Yorkshire

Ian McKellen is saying goodbye to his dear friend Patrick Stewart.

Stewart, the storied actor whose performances spanned comic book films, Shakespearean stage productions and sci-fi TV, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. He was 86. While tributes from former co-stars across the “X-Men” films and “Star Trek” franchise poured in, fans of Stewart were keeping a close eye out for McKellen’s remarks, as the two had a famously close friendship, often on full display with red-carpet smooches and pally interviews.

On Thursday, McKellen posted a tribute to Stewart.

“Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end,” McKellen’s statement began. “You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.”

Although the two had known each other since they were young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1970s, Stewart said he initially was too shy to approach McKellen, but was “impressed.” Stewart said the two had “X-Men” to thank for their close bond. On set, the two had trailers that were next door to each other, and with time to kill between filming, they would head next door and chat for hours.

“It was a delight for me to find that the enthusiasms and passions that I’d had all my life were shared by Ian,” the late actor said in a 2014 interview. When asked to write a hashtag that summed up their bromance, Stewart wrote #Aren’twelucky, and McKellen wrote #eternal.

In addition to playing rivals across multiple “X-Men” films, Patrick and McKellen starred together in “Waiting for Godot” and “No Man’s Land” on Broadway and London’s West End.

“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions,” McKellen’s tribute continued. “My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek.’”

McKellen recalled saying, “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk—getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”

“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.”

In 2014, Stewart admitted to Broadway.com that he was envious of McKellen for both his university education and his hair.

“Ian knows and he thinks I’m foolish to feel this way,” he said. “Ian went to Cambridge and my formal schooling ended when I was 15. I envy that, but I also envy your head of hair. If only because in the two plays you don’t wear a wig and yet you manage to make your hairstyle look completely different … I envy that whereas I have to stick on a wig.”

McKellen responded by telling Stewart that he was gorgeous with and without the wig.

In 2013, Stewart married longtime girlfriend Sunny Ozell in a Lake Tahoe ceremony that McKellen officiated.

“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin. But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”

McKellen and Stewart star together again in the forthcoming “Avengers: Doomsday,” which hits theaters Dec. 18.

Amanda Owen had to deal with an issue at Ravenseat during the latest episode of Our Farm Next Door

Amanda Owen was left concerned after noticing a “problem” at Ravenseat.

The Yorkshire Shepherdess lives and works on Ravenseat Farm with her ex-husband, Clive, and their nine children. Their first documentary series, Our Yorkshire Farm, debuted on Channel 5 back in 2018, and has since become one of the broadcaster’s most popular programmes.

The family returned to screens this month for the fourth instalment of Channel 4 favourite, Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids. The follow-up documentary series notably follows the family as they undertake the renovation of a 200-year-old farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales.

During the instalment on Monday (October 19), the Owens’ eldest daughter, Raven, returned to the farm, where she helped with various jobs. Meanwhile, Amanda, Sid and Miles were on a mission to rescue a pregnant sheep, who was stuck at the bottom of a hill.

“We’ve got a problem this morning,” Amanda said. She explained that one of the children’s spotty sheep, Coco, had been seen at the bottom of a hill, and it didn’t appear like she was able to move.

Amanda acknowledged that they needed to get Coco home, as she had found shelter in one of the most inaccessible barns on the farm. “She can’t stay here,” she added. “She’s grinding her teeth a little bit, which is not good. I don’t like that, because that usually means that maybe they’re in a little bit of pain. [She’s] definitely not right, definitely needs to come home… Very odd.”

Amanda, Miles and Sid used a large bag as a makeshift stretcher to pull Coco up the hill in the windy conditions. Amanda suspected that one of the lambs inside was sitting on a nerve, possibly causing Coco’s pain.

“It happened, actually, with one of my kiddies. Literally, I couldn’t move one whole side of my body. I think, hope, that’s what’s wrong,” she said.

Amanda went to visit Coco later on in the episode, explaining: “It’s been quite intense looking after her, because we have to keep her moving. Once a sheep is down, once any animal is down, it’s very difficult to get it on the road to recovery.

“They don’t make very good patients, not at all. But time will tell. All we can do is keep nursing her, she’s having turnips and cake and glucose drinks to give her energy. And good hay and water, and we’ll just have to see.

“I mean, everything could be all fine. It could be that the lambs have moved and they’ve laid on a nerve. I think if she gets her lambs here, she’ll be okay. So, it’s an age-old job. Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst.”

A positive update was later shared, after Coco safely delivered her lambs. “It’s good news regarding Coco. Obviously, she went down, she went off her legs just before she was due to lamb,” Amanda shared.

“She has recovered and she’s had two lovely, healthy lambs.” Annas and Clemmy soon took their older sister, Raven, to visit the lambs and share their lambing expertise.

Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids airs Monday nights at 9pm on More4

A man has died after being attacked by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, police have confirmed.

South Yorkshire Police said it had been called at 13:35 BST to reports of a man entering the tiger enclosure at the attraction near Doncaster. The tiger then attacked the man and he died at the scene, the force said.

His family had been informed and were being supported by officers, it added.

A park spokesperson said: “We are deeply saddened by today’s tragic incident. Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with the family and loved ones of the person who has lost their life.”

They added: “We are working closely with the police and relevant authorities and would ask that the privacy of those affected is respected at this extremely difficult time. The park will remain closed tomorrow.”

Police said the tiger was uninjured, remained in the enclosure following the incident and there had been no wider risk to the public.

The park was evacuated and officers remain at the scene.

The force added: “We are aware of videos circulating online and we would encourage people not to share this footage.”

Earlier, in a statement posted on its website, the park said its emergency response procedures had been “immediately activated” and it was “working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened”.