Will Smith’s 11th-inning home run allows LA Dodgers to win Game 7 against Toronto Blue Jays and record seventh World Series title in franchise history.
Published On 2 Nov 20252 Nov 2025
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Will Smith homered in the 11th inning after Miguel Rojas connected for a tying drive in the ninth, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in Game 7 on Saturday night to become the first team in a quarter century to win consecutive Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series titles.
Los Angeles overcame 3-0 and 4-2 deficits and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to become the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees, and the first from the National League since the 1975 and ’76 Cincinnati Reds.
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Smith hit a 2-0 slider off Shane Bieber into the Blue Jays’ bullpen, giving the Dodgers their first lead of the night.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw 96 pitches in the Dodgers’ win on Friday, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and pitched 2 2/3 innings for his third win of the Series.
He gave up a leadoff double in the 11th to Vladimir Guerrero Jr, who was sacrificed to third. Addison Barger walked, and Alejandro Kirk grounded to shortstop Mookie Betts, who started a title-winning 6-4-3 double play.
Smith connects for the match-winning home run in the 11th inning [Ashley Landis/AP]
Dodgers rally to win Game 7
With their ninth title and third in six years, the Dodgers made an argument for their 2020s teams to be considered a dynasty. Dave Roberts, their manager since 2016, boosted the probability that he will gain induction to the Hall of Fame.
Bo Bichette put Toronto ahead in the third with a three-run homer off two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who was pitching on three days’ rest after taking the loss in Game 3.
Los Angeles closed to 3-2 on sacrifice flies from Teoscar Hernandez in the fourth off Max Scherzer and Tommy Edman in the sixth against Chris Bassitt.
Andres Gimenez restored Toronto’s two-run lead with an RBI double in the sixth off Tyler Glasnow, who relieved after getting the final three outs on three pitches to save Game 6 on Friday.
Max Muncy’s eighth-inning homer off star rookie Trey Yesavage cut the Dodgers’ deficit to one run, and Rojas, inserted into the lineup in Game 6 to provide some energy, homered on a full-count slider from Jeff Hoffman.
Toronto put two on with one out in the bottom half against Blake Snell, and Los Angeles turned to Yamamoto.
He hit Alejandro Kirk on a hand with a pitch, loading the bases and prompting the Dodgers to play the infield in and the outfield shallow. Daulton Varsho grounded to second, where Rojas stumbled but managed to throw home for a force-out as catcher Smith kept his foot on the plate.
Ernie Clement then flied out to Andy Pages, who made a jumping, backhand catch on the centre-field warning track as he crashed into left fielder Kike Hernandez.
Seranthony Dominguez walked Mookie Betts with one out in the 10th, and Muncy singled for his third hit. Hernandez walked, loading the bases. Pages grounded to shortstop, where Gimenez threw home for a force-out. First baseman Guerrero then threw to pitcher Seranthony Dominguez covering first, just beating Hernandez in a call upheld in a video review.
The epic night matched the Marlins’ 3-2 win over Cleveland in 1997 as the second-longest Series Game 7, behind only the Washington Senators’ 4-3 victory against the New York Giants in 1924.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw #22 celebrates with the Commissioner’s Trophy after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 [Kevin Sousa/Imagn Images via Reuters]
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Last year the prolific and gifted Zadie Smith stumbled into controversy with the publication of “Shibboleth” in the New Yorker. She purportedly approached the white-hot Gaza demonstrations with the nuance and complexity they deserved and yet derided pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University as “cynical and unworthy,” stirring up a hornets’ nest among her young fans, who expressed their anger on various internet platforms. The controversy gained traction because of Smith’s record of championing the marginalized, citing theorists like Frantz Fanon while targeting empires and the omnipresent patriarchy. That she singled out one group of activists, many Jewish, at the very moment Arab toddlers were being blown apart by U.S.-funded bombs raised doubts about her touted values. Her conclusion was startling, her tone defiant: “Put me wherever you want: misguided socialist, toothless humanist, naïve novelist, useful idiot, apologist, denier, ally, contrarian, collaborator, traitor, inexcusable coward.” The lady doth protest too much?
“Shibboleth” appears in “Dead and Alive,” Smith’s collection of previously published essays, in which she assumes most if not all those roles she attributes to herself. Fanon is here as well, amid an array of artists and authors such as Joan Didion, Toni Morrison, and Philip Roth. Smith is arguing for the necessity of vigorous criticism and often makes her case. The book’s finest pieces wrangle, in elegant prose, with humanity’s contradictions; the weaker ones indulge in name-dropping, footnotes and op-ed invective.
Zadie Smith
(Ben Bailey-Smith)
“The Muse at Her Easel,” in the opening section, probes the relationship between English painter Lucian Freud and his model, Celia Paul, also a painter, via a review of her memoir. (Paul is the mother of one of 12 children he fathered outside of marriage.) Smith’s sly trick here is a bit of Freud-play: Lucian seen through the prism of his grandfather Sigmund, the family romance on steroids. Celia revolves around the artist here much as she did when he was alive, vulnerable and reflective, a moon to his sun. It’s both a restrained and overwrought essay, a cryptic tale of sexual politics, like her fellow Brit Rachel Cusk’s novel, “Second Place,” but one that urges us to think hard about abuses in the service of “museography.”
Smith brings an empathic eye to other artists, from the allegorical Toyin Ojih Odutola to the subversive Kara Walker. And she shines a bright light on numerous writers who have inspired her, particularly in remembrances of Didion (whose influence we sense throughout “Dead and Alive”) and the great Hilary Mantel. Her pieces on two books, “Black England” and “Black Manhattan,” excavate hidden histories of Black resistance and the painful compromises brokered to move forward. Her tone in “Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction” is elegiac, as though smartphones have killed off the craft; yet it’s also a manifesto of sorts, and a declaration of her own aesthetics. “Belief in a novel is, for me, a by-product of a certain kind of sentence,” Smith observes. “Familiarity, kinship, and compassion will play their part, but if the sentences don’t speak to me, nothing else will.” Amen, sister.
Her forays into social commentary are more problematic. She’s strong on the weird population kink known as Gen X, squeezed between the larger boomers and millennials, and the switchback road we traveled to marriage and parenthood: “We all still dressed like teenagers, though, and in the minds of the popular culture were ‘slackers,’ suffering from some form of delayed development, possibly the sad consequences of missing such key adulting experiences as a good war or a stock market crash,” Smith asserts. “We felt history belonged to other people: that we lived in the time of no time.” She’s persuasive when she remains within her comfort zone, opining on race, gender and, occasionally, class. Not so much when she ventures into technology. In “Some Notes on Mediated Time,” she broods at length on the destabilizing effects of the internet, social media and the algorithm silos that shape our present. It’s tough to parse irony from self-congratulation. “I have to say how immensely grateful I am that the work I have been so fortunate to do these last twenty years — writing books — has also gifted me the opportunity, the privilege, of devoting the time of my one human life to an algorithm. To keep almost all of it, selfishly, outrageously, for myself, my friends, my colleagues, my family,” Smith writes. “There are memes I will never know. Whole Twitter meltdowns I never witnessed. Hashtags I will forever remain ignorant about.” Which raises the question: Why lament a social paradigm shift if you haven’t bothered with it in the first place? Something isn’t right. Elsewhere in the essay she claims that social media is “excellent for building brands and businesses and attracting customers.” Could the same be said of a disingenuous essayist?
