t continue his Hollywood career, he told the Los Angeles Times in 1996: “Wyler (the director) told me I should go back to college because there wasn’t much call for a guy with no hands in the motion picture industry.
“I figured he was right. [In the handful of roles I’ve taken since then,] I always play a disabled veteran.
“And this is what Wyler said, ‘After a while they’re going to run out of ideas’—and he was absolutely right. How many times can you play the same role?”
Harold died in 2002 at the age of 88.
Roberto Benigni
Italian actor Roberto Benigni scooped the Best Actor gong and Best Foreign Film at the 71st Academy Awards in 1999Credit: AlamyThe actor is seen here at the Venice Film Festival in 2021Credit: Getty
Next up we have Italian actor Roberto Benigni, whose double Oscar win in 1999 caused quite a reaction.
The star won two gongs for the foreign film La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful), taking home the statues for Best Actor and Best International Feature Film – as he directed the movie too.
The film was the first non-English speaking picture to win the Best Actor award.
But Roberto, who was up against Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen, Nick Nolte and Ed Norton for the award, faced a huge backlash for his “over the top” reaction to winning the coveted gong.
He was seen climbing over audience seats to accept the award, which was slammed as being “chaotic”.
Roberto was also criticised for his “disingenuous” acceptance speech, where he appeared to make light of winning such a huge award.
“This is a terrible mistake. I used up all my English!” he joked, upon being handed the award.
Despite his big win, the actor retreated back to his native-Italy to make films instead of in Hollywood.
Speaking about life as a two-time Oscar winner, Roberto once told The Guardian: “The most important thing is to continue to be yourself.
“The day after the Oscars, you have to get on with your life. To be honest and true to yourself. I could have made a small film and kept all the money from Life is Beautiful. Instead, I spent more money than I had on Pinocchio, a very risky film.”
The actor is referring to his 2002 movie Pinocchio, which was only released in Italy and received mixed reviews from critics, with one calling it “the worst movie ever made”.
Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden won the Best Supporting Actress award for Pollack in 2000Credit: AlamyThe actress later called her win ‘disastrous on a professional level’Credit: Getty
Marcia Gay Harden beat the odds to scoop the Best Supporting Actress award for Pollack in 2000.
Critics were also shocked that Marcia won the Oscar as she hadn’t been nominated for any other major award in the run-up to the ceremony.
Despite the actress’s huge win, her movie career stalled and she headed back to the small screen.
Reflecting on being a victim of the “Oscar curse”, Marcia once told the LA Times: “It’s disastrous on a professional level.
“Suddenly the parts you’re offered and the money become smaller. There’s no logic to it.”
Mira Sorvino
In 1996, Mira Sorvino was the toast of the OscarsCredit: AlamyHowever, these days she is best known for Romy and Michele’s High School ReunionCredit: Getty
Mira Sorvino
Fans of the quirky movie Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion may be surprised to know that the film’s co-leading actress, Mira Sorvino, actually won an Oscar before starring in the cult classic movie.
A few years before, the actress won a huge amount of praise when she played a prostitute in Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite.
She wowed so much, she scooped the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1996 for the role.
Despite going on to star in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion the following year, the movie roles after that failed to pour in and she has switched her focus to TV.
Marisa Tomei
Film fans may be surprised to know that Marisa Tomei won an OscarCredit: Corbis Historical – GettyThe actress faced some backlash over her Oscar win, with a rumour going around that she was ‘given it by mistake’Credit: Getty
It may come as a surprise to film fans to find out that the actress won an Oscar in 1993 – but that is nothing compared to what happened on the actual night.
Shockwaves went through the prestigious ceremony when the relatively-unknown actress at the time scooped the gong for Best Supporting Actress, beating veteran stars like Joan Plowright and Vanessa Redgrave.
But it didn’t stop there, as poor Marisa, who won the award for her role in My Cousin Vinny, faced rumours that she had been given the Oscar “by mistake”.
Vicious gossip began to circulate that suggested that presenter Jack Palance had misread the envelope and mistakenly given the Oscar to Marisa instead of “its rightful owner”, Vanessa.
However, the Academy addressed the conspiracy theory and denied that she had been given it by “mistake.”
Speaking about the cruel rumour, Marisa once said: “That was really hurtful at first.”
Despite the fall out from her Oscar three decades ago, she has been nominated for two more since.
These days Marisa is best known for playing Spider-Man‘s mum in the famous franchise.
Thousands rallied in central Madrid calling for an end to the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran, with protesters warning the conflict could escalate into a global war.
Gardening expert Charlie Dimmock has presented numerous TV shows beyond Ground Force and Garden Rescue and fans rated them highly
17:43, 12 Mar 2026Updated 17:43, 12 Mar 2026
Charlie Dimmock has been a fan favourite for decades(Image: BBC)
Fans of gardening expert Charlie Dimmock could be excused for not exploring much beyond Ground Force and Garden Rescue.
With over 150 episodes of Garden Rescue available to watch and 97 instalments of the ’90s favourite Ground Force, there’s no shortage of content. However, throughout her career, she’s created numerous other gardening programmes that slipped beneath most people’s notice.
One such programme is Charlie’s Garden Army, which aired in 1999 and 2000 across 12 episodes. The series featured Charlie alongside volunteer teams transforming derelate wasteland into beautiful public gardens.
She subsequently secured a presenting position on 2002’s The Joy of Gardening and 2001’s Charlie’s Gardening Neighbours, reports the Express.
In 2005, Charlie featured at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show as a television presenter, and she’s also participated in coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show throughout the years.
Judging purely by IMDb ratings, though, several programmes actually surpass Ground Force in terms of viewer scores.
Ground Force’s typical rating stands at 7.2 stars out of 10 – but it’s eclipsed by Garden Rescue at 7.9 stars, and the Great British Garden Revival with an identical rating.
Charlie inadvertently fell into a television career whilst employed at a garden centre, and during the ’90s, she maintained that she “wasn’t famous” and didn’t perceive herself as a TV personality.
Reflecting on her television work in a 1999 interview with The Guardian, Charlie remarked: “In some ways, the television stuff isn’t unsatisfying, it’s very interesting.
“But the other day, I was at work [at the garden centre], the first time I’d been there properly for three or four weeks, and I thought, ‘God, this is nice!’
“‘You see people you know, regular customers, and there’s no hassle. You fall out of bed, go to work, potter around. It’s all right, really.'”
Garden Rescue is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
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