23 h. ago I was sexually assaulted by a celebrity after starring in a cult film at 19. My quest for justice changed the course of my life

Not long after Jenny Evans was brutally attacked by a high-profile figure, all the details appeared in the press. Her mission to find out what happened would reveal tabloid spying, phone hacking, police misconduct – and lead to a dramatic change of careerJenny Evans had just starred in her first film when everything came crashing down. Twin Town was a riot of drugs, fast cars and bad behaviour labelled the “Welsh Trainspotting”. She had a wonderful time making the movie, which was released in 1997. There was a feelgood atmosphere on set, and she got on brilliantly with her fellow actors (Twin Town launched the careers of Rhys Ifans and Dougray Scott). “Friends of the cast and crew were coming down from London to Swansea because the vibe was so good,” she says. “It was a great group of people doing something fun. It was a blast.” Twin Town became a cult success, and the 19-year-old from Abergavenny found herself hanging out with celebrities and looking forward to a career in the movi...

Events

67 h. ago Was Thatcher right to ban ‘video nasties’? I binged Zombie Flesh Eaters and Slaughtered Vomit Dolls