She comes across as preaching to her peers rather than seeking converts, a whiff of Oxbridge elitism. Hence references to Derrida, Dickinson, Knausgaard, Borges, shout-outs to Booker laureates “Salman” (Rushdie) and “Ian” (McEwan). This level of self-regard in a writer and thinker as justifiably exalted as Smith may explain why our nation is turning on reading: aristocracies breed resentment among the proles. Then Smith steps into the muck of global conflicts. The moral bothsidesism found in “Shibboleth” splits the baby; she does herself no favors with Solomonic pronouncements and Pontius Pilate-like self-exoneration. (Elsewhere she indicts Trump and Netanyahu while neglecting the money and media that empower them.)
“Dead and Alive” does what it was designed to do: It gathers the author’s criticism, literary obituaries, a university address and an interview with a Spanish journal between two covers. The execution falters. Smith’s provocations are often stunning; her prose is thrillingly strident; but her fiction better captures the messiness of public and private selves at war with each other.
Cain is a book critic and the author of a memoir, “This Boy’s Faith: Notes From a Southern Baptist Upbringing.” He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
While Brook has had two weeks in New Zealand, Root, Smith and fellow opener Ben Duckett were in the middle for the first time in more than six weeks.
The two remaining matches in this series, plus the one warm-up in Australia, will be their only further opportunities to find form before the first Test on 21 November.
Four runs combined for three players so crucial to England’s hopes is clearly not ideal but significant credit must be given to New Zealand’s new-ball bowlers.
Henry began the match with a delivery that jagged back significantly to bowl Smith through the gate and barely relented with his accuracy throughout his opening spell of eight overs.
Playing only his second ODI, Zak Foulkes was highly impressive and found 0.96 degrees of seam movement plus 1.99 degrees of swing in the first 10 overs – a significant jump from the recent average of 0.89 and 1.41 respectively at this ground.
Duckett nicked a Foulkes ball from round the wicket that angled in before moving away and Root was bowled by a hooping inswinger, albeit one not full enough for his booming drive.
Perhaps the 23-year-old’s best delivery was saved for Jacob Bethell.
The left-hander looked to play another from Foulkes straight down the pitch but was bowled when the ball swung away late to beat his outside edge.
It left Bethell helpless as he tried to apply more pressure to Ollie Pope’s position as Test number three.
Oct. 24 (UPI) — Former special counsel Jack Smith wants to testify in open hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees about his investigations of President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, Smith’s lawyers sent letters to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who lead the chambers’ panels. Trump was indicted in two cases: attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and possession of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
On Oct. 14, Jordan demanded that he testify behind closed doors with a transcript available, writing “your testimony is necessary to understand the full extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement.” Jordan accused him of prosecutorial overreach and evidence manipulation.
But Smith, who resigned from his position before Trump returned to office in January, wants the hearings in public.
“Given the many mischaracterizations of Mr. Smith’s investigation into President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Mr. Smith respectfully requests the opportunity to testify in open hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees,” his attorneys, Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski, wrote.
Smith will need approval from the Justice Department, where he was employed when Joe Biden was president.
Smith’s attorneys said he will need guidance so he won’t violate rules to guard jury testimony.
“He is prepared to answer questions about the Special Counsel’s investigation and prosecution, but requires assurance from the Department of Justice that he will not be punished for doing so,” the letter said.
Smith’s lawyers also asked for “access to the Special Counsel files, which he no longer has the ability to access.”
“Jack Smith certainly has a lot of answering to do, but first, Congress needs to have all the facts at its disposal,” Grassley told CNN in a statement. “Hearings should follow once the investigative foundation has been firmly set, which is why I’m actively working with the DOJ and FBI to collect all relevant records that Mr. Smith had years to become familiar with.”
Smith issued reports on both cases but the one on Trump’s handling of sensitive documents found at Mar-a-Lago hasn’t been released. Attorney General Merrick Garland, before leaving office, said he wouldn’t release the report because of a criminal case involving two of Trump’s co-defendants was ongoing. But when Trump was elected president again, both cases were dropped.
The president and Republicans in Congress have accused Smith of pursuing politically motivated cases against Trump in an effort to undermine his candidacy for a second term.
But Smith “steadfastly adhered to established legal standards and Department of Justice guidelines, consistent with his approach throughout his career as a dedicated public servant,” while leading the investigations, the letter said.
Rep. Jamie Raskkin, a Democrat serving a district in Maryland, told The Hill that Smith’s offer should be accepted.
“Mr. Smith has made clear that he is prepared to address those allegations publicly, and I can think of no reason to deny the American people the opportunity to hear his testimony, under oath and with questioning from Members of both parties, and to let all Americans judge for themselves the integrity of Mr. Smith’s investigations,” Raskin wrote Thursday.
“There is no reason his appearance should be in the shadows of a backroom and subject to the usual tiresome partisan tactics of leak-and-distort.”
This week, it was reported Trump is pressing for his Justice Department to pay roughly $230 million as a settlement for two investigations. One involved the documents case and the other was ties of his 2016 campaign to the Russian government, which was investigated by another special counsel, Robert Mueller. No charges in the latter were made because of the ability to indict a sitting president.
Smith hadn’t spoken much publicly about his office’s investigations or through case failings.
On Oct. 8, he was interviewed by Andrew Weissman at University College London. Weissman was part of Mueller’s investigations and is now an MSNBC analyst.
“The idea that politics played a role in who worked on that case, or who got chosen, is ludicrous,” Smith told Weissmann.
“The people on my team were similar to what I saw throughout the [Department of Justice] throughout my career,” he said. “Apolitical people who wanted to do the right thing and do public service.”
1 of 3 | Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks with members of the press outside the House chamber ahead of the last votes before August recess at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., in July. Jordan on Tuesday demanded that former Special Counsel Jack Smith testify about his criminal probes of President Donald Trump. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 14 (UPI) — House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan on Tuesday demanded that former Special Counsel Jack Smith testify about his criminal probes of President Donald Trump that were ultimately dropped after the 2024 election.
Jordan, a Trump loyalist, made the demands in a letter to Smith, who had been appointed by the Biden-era Justice Department to oversee sprawling investigations into allegations Trump mishandled classified documents and tried to overturn the 2020 election.
The letter follows recent revelations that Smith’s team had obtained the cell phone data of nine Republican members of Congress, showing who they called in the days leading up to and immediately after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Trump and his allies have accused Smith of leading politicized investigations into the president meant to damage him politically as he was campaigning to return to the White House in 2024.
“As the Committee continues its oversight, your testimony is necessary to understand the full extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement,” Jordan wrote in his letter, accusing Smith of prosecutorial overreach and manipulating evidence.
Before resigning from his position in January just as Trump was about to be sworn into his second term, Smith issued a report to Congress stating that Trump would have been convicted of trying to overturn the 2020 election had he not been elected president in 2024. The Justice Department has a long-standing policy of not indicting sitting presidents.
Smith alleged that Trump had mounted a pressure campaign on state officials to throw out legitimate vote results in a scheme to have Trump certified as the winner of the 2020 election. As part of the effort, Trump directed a mob of his supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was certifying the election results, Smith alleged.
Jordan wrote that his committee has already deposed several people who worked on Smith’s team and obtained FBI documents showing the surveillance of U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, who later had his cell phone seized. However, Jordan wrote that former Senior Assistant Special Counsel Thomas Windom refused to answer key questions from the committee. Jordan also demanded that Smith turn over documents.
Smith currently does not face any charges.
After leaving his position, the Office of Special Counsel, which is designed to operate with some independence from the Justice Department, began investigating Smith in August.
WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee requested Tuesday that Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel, appear for an interview, part of an escalating effort among the GOP to pursue the perceived enemies of President Donald Trump.
Rep. Jim Jordan, the committee chair, charged in a letter to Smith that his prosecutions of Trump were “partisan and politically motivated.” Smith has come under particular scrutiny on Capitol Hill, especially after the Senate Judiciary Committee said last week that his investigation had included an FBI analysis of phone records for more than half a dozen Republican lawmakers from the week of Jan. 6, 2021
Smith brought two cases against Trump, one accusing him of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the other of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both were brought in 2023, well over a year before the 2024 presidential election, and indictments in the two cases cited what Smith and his team described as clear violations of well-established federal law. Former Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland, who named Smith as special counsel in November 2022, has repeatedly said politics played no part in the handling of the cases.
Smith abandoned the criminal cases against Trump after he won the presidential election last year. Trump’s return to the White House precluded the federal prosecutions, as well as paved the way for Republicans to go after Trump’s political and legal opponents.
Jordan wrote to Smith: “Your testimony is necessary to understand the full extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement.”
In just the last weeks, the Trump administration has pursued criminal charges against both James Comey, the former FBI director, and New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James, who for years investigated and sued Trump.
The House Judiciary Committee has been looking into Smith’s actions as special counsel since the start of the year. Jordan said that it had interviewed two other members of Smith’s prosecutorial team, but they had declined to answer many questions, citing the Fifth Amendment.
An attorney for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the House Judiciary Committee’s interview request.
William French Smith, Ronald Reagan’s personal lawyer and a key adviser who placed his conservative stamp on federal policy during his term as U.S. attorney general, died Monday in Los Angeles.
Smith, 73, died with his family at his bedside at the Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Center at County-USC Medical Center, where he had been admitted Oct. 2, a hospital spokeswoman said.
A corporate attorney and senior partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Los Angeles’ largest law firm, Smith was an original member of the “kitchen cabinet” that helped guide Reagan from Hollywood to Sacramento and the White House.
As attorney general, Smith “brought talent, wisdom and the highest integrity to the Department of Justice,” Reagan said Monday. “Our nation was indeed fortunate to have a person of his excellence and patriotism in the cabinet. And we were made better as a country because of Bill’s work.
“More than a colleague, Bill was a valued and trusted friend and adviser. I often sought his wise counsel throughout my years in public life, and I was fortunate to have him at my side.”
As attorney general from 1981-85, Smith was a key architect of the Reagan Administration’s conservative shift on issues affecting domestic policy, including civil rights. While acknowledging that the Administration had been accused of “abandoning the federal civil rights effort,” he maintained that the Justice Department under his leadership vigorously enforced civil rights laws.
But more than half the lawyers in the Justice Department’s civil rights division signed a letter of protest after Smith reversed an 11-year-old policy that gave the Internal Revenue Service the power to deny tax exemptions to private schools.
Smith “served the United States with great distinction,” Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh said.
U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr, Smith’s former law partner and his chief of staff in the Justice Department, said Smith was “an immensely gifted lawyer with marvelous sound and wise judgment (who was) unfailingly kind and thoughtful. He was always willing to listen to people, to hear people out.
“It was one of the ironies of his tenure that it was characterized by such far-reaching and profound change in the direction of the federal legal system . . . done in a quintessentially quiet, prudent and lawyerlike fashion.”
After meeting Reagan in 1963, Smith became the future President’s personal lawyer, confidant and business adviser. He has been credited with engineering Reagan’s rise to wealth at a time when the former actor’s primary income was royalties from movies.
Smith, drug store magnate Justin Dart, auto dealer Holmes Tuttle and oil, entertainment and real estate entrepreneur Jack Wrather were among the group of California millionaires known as the “kitchen cabinet.”
They rallied to Reagan after hearing him give a nationally broadcast speech in support of Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential candidacy. The group persuaded Reagan to run for California governor in 1966, and remained his most important political advisers and fund-raisers. Tuttle once remarked that during Reagan’s eight years in Sacramento, the group “never made a move” without first asking: “Has this been cleared with Bill Smith?”
Born Aug. 26, 1917, in Wilton, N.H., Smith was a direct descendant of Uriah Oakes, the fourth president of Harvard College. His father, who died when Smith was 6, was president of the Mexican Telephone and Telegraph Co., whose headquarters were in Boston.
Smith graduated summa cum laude from UC Berkeley in 1939 and earned his law degree at Harvard in 1942. After World War II duty as an officer in the Naval Reserve, Smith broke away from his New England roots and settled in California. He had decided, he said, that his life “wasn’t going to be dictated to by my ancestors.”
He joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in 1946 and eventually headed its labor department, where he represented the firms blue-chip corporate clients in collective bargaining negotiations.
In 1968, Reagan appointed Smith to the University of California Board of Regents, where he reflected the then-governor’s hard-line views toward Vietnam War protesters. He opposed demands that the university discontinue nuclear weapons research, and he resisted efforts to force the university to divest itself of stock in countries doing business in South Africa.
Fred Dutton, a former official in the John F. Kennedy Administration who served as a UC regent with Smith, said the former attorney general’s philosophy “is that a small central establishment of a few people who have proven successful should run the rest of our lives.”
But other liberals on the board credited Smith with being free of ideological rigidity and willing to listen to all sides of any argument.
Once at the helm in the Justice Department, Smith systematically set about dismantling policies that had been in place for a generation.
In 1981, he summarized the direction in which he was taking the department:
“We have firmly enforced the law that forbids federal employees from striking. We have opposed the distortion of the meaning of equal protection by courts that mandate counterproductive busing and quotas. We have helped to select appointees to the federal bench who understand the meaning of judicial restraint.”
One of those appointees–one he took great pride in recruiting–is Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Smith was president of the California Chamber of Commerce from 1974 to 1975. He was a director of Pacific Telephone & Telegraph of San Francisco, Crocker National Bank and Crocker National Corp., Pacific Mutual Life Insurance of Los Angeles, Pacific Lighting Corp., Jorgensen Steel Corp. and Pullman Inc. of Chicago.
Smith’s first marriage ended in divorce. In 1964 he married his second wife, Jean Webb. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Stephanie Smith Lorenzen; three sons, William, Scott and Gregory; a stepson, G. William Vaughan Jr.; a stepdaughter, Merry Vaughan Dunn, and seven grandchildren.
This weekend’s East Midlands derby against Leicester Tigers will be Smith’s first game since the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia, having completed his mandatory rest period.
He described the experience as “an absolute privilege”, while admitting to being frustrated with his performances on the pitch.
“When I reflect on it, no one can take that series from me,” he said.
“It is the pinnacle of the sport, but I have enough self-awareness to realise I didn’t play my best rugby on tour and it didn’t go as I would have liked.
“But in terms of the experience, the scale, being around the best players in the world is such a brilliant thing.
“Having been away from the game, gone on my holidays, digested that, it’s been nice to take the emotion out of it.
“Whilst I might have been on one hand frustrated, what can I learn, what can I take out of it and bring back into this season, how do I keep getting better? It starts this Saturday.”
Northampton expect to welcome back all of their four Lions players – Smith, Henry Pollock, Tommy Freeman and Alex Mitchell – to take on the Tigers.
“I am desperate to play well but I am well aware that if you try to pull rabbits out of hats and have the best game of your life it will go the other way,” Smith said.
“I need to stay nice and calm, do my job and hopefully that will lead to me performing well and impressing the powers that be.
