Spinoff

EXCLUSIVE: The Death in Paradise spin-off star opens up about cast changes in Beyond Paradise

Barbara Flynn thought she had lost her job after one week of filming the Death in Paradise spin-off.

The beloved actress, who portrays Anne Lloyd and has also appeared in Death in Paradise, has offered a glowing tribute to a guest star following their departure from the BBC drama.

The fourth series of Beyond Paradise concluded earlier this year, featuring Anne Lloyd stepping in to prevent Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) from being dismissed from his position. The episode additionally saw Zoe Williams bidding farewell to Shipton Abbott for travels abroad.

New arrival Mr. James Smith (Vincent Franklin) was also exposed by Anne for conducting an affair with a DI from Heston Morley station. Anne, who featured on a repeat broadcast of Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh today, previously discussed filming alongside Vincent, describing the performer as “funny”.

She told Reach PLC: “We got on incredibly well. He’s a funny man, and we had enormous fun off-screen as well as on. He was a lovely addition and a bit of a mystery, and it’s going to all end in… not tears, but chaos or something.

“And, of course, because Anne decides to get much more involved than that, then there’s a real, there’s a real kind of shift,” reports the Express.

Reflecting on increased collaboration with Kris Marshall’s character, Barbara continued: “Well, they all find it difficult having Anne in the station.

“I mean, Humphrey is as polite as he could be. He was never rude, but he’s so in his head, and so Anne is constantly bemused by him, but at the same time, very fond.”

Kris similarly expressed his appreciation for working with Vincent, who portrayed his adversary, calling him a “genius actor”. During the repeat episode of Love Your Weekend, Anne chatted with Alan about the series and how she finds it “a joy” to go to work.

“It is lovely,” Barbara said, going on to heap praise on the show’s writers, “Tony Jordan and Tim Key are an amazing pair. Death in Paradise has such a huge following around the world, and I think it is just something pleasant.

“I said to Sally (Bretton) once, because most of my scenes are with her, who I absolutely adore, I said, ‘Look, Sal, here we are sitting on a bench on a beach’.

“We are at work, and we were doing yoga on a beach, and it was a complete delight.”

She went on to reveal that she broke her ankle after just one week of filming, which made shooting certain scenes particularly challenging. She added, “The rest of it was filmed of me from wheelchairs and crutches. I thought I’d lost a job after the first week, but they said, ‘No, no Barbara, we will wheel you up and down’.”

Beyond Paradise is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

WASHINGTON — First Lady Melania Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday the launch of Fostering the Future Accounts, a spinoff of the Trump Accounts investment funds meant to give $1,000 to every newborn whose parent opens one.

Building on her work helping foster children, Trump said the new federal guidance will give child welfare agencies the ability to act as a guardian for children in foster care for the purposes of opening an account.

At a news conference at the Treasury Department, the first lady said the move “gives foster children the same chance at asset ownership and long-term wealth as every other child.”

The accounts will be open for contributions July 4. To qualify for an account, a child must also be a U.S. citizen born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that a Trump Account balance for a baby born in 2026 will be $5,800 by age 18 and $18,100 by age 28 if no other contributions are made.

The first lady said 23 governors, all Republicans, have pledged to allow state agencies to begin the process of enrolling children in the program. “I urge every governor and business leader to help fund these accounts,” she said.

There are roughly 330,000 children in the U.S. foster care system, according to the National Council for Adoption. One in five of them is at risk of homelessness after aging out of foster care, and only half gain employment by the time they are 24, according to the National Foster Youth Institute.

“Those outcomes are unsettling, but we refuse to accept them as inevitable,” Bessent told the news conference. “We are affirming that the American dream belongs to every child.”

A provision of Trump’s tax and spending legislation that he signed into law last summer created Trump Accounts. Under them, the Treasury Department gives $1,000 to babies so long as their parents open an account. That money is then invested in the stock market by private firms, and the children can access the money when they turn 18.

Employers and billionaires across the country have pledged to make matching Trump Account contributions for employee benefits. Among them are Michael and Susan Dell, who announced a $6.25 billion donation, and hedge fund founder Ray Dalio and his wife, Barbara, who pledged $75 million for kids under 10 in Connecticut, where the Dalios live.

Hussein writes for the Associated Press.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees is striking against “CoComelon: The Melon Patch” in protest over wages and working conditions.

The union representing crew members working on the live-action YouTube series said the workers are being overworked and that the production is understaffed.

The crew, which consists of 22 workers, recently signed cards seeking the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or IATSE, to represent them in collective bargaining. The production’s management refused to bargain, according to the workers.

“The crew on this project experienced firsthand what working conditions can be like on a non-union production and organized for fair wages and industry-standard benefits after they started the second season,” IATSE said in a statement to The Times.

The strike began on Wednesday, halfway through the series’ shoot. The workers are currently picketing outside the Stage This studio in Sun Valley.

Moonbug Entertainment, the company behind the “CoComelon” franchise, declined to comment on the matter.

“The Melon Patch” first launched in 2025 and is a spinoff of the original “CoComelon” on YouTube. Over the last several years, “CoComelon” has become a staple in households with young children, known for its brightly colored 3D animation style. The franchise has spawned many spinoffs including Netflix’s “CoComelon Lane.” Universal Pictures is set to release a full-length feature in early 2027.

Several previous “CoComelon” productions have successfully been unionized and covered by IATSE’s contract, including the Netflix series.

Chris Roberts worked as an art director on the first season, but says he was initially offered a lower rate for season two. Though the project is non-union, he said it’s ironic to have to picket a company that makes kids’ content, as he’s unable to support his own family.

“It’s a little disheartening to be offered less money than we were paid in the first season and then have less staff, a heavier workload, and not be able to provide for my kids,” said Roberts, who has been a member of IATSE since 2016.