There is a marvellous passage towards the end of the first act of Willy Russell’s evergreen monologue. Shirley has told us about her irritating neighbour Gillian, a master at one-upmanship, when unexpectedly she receives a gift from her. Far from thinking herself superior to Shirley, Gillian turns out to be awestruck. Not only that, but … Read more
This year’s UK entry for Eurovision will be Remember Monday, singing the powerpop ballad WTHJH (What the Hell Just Happened), the BBC has confirmed. The selection of the country-inflected female trio – who describe themselves as “pop girlies with a lil bit of yeehaw” – was announced by Scott Mills on his Radio 2 show … Read more
What function does a television series have when the disgrace it covers is already in the public domain? The “spy cops” scandal has been the subject of extensive reporting, spearheaded by the Guardian. There is no need to demand a public inquiry, either: one is under way. Yet ITV’s three-part The Undercover Police Scandal: Love … Read more
‘Every time I think about starting a new job,” says Lucy, a documentary maker, “I feel triggered. Because every job I’ve done in the last five years, bar maybe two, I’ve had some kind of absolutely horrendous experience. I now expect to be put in danger at work.” Lucy (not her real name) is by … Read more
Lady Gaga’s single Abracadabra is enjoying its fifth consecutive week in the UK Top 10. You can imagine a collective sigh of relief chez Gaga: she has been experiencing what you might call a case of career sea sickness, in which unadulterated commercial triumphs have been followed by very public flops. In the credit column, … Read more
There’s a moment in MJ the Musical where the King of Pop tells a prying reporter: “I want to keep this about my music.” Over the last four years, as the jukebox musical has swept through the US, London and Hamburg, netting four Tony awards and more than US$245m to date on Broadway alone, the … Read more
The extraordinary success of Sean Baker’s sex worker romance at the Oscars on Sunday has left many gawping at the campaigning nous of indie distributor Neon, who released the film in the US. Five years ago, they propelled another Palme d’Or winner at Cannes, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, to an Oscars landslide. The price-tag on that … Read more
We invited readers of The New York Times to ask about our reporting on the second Trump administration, and hundreds responded. We read every question that came in, selected those that represented some of the most common themes and then distributed them to editors and reporters responsible for our daily coverage of the administration. Here … Read more
Over the past week, I have found myself cringing at a series of tabloid articles describing Get Millie Black as a rival to the BBC’s Death in Paradise. Sure, both shows are set on Caribbean islands and feature black British police officers who used to work for the Metropolitan force. But that is truly where … Read more
The temptation is to see Christopher Marlowe’s brutal history play as a commentary on homophobia. After all, it is about a king who loses his throne thanks to loving a male courtier. The other nobles, disturbed by Edward’s devotion to Piers Gaveston, close rank. From that point on, Gaveston’s days are numbered, as are those … Read more