“But first and foremost we need a good result for the town.”
Sheridan Smith fans have yet another gripping drama to sink their teeth into in the coming weeks, as an acclaimed Channel 5 show joins Netflix’s ever-growing TV collection
Sheridan Smith’s gripping drama arrives on Netflix(Image: Channel 5)
With winter just around the corner, it’s time to cosy up with a hot drink and a bingeable drama – thankfully, Netflix is adding another Sheridan Smith hit to its library for fans to dive into. Netflix subscribers can expect a host of new titles to arrive on the streamer – from Victoria Beckham’s new documentary to the second series of romantic comedy Nobody Wants This.
However, there’s one particular Channel 5 series that’s making a comeback on the platform after three years, starring Sheridan Smith as English teacher charged with having sex with a pupil. The Teacher follows teacher Jenna Garvey, who is accused of having sex with one of her 15-year-old pupils Kyle after a drunken night out.
BAFTA-winning actress Sheridan takes on the titular role, while Coldwater’s Samuel Bottomley plays student Kyle. The wider cast also features The Bill’s Cecilia Noble, My Mad Fat Diary’s Sharon Rooney, Emmerdale’s Kelvin Fletcher and Waterloo Road’s Tillie Amartey.
The drama originally aired on Channel 5 back in 2022 and fans couldn’t get enough of it at the time, with many praising Sheridan’s “incredible” performance. “Just finished watching The Teacher on Netflix and I thoroughly enjoyed it, Sheridan Smith is just incredible,” one wrote on X.
Another said that they were “gripped for all four episodes” and that Sheridan “played a blinder”, while a third wrote: “Just finished watching The Teacher on Netflix and I thoroughly enjoyed it, Sheridan Smith is just incredible.”
A fourth described it as an “addictive bit of telly” with “cracking” Sheridan, while another said: “Just binged the whole of ‘The Teacher’ now that it’s on Netflix. it made me want to buy silk shirts and hoop earrings. Say want you want about Sheridan Smith but she does very good crying.”
Last month, BBC drama Accused was added to Netflix, with many binging the award-winning anthology series. With each episode telling a different story in each episode, Accused features the likes of Christopher Eccleston, Mackenzie Crook, Tina O’Brien, Peter Capaldi and Naomi Harris across six hard-hitting episodes in series one.
Meanwhile, series two stars Sean Bean, Stephen Graham, Olivia Colman, Sheridan Smith and Anna Maxwell Martin among other stars.
In recent years, Sheridan has taken on a number of intense roles, from office cleaner Sam in ITV’s Cleaning Up to the titular character in Sky’s Rosie Molloy Gives Up Everything. Earlier this year, she starred as Ann Ming in true crime drama I Fought the Law – about the real-life mother’s campaign to overturn the double jeopardy law following the murder of her daughter Julie Hogg.
PHILADELPHIA — When Clayton Kershaw was left off the Dodgers’ roster for the best-of-three wild card round against the Cincinnati Reds, it marked the first time since his 2008 rookie season that he pitch didn’t in one of the team’s playoff series when healthy.
But on Saturday, ahead of Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers decided to add Kershaw back in the mix, ensuring he will likely get the chance to take the mound at least one more time before entering retirement this offseason.
Kershaw and fellow left-handed pitcher Anthony Banda were the only two changes the Dodgers made to their NLDS roster Saturday, swapping them in on an 11-man pitching staff in place of multi-inning left-hander Justin Wrobleski (who didn’t pitch in the wild card series) and rookie right-hander Edgardo Henriquez (who walked two batters and gave up a hit while recording no outs in Game 1 against the Reds).
The Dodgers made no changes to their 15-man position player group from the wild card round, once again keeping three catchers on the roster (as Will Smith continues to recover from a fractured hand) as well as speedy defensive specialists Justin Deal and Hyeseong Kim.
Kershaw’s return was had been expected, even before manager Dave Roberts officially confirmed on Friday that the future Hall of Famer would be on the roster for the NLDS.
First and foremost, the Dodgers will need added left-handed pitching depth to combat a Phillies lineup that includes left-handed threats like Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott. That’s why Banda was included as well.
But Kershaw, who went 11-2 this season with a 3.36 ERA, also gives the Dodgers a steady veteran presence out of the bullpen (where he is expected to pitch).
They missed that in the wild-card round, when a string of younger pitchers struggled to consistently find the strike zone while pitching in relief.
Thus, they will be hoping their 18-year veteran can provide it, in what would be his final career postseason series if the Dodgers don’t advance.
The only other major roster question facing the Dodgers entering this series is at catcher. Roberts said Friday that Smith “will be available to catch” in this NLDS, but was unsure if he’d be able to start right away in Game 1. Smith, who has taken only live at-bats in the last week while nursing his injury, did not appear in the wild-card series despite being on the roster. He took more live at-bats during the team’s Friday night workout at Citizens Bank Park.
Linsey Smith takes the wickets of Laura Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits and Marizanne Kapp, as South Africa fall to 19-4 in just the sixth over of England’s opening match of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Despite missing the last three weeks of the season with a fracture on his right hand, catcher Will Smith was included on the Dodgers’ roster for their best-of-three wild card series against the Cincinnati Reds this week, the team announced ahead of Game 1 on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear if Smith would be able to start Game 1 at Dodger Stadium. Ben Rortvedt was also on the roster, and is expected to start behind the plate if Smith can’t go.
Still, even having Smith’s presence as a potential pinch-hitter will be a boon for the team, which was bracing to begin the playoffs without the two-time All-Star before he made late progress this week in his recovery from his hand injury.
Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, who both missed time last week with minor injuries, were also on the roster as expected.
The other big development from Tuesday’s roster announcement was the absence of outfielder Michael Conforto, the $17 million offseason signing who struggled mightily for much of the regular season but had continued to get playing time through the end of the schedule.
Conforto hit only .199 this season, the lowest mark of any hitter with 450 plate appearances. He also managed just 12 home runs (a full-season career-low), 36 RBIs and struck out 121 times (albeit while drawing 56 walks and keeping his on-base-percentage above .300).
Conforto did finish the season better, batting .228 with a .678 OPS after July 1 and going 15-for-61 (.246 average) in September. As a left-handed hitter, he also appeared to have potential value off the bench.
However, the Dodgers elected to roster trade deadline acquisition Alex Call and defensive specialist Justin Dean (who finished the season in the minors) on their wild card roster. They also kept infielder Hyeseong Kim, who is a speed threat but has been equally inconsistent from the left side of the plate down the stretch.
There were few surprises among the Dodgers’ pitching staff, which included only 11 arms (not including two-way player Shohei Ohtani) for this abbreviated opening-round series.
Rookie phenom Roki Sasaki, who returned from a shoulder injury and impressed in two late-season relief appearances, was on the roster as manager Dave Roberts had hinted the day before.
So too were right-handed veteran Blake Treinen and embattled left-handed closer Tanner Scott, who were major disappointments in late-inning roles this year but flashed some improvement in the final days of the regular season.
The rest of the Dodgers’ bullpen includes converted right-handed starters Tyler Glasnow (who will likely return to the rotation if the team advances to the division series) and Emmet Sheehan, hard-throwing rookie right-hander Edgardo Henriquez, and three other left-handed options in addition to Scott: Alex Vesia, Jack Dreyer and Justin Wrobleski.
Anthony Banda was the only snub from the team’s regular-season roster. Clayton Kerhsaw was also left off the roster as expected, but could have a role in future rounds if the Dodgers advance.
IF you’re eyeing up a wardrobe refresh, we’re predicting that the Paul Smith Black Friday 2025 sale will be one of the hottest tickets in town.
The iconic British label is known for its sharp tailoring, bold prints, and those unmistakable signature stripes — and this November, we’re expecting some seriously tempting deals to land.
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We’re hoping for designer discounts in the Paul Smith Black Friday sale this yearCredit: Paul Smith
Paul Smith Black Friday deals
Paul Smith’s Black Friday event has become a must-watch for fashion fans, and with the brand keeping its cards close to its chest, anticipation is building.
Stay tuned as we break down everything you need to know about Paul Smith’s best Black Friday deals UK — from when the sales will kick off, to which pieces are worth snapping up before they’re gone.
If you want designer style without the designer price tag, this is one sale you’ll want on your radar.
Live Paul Smith deals
Luckily for bargain hunters, there are plenty of Paul Smith deals available from a range of different retailers.
Here are just a few of our favourite deals you can snap up today:
PS Paul Smith short sleeve seersucker shirt in khaki, £52.20 (was £175) from Asos – buy here
PS Paul Smith short sleeve seersucker shorts in khaki, £54.25 (was £155) from Asos – buy here
Paul Smith 3 pack trunks in black, £27.30 (was £42) from Asos – buy here
PS Paul Smith Happy Straight-Leg Jeans, £34 (was £170) from Flannels – buy here
Paul Smith Seer Trousers, £65 (was £325) from Flannels – buy here
PS Paul Smith Suede Lace-Up Tobruk Boots, £75 (was £250) from Flannels – buy here
PS Paul Smith Multi Colour Zag Sleeve Cardigan, £129 (was £260) from Flannels – buy here
PS Paul Smith Kinsey Canvas Trainer Ladies, £85 (was £120) from Flannels – buy here
PS Paul Smith Happy Hoodie Womens, £139 (was £200) from Flannels – buy here
When is Black Friday 2025?
Mark your calendars – this year, Black Friday falls on Friday, November 28.
Savvy shoppers will want to start saving now – the big day will be here before you know it!
Remember to shop smart and compare prices across different stores.
Paul Smith gear can often be nabbed at ASOS, Flannels, and House of Fraser – all of which typically slash prices during Black Friday.
Our top tip? Check all these retailers before hitting the checkout button to ensure you’re getting the absolute best deal possible.
Of course, there’s more to Black Friday than just bagging bargains – but who doesn’t love designerthreadsat high street prices?
Is Paul Smith taking part in Black Friday this year?
TheluxuryBritish brand is keeping its plans forBlack Friday2025 close to its chest.
But based on previous years, bargain-hunting fashionistas can almost certainly look forward to snagging some designer Paul Smith deals during November’s shopping extravaganza.
While no official announcement has dropped yet, savvy shoppers should bookmark thePaul Smith websitenow and sign up for theirnewsletterto be first in line when those stylish discounts land.
Don’t forget to check other retailers too!
ASOS,Flannels, andHouse of Fraserall stock Paul Smith gear and typically slash prices during Black Friday – giving you even more chances to bag signature stripes andluxurythreadsfor less.
We’ll be updating this page with all the hottest Paul Smith deals and discounts as soon as they drop, so keep checking back if you’re eyeing up something special.
What deals to expect in the Paul Smith’s Black Friday sale 2025?
Last year, the luxury British brand slashed prices by a massive 30% off selected products on its official website.
In previous years, fashion enthusiasts could purchase gorgeous gear using an exclusive discount code that applied to everything – men’s wear, women’s wear, kids’ wear, homeware, and all those must-have accessories.
While the discounts might not be as dramatic as some high street retailers – let’s face it, Paul Smith is proper posh – even a 30% saving on designer threads is nothing to sniff at!
Savvy shoppers should hit the Black Friday sales early rather than waiting for Cyber Monday – the best bits always get snapped up quickly, and nobody wants to miss out on those iconic stripes.
We’ll be updating this guide with all the latest bargains as soon as they drop, so keep your eyes peeled if you’re after some designer gear that won’t cost a fortune this November.
What was in Paul Smith’s sale last year?
Fashion fans were treated to some MASSIVE discounts in the 2024 Paul Smith Black Friday sales.
The official Paul Smith website slashed prices with a whopping 30% off selected items across the board.
Shoppers could bag serious bargains using an exclusive Black Friday code, which unlocked discounts on everything from sharp suits to signature striped accessories.
Smith goodies were also available at major retailers, including ASOS, Flannels, and House of Fraser, with many offering exclusive Black Friday deals on the British designer’s collection.
When is Cyber Monday 2025, and is Paul Smith taking part?
The luxury British brand hasn’t officially confirmed whether it’ll be joining the Cyber Monday action yet, but if Paul Smith offers Black Friday deals, you can bet they’ll still be offering discounts when Monday rolls around.
As mentioned earlier, Black Friday (November 28) is typically when brands launch their biggest discounts, which continue across the weekend until midnight on Cyber Monday.
If you spot that signature striped scarf or sharp suit with a decent discount on Black Friday, don’t hang about hoping for bigger savings on Cyber Monday – the best bits always get snapped up fast!
Remember that Paul Smith gear is also stocked at ASOS, Flannels, and House of Fraser – all worth checking for exclusive deals that might offer better prices than the official site.
Watch this space for all the latest Cyber Monday deal updates from Paul Smith right here in our guide.
You can select either DPD Express Delivery or DHL Express Delivery options for an additional fee of £5.
DPD Express Delivery guarantees your parcel will arrive within 1–2 days – perfect for impatient fashion lovers, while the DHL Express Delivery option ensures your items will be delivered to your door within 1–3 days.
Just a heads up – the Paul Smith website does warn: “During sale and busy periods, some services will not be available in the checkout and orders will be shipped in minimal packaging.”
They also add: “If you’ve shopped in one of our sales, please allow an additional three working days for dispatch.”
So don’t panic if your Black Friday bargains take a little longer to arrive!
Remember, if you’re purchasing Paul Smith items from other stockists, such as ASOS or House of Fraser, the delivery options and costs may differ – always check before you check out.
Does Paul Smith offer any other discounts?
The British fashion house has a handy price match policy that works on items sold cheaper by official stockists.
The fancy fashion brand states: “The price match guarantee only applies to full-price items, inclusive of sales tax, and includes seasonal reductions and/or any special promotions.
“Products must be the exact style, material, colour, size and be available to purchase on both websites. Our online prices include VAT but exclude delivery charges and any other services.”
Want to know exactly how it works? You can read the full details of the Paul Smith price match policy on their website.
Searching for more discounts? New shoppers can also sign up to the Paul Smith newsletter – perfect for getting cheeky discounts on designer purchases you’ve been eyeing up!
Where to shop for Paul Smith Black Friday 2025 deals?
From the Paul Smith website to leading fashion retailers, there are plenty of places to search for potential Paul Smith Black Friday deals.
Below is a rundown of some of the most popular high street and online retailers to browse when the sales start.
More Luxury Fashion Deals
Are Paul Smith clothes true to size?
Yes, Paul Smith’s clothes are generally true to size.
The brand offers an extensive suit fit guide and jeans fit guide online to help shoppers, along with shoe fitting advice.
You can also make use of the brand’s in-store personal shopping services to ensure you find the perfect fit.
Though if you are dissatisfied, you can return your order.
What is PS by Paul Smith?
PS is a second Paul Smith collection, including apparel, denim, footwear, and accessories for both men and women, which has a more youthful feel.
This second line still uses the confident bold colours, unique prints, and sharp tailoring you’d expect from Paul Smith.
PS Paul Smith is also stocked on ASOS, as well as other retailers, and is considered a slightly more affordable range from the luxury brand.
Downton Abbey debuted in 2010, establishing itself as a cherished series that spanned six seasons plus two earlier movies.
The conclusion served as a tribute to Dame Maggie Smith, who passed away aged 89 last September.
Her character, The Dowager Countess, was written off by her death in the 2022 picture, Downton Abbey: A New Era, though her memory was celebrated in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Michelle Dockery has addressed the ending of the final Downton Abbey(Image: Nick Briggs/Carnival Films)
As the finale wrapped up with an emotional ending, following Lady Mary as a divorcee and single mother overcoming scandal, viewers saw visions of the family and servants dancing together with Violet Crawley, with the camera resting on a portrait of Dame Maggie.
However, Michelle has now revealed there were alternate endings in mind.
She told The Hollywood Reporter: “There were a couple of versions of the ending. There was another version where you saw Mary go back to work, she goes into the library and she sits at her desk.
“They decided to end it on the tribute to Maggie, which I think is the best ending. I always felt that it was the right way to finish.
Dame Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey(Image: ITV)
“[Mary, Cora and Robert] are saying their goodbyes and I think that’s for the audience – this feeling of moving on and saying farewell to each other.”
She added: “It feels quite hopeful. I also like that at the end of this story, Mary ends up as a single woman. There’s a new chapter ahead of her, she’s happier, and she’s excited to take the reins and become the lady of the house. It’s the end, but it feels like it’s ongoing.”
Creator Julian Fellowes previously spoke about dedicating the film to Dame Maggie: “I think we all felt that if there was a third film, we wanted it to be haunted by Maggie.
Downton Abbey came to an end with a third and final film(Image: AP)
“There is a theme of Maggie going through the film, and then at the end, you see her when Mary is having all her flashbacks. I like that. She was an iconic figure … And that’s another reason to finish.”
He added: “I think the actors had had enough – in the nicest way, there were a lot of good friendships and we’ll always meet as members of the Downton club … But I also feel that, in life, you must know when to let go of things, whether it’s professional or romantic or anything else.
“There is a moment when you think, ‘It’s time to bring this to an end.’ And I felt that about the show.”
Dodgers catcher Will Smith has a hairline fracture in his right hand and is doubtful to return before the end of the regular season, according to manager Dave Roberts.
The Dodgers are “hopeful” Smith will be available for the postseason, but whether he will be ready for the very start of the playoffs — which likely will be Sept. 30 — remains “up in the air,” Roberts said.
Smith, the three-time All-Star catcher who led the National League in batting average in the first half of the season before slumping through August, first got hurt when a foul ball hit his dangling throwing hand behind the plate on Sept. 3 in Pittsburgh.
After missing the Dodgers’ next five games, he returned to the starting lineup on Sept. 9 against the Colorado Rockies, and doubled in his first at-bat. However, the 30-year-old was a late scratch from the lineup the next day after his hand swelled up, and was placed on the injured list last weekend in San Francisco.
Initially, both an X-ray and an MRI on Smith’s hand came back clean, which is why the Dodgers allowed him to return to action as soon as they did. But his injury lingered and the Dodgers sent him back for another MRI at the end of this past week.
This time, the scan showed what both Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman described as a “small” fracture.
“It sounds like from the doctors that it’s so small and in such a small part of the hand that it didn’t show up initially but did on the subsequent [scan],” Friedman said. “They seem to say [that] is common. I haven’t seen it, but I also haven’t seen a broken bone in that area very often. It makes sense why it was slow to rebound. I’m glad we have clarity on it. We’re going to do everything we can to strengthen and heal and get it back.”
To this point, the Dodgers have managed without Smith, who was batting .296 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs. In the 14 games he has missed since getting hurt, the team is 8-6 and averaging more than five runs per game.
A big reason why: The emergence of journeyman replacement Ben Rortvedt, a minor-league addition at the trade deadline who has come to the majors and produced capably as a fill-in for Smith and backup catcher Dalton Rushing (who missed 10 days this month after fouling a ball off his leg).
After joining the team as a career .186 hitter in four MLB seasons, Rortvedt has batted .294 in 13 games with the Dodgers with two doubles and two sacrifice bunts. Dodgers pitchers also have a 2.74 ERA with him behind the plate.
Even with Rushing healthy again, Roberts said Rortvedt will likely get the “lion’s share” of playing time in Smith’s absence.
“The way he’s helped lead our pitching staff has been awesome,” Friedman said. “He really has that servant leadership mentality behind the plate, which has really ingratiated himself with a lot of our pitchers.”
Still, to be at top form, the Dodgers need Smith in the middle of the batting order.
Friedman said the team will keep giving treatment to his hand until “he gets to a point where he doesn’t have symptoms, we’ll re-X-ray.”
“We’re optimistic that it’s going to heal quickly, but we’re at the mercy of how quickly that happens,” Friedman said. “We don’t really know. but we’re optimistic it’ll be pretty fast.”
I am sitting in a tent placed inside the parlor of a Victorian-era house. Before me lies a spirit board, a lone tarot card and a black scrying mirror. I am here to commune with the dead.
There is no medium. It is only myself and eight other attendees— our guide has left the tent. Though earlier we could hear tension-rattling music setting a cryptic mood, now there is nothing. Lights? Off. The tent has gone pitch black. At this particular moment, there’s only the sound of our breaths, our thoughts and perhaps some new guests.
Welcome to “Phasmagorica,” what composer-turned-magician-turned-spiritual explorer BC Smith describes as “a séance reimagined as art.” It’s running this month at the Heritage Square Museum, itself a location imbued with history and mystery, the site of the homes of Los Angeles as they existed a century ago.
I’ll get right to the point: I did not have an encounter with the dead. And yet I left “Phasmagorica” deeply curious. That’s because Smith sets up the evening as an exploration of the modern Western history of communing with the deceased, attempting to conjure the feeling of a séance as it occurred in late 1880s America, albeit with a better sound system and all the Death in the Afternoon cocktails you can consume (note: you should not consume very many).
The “experiment” — Smith shirks at the word performance — is designed, he says, for believers and nonbelievers. He himself falls somewhere in the middle.
“I’m a hopeful skeptic,” Smith says. “If I were a 100% believer, ‘Phasmagorica’ would be a church. I just wanted to create a space that started a conversation for people.”
It is relevant to point out that Smith is also a magician, a member of the Magic Castle, home itself to a popular séance. While Smith has not conducted a Magic Castle séance, he has — and will — orchestrate what he refers to as a “theatrical séance,” for which he is present as a storyteller. “Phasmagorica” is different, Smith says, and was born out of those more dramatic performances, in part because he kept encountering the unaccountable.
“It’s highly curated,” Smith says of a core difference between a theatrical séance and “Phasmagorica,” as the former will be tailored specifically to guest needs and requests. “But people were experiencing a lot in those séances that I could not explain,” Smith says. He recites a story that opens “Phasmagorica” of a shadow reaching out and touching someone on a shoulder. Smith says he witnessed this phenomena, and at that point decided to create an event that focused on realism and dispensed with the notion that there could be any illusions or magic.
BC Smith’s “Phasmagorica” is not a theatrical or magic performance. The event aims to recreate the feel of a vintage séance.
(Roger Kisby / For The Times)
I was surprised, for instance, when Smith left the room. At that point, we were with only a television, which narrates a short history of séances in America before instructing us to hold a pendulum over a spirit board. Knowing Smith’s past, I went in expecting more of a show. Instead, we are prodded to examine a tarot card, peer into the scrying mirror and ask questions to our spirit board.
“It becomes more personal,” Smith says. “Even in my theatrical séances, I’ve had people want to cut me off mid-sentence and say, ‘This just happened to me.’ And they want to spend the next five minutes talking about it. At the end of the day, I think what people like is that this is all about them.”
And still, Smith says, audiences are looking for wizardry. But there’s no tricks of the light, no hidden fans. He stresses multiple times in this interview and at the start of “Phasmagorica” that this is “not theater, not a performance, not a show.”
“I’ve had people walk out of the room and swear there was a magnet in the pendulum board,” he says. “Or swear there was some effect that made them see a person standing. People still have an explanation that I had something to do with it. Whatever helps you sleep with the light off.”
While numerous cultures and spiritual movements have throughout history long attempted to commune with the dead, a séance, says Lisa Morton, author of “Calling the Spirits: A History of Séances,” is a relatively recent occurrence. She and Smith trace their popularity to the Fox sisters, Kate and Maggie, who performed to packed crowds in the late 1880s in New York, attempting to demonstrate that spirits could speak via a series of raps on the walls.
BC Smith calls “Phasmagorica” an “experiment,” shirking at the word performance.(Roger Kisby / For The Times)
Prior to the Fox sisters, Morton says, attempts to commune with the beyond, broadly speaking, were a more personal and ritualistic affair. “The Greeks believed that sleeping on a grave might give you dreams in which you communed with a spirit,” she says. Popular myths, too, would portray the practice as borderline arcane. In Homer’s “The Odyssey,” for instance, a bridge to the spirit world is reached only after a complex series of sacrifices and offerings — a potent mix of sweet wine and the blood of a lamb.
“The séance comes along, and not only is it a group activity, but it suggests that anyone can communicate with the spirits of the dead,” Morton says. “You just need a medium — someone who can enter a trance state and open themselves to receiving spirit communications. It was done with a group, and in the comfort of someone’s home. Those were startlingly new ideas.”
Morton has taken part in Smith’s “Phasmagorica.” She, too, appreciated the historical emphasis, specifically the way a musician performs after the séance as guests mingle with one another and share their experience. Music was a big part of early séances, Morton says.
“People would sit around a table and the lights would be lowered and they would sing,” Morton says “Now, singing did have a scammy double purpose, as they allowed the medium to start doing things in the dark unheard. But these evenings were wondrous for people, and I thought that was what BC Smith captured really well.”
“Phasmagorica” has been running on select weekends at Heritage Square since the late summer. Smith intends to continue adding events throughout the fall as his schedule allows, announcing them on Instagram. Though intimate, they do typically sell out. It’s traveling via word of mouth, theorizes Smith, because people today are increasingly searching for “connection and meaning.”
Heritage Square Museum is itself a location imbued with history and mystery, the site of the homes of Los Angeles as they existed a century ago.
(Marcus Ubungen / Los Angeles Times)
“The experience is really up to you,” he says. “I think we’re all searching for something. This is a safe space to explore.”
Late in life, Maggie Fox denounced the spiritualism movement that she and her sister Kate had helped start, demonstrating the ways in which they had fooled their audiences. Smith again stresses that he himself is a “hopeful skeptic,” and purposefully stays out of the experience so that guests aren’t trying to figure out if he’s holding onto any secrets.
And yet he says, “Phasmagorica” has permanently changed him. He notes that his wife is a commercial airline pilot and must travel often.
“When she’s away, I sleep with a night-light,” he says. “Maybe that’s the answer to the question whether I believe or not.”
At some point, the Dodgers hope, they will be able to field a fully healthy lineup.
A late scratch on Wednesday to catcher Will Smith, however, meant it would have to wait at least a couple more days.
Despite activating Tommy Edman from the injured list pregame, and proceeding to sweep the Colorado Rockies with a 9-0 win that stretched their National League West lead to three games, the Dodgers were left dealing with another injury headache Wednesday, removing Smith from the starting lineup just 15 minutes before first pitch after swelling developed around the bone bruise he has been dealing with in his right hand.
“Not overly concerned,” manager Dave Roberts said of Smith’s status, “but we’ve got to get that swelling under wraps.”
Smith’s absence hardly hampered the Dodgers in their fourth straight win.
Their lineup exploded for four runs in the second inning and five in the eighth behind a huge night from Mookie Betts, who continued his recent tear with a four-for-five, five-RBI performance that included a run-scoring double early and a grand slam to put things away late. Betts is now on a 16-game on-base streak, has multiple RBIs in five-straight contests, and is batting .352 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs over his last 32 games.
Behind the plate, Ben Rortvedt filled in to catch Blake Snell’s scoreless six-inning, 11-strikeout start, which continued a dominant run from a Dodgers’ rotation that now has a 1.18 ERA over the last six games.
And thanks to a loss earlier in the day by the San Diego Padres, the team grew its lead atop the division for a second day in a row, effectively taking a 3-½ game NL West lead (when accounting for its head-to-head tiebreaker over San Diego) with 16 games to play.
“That was a big home series sweep, to get us going … get us moving in the right direction,” Snell said. “All of us have been looking forward to getting it going. This was a really good step.”
Yet, after activating Max Muncy off the injured list Monday, and welcoming Edman back into the fold Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers were finally on the verge of having a full-strength squad for the first time since early July.
Instead, they were reminded of the tenuous reality of their oft-injured roster — and the difficulty of trying to manage Smith’s hand in particular.
It had only been a week since Smith first got hurt, when a foul ball in Pittsburgh ricocheted off his dangling throwing hand behind the plate and left him with a bone bruise that sidelined him until Tuesday — though didn’t require an injured list stint. Smith had looked OK in his return to action that night, lining a double in his first at-bat while helping Emmet Sheehan carry a no-hitter into the sixth. He was back in the original lineup the Dodgers posted Wednesday, as they sought a series sweep over the 106-loss Rockies.
The issue, it appeared, might be behind him.
But then, when the Dodgers emerged from the dugout Wednesday night, it was Rortvedt who went to squat behind home plate.
“Literally 15 minutes before the game, as he’s getting ready, his hand started to swell up,” Roberts said. “After [his pregame] hitting, getting dressed, getting ready for the game, that’s when it started to show itself. He tried to get out there and throw. It just didn’t respond well.”
After Smith first got hurt, Roberts cautioned his injury could linger for the rest of the season. After Wednesday, he said the team would monitor Smith on Thursday’s off day –– and potentially send him for an MRI –– then decide on Friday whether he’ll play in this weekend’s series-opener in San Francisco.
“We’ve got to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Roberts said.
Miguel Rojas slides home to score a run in the second inning.
(Eric Thayer/Eric Thayer For The Los Angeles)
Smith’s hand won’t be the only injury the Dodgers (82-64) will have to manage down the stretch.
While Edman returned from an ankle injury that had plagued him all year, and sidelined him since its own flare-up on Aug. 3, Roberts said pregame he was still curious to see how the utilityman looked.
Edman slotted in center field on Wednesday — where he tracked down a fly ball on the game’s first pitch — and will likely see most of his playing time there for at least the foreseeable future. Roberts noted that, unlike earlier this year when Edman was mainly limited to infield duties, the quick reactions required at second base might be tougher on his ankle now.
“Getting off the ball is something I’m going to be really mindful of watching,” Roberts said of Edman. “Once he gets to full speed, it’s a lot easier [to decide what he can handle].”
With Edman in center, the Dodgers also ran out a new outfield alignment, with Andy Pages moving to left field and Michael Conforto dropping to the bench.
Roberts said Conforto will still see playing time against right-handed pitchers (the Rockies started left-hander Kyle Freeland on Wednesday). He also didn’t close the door on eventually flipping Pages (who had three hits Wednesday, including an RBI double in the second to open the scoring) and Teoscar Hernández (who went deep in the eighth for his third home run in the last two nights) in the corners, though noted he is keeping Hernández in right for now thanks to his improved defensive play in recent weeks.
“Teo played the season last year in left field, so we’ve shown that we can win a championship with him in left field,” Roberts said. “Not quite there yet, but thinking about it.”
Despite the moving pieces, it all brought the Dodgers closer to the lineup they envisioned having at the start of this season, the one they’ve floundered with offensively (entering the night ranked just 26th in the majors in scoring since July 4) while playing without.
“I think that we’ve all been waiting for our guys to come back to health and see what we look like,” Roberts said.
Still, they won’t be at full strength again until Smith is. Wednesday was a reminder that his health remains in doubt.
Roberts said that could include finding the rookie right-hander, who finally rediscovered his 100-mph fastball Tuesday after lacking velocity and battling a shoulder injury previously this year, an opportunity to start a big-league game for the first time since April. Or, potentially pitching out of the bullpen, which is how the 23-year-old would likely be used if he were to be included on the postseason roster.
Before that latter scenario could become reality, of course, the Dodgers will need to see Sasaki have some sort of success back in the majors, where he had a 4.72 ERA in eight starts at the beginning of the season before going on the IL.
Nonetheless, Roberts described Sasaki’s rehab outing on Tuesday as “great for the Dodgers, great for Roki’s confidence, great for the organization.
“Mostly it was great for Roki,” Roberts added. “Just to really let it eat, let it fly, have some success and know that he can be the guy that he’s known to be.”
Olivia Smith scores a “debut goal for the ages” in her first appearance for Arsenal against London City Lionesses on match day 1 of the Women’s Super League.
A hit BBC One drama is returning to our screens in just a few days on Netflix 15 years on from its TV debut, with Sheridan Smith, Olivia Coleman, Stephen Graham and others starring
Sheridan Smith stars in series two of Accused with Robert Sheehan
With summer officially over, it’s time to curl up in front of the sofa with a series to binge – and now thanks to Netflix, a hit BBC drama will be back on our screens after over a decade. Netflix subscribers can expect a number of new shows and movies to arrive on the streamer this month, from Charlie Sheen’s new documentary to period drama House of Guinness.
However, as well as brand new shows, viewers will get another chance to watch BBC One anthology drama Accused 15 years after it made its TV debut. Created by Time writer Jimmy McGovern, the legal drama follows a different character on trial in each episode and how they came to be accused.
The first series stars the likes of Christopher Eccleston, Mackenzie Crook, Tina O’Brien, Peter Capaldi and Naomi Harris across six hard-hitting episodes. It was followed up by a second series two years later in 2012, with Sean Bean, Stephen Graham, Olivia Colman, Sheridan Smith and Anna Maxwell Martin among the stars joining the cast.
Accused went on to be nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 2011, with Juliet Stevenson receiving nod for her performance in episode three. While she didn’t win, the show picked up Best Drama Series and Best Actor for Christopher Eccleston at the International Emmy Awards in 2011.
Two years later, Olivia Colman won Best Supporting Actress for her role in series two at the BAFTA TV Awards and the Royal Television Society Programme Awards, while Sean Bean won Best Actor at the International Emmys. The series is set to land on Netflix on 10 September in the UK.
Series one tells six different stories – the first starring Christopher Eccleston as a lapsed Catholic plumber who takes a gamble after coming under financial pressure, while the second follows British army soldier (played by Benjamin Smith) who is pushed to his limits after witnessing the death of a colleague.
The third episode sees a primary school teacher (Juliet Stevenson) stand trial for committing a terrible crime after the loss of her son. The next episode stars Andy Serkis as a taxi driver with a gambling problem who commits a crime of passion, while episode five sees Marc Warren play a loving dad who was involved in a violent crime.
Accused’s final episode stars Naomi Harris as a working mum who goes up against her estranged husband (Warren Brown) in court.
Viewers took to social media to praise the drama back when it first aired in 2010, with one writing; “That was a great piece of drama #Accused #BBC.” Another said: “Loving ‘accused’ on the bbc. ecclestone is incredible.”
Sheridan Smith is being praised for her powerful performance in I Fought the Law, a new ITV drama based on the real-life harrowing story of a Brit who fought for justice after her daughter’s murder
Sheridan Smith moved viewers to tears with her performance in ITV’s I Fought the Law(Image: ITV)
The four-part series, which started airing tonight (August 31), tells the harrowing true story of Ann Ming – the woman who changed an 800-year-old law in her fight for justice following the murder of her daughter Julie.
Smith, who has become the go-to star for bringing real-life figures to the screen in acclaimed dramas such as The C Word, The Moorside, Four Lives, Mrs Biggs and Cilla, is being called one of the best British actors in existence for her role in this show.
She gives viewers a glimpse of what Ann may have gone through from the moment Julie went missing in 1989 until the end of her 15 year campaign to overturn the ancient British double jeopardy rule that was keeping her daughter’s killer out of jail.
The drama is based on the true story of Ann Ming who campaigned for her daughter’s killer to be jailed(Image: ITV)
Audiences were stunned with the actresses’ portrayal of a parent’s worst nightmare in episode one as Ann fought with indifferent police after her daughter vanished, eventually resorting to chasing leads on her own before making the heartbreaking discovery of Julie’s body 80 days later.
One fan took to social media to share how touched they were by the performance, writing: “Just finished watching #IFoughtTheLaw Sheridan Smith utterly fantastic in the role of Ann Ming. I’m in bits tbh. What a wonderful achievement in changing the double jeopardy law to finally get justice for Julie.”
Another admitted: “Just binged every episode! Horrific crime. Disgusting policing. Outstanding woman. Sheridan is amazing as always. It’s a must watch. Cried my eyes out. Lots of love to Julie’s family.” A third chimed in: “This is so tense. You can feel the panic.”
The series is adapted from Ann’s memoir For the Love of Julie and written by Jamie Crichton (All Creatures Great and Small, The Last Kingdom).
Unlike a traditional whodunit, the show reveals the culprit early on, and spends most of its runtime on Ann’s long legal battle to overturn double jeopardy after her daughter’s killer was acquitted despite compelling DNA evidence.
Ann Ming’s campaign eventually led to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which created an exception to the double jeopardy rule.
This paved the way for a retrial of William Dunlop, who had confessed to Julie’s murder. In 2006, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Sheridan Smith was almost unrecognisable on screen after spending hours in the make-up chair every day ahead of playing Ann. Her costume included a wig that demonstrates her aging as the episodes progress and years of campaigning and grief take their toll on the mum.
The actress admitted that she barely recognised her own reflection during filming, explaining: “I couldn’t even see myself in the mirror. It just wasn’t me, and I didn’t see where I was. So it was a magic shoot.”
The star also said that playing such a weighty character came with a deep sense of responsibility. Smith told The Hollywood Reporter : “I felt such responsibility to do her story justice, because she’s trusted these guys to tell her story. At the end of the day, it’s her real life. It’s not just a TV show, it’s her life and her family, and it matters.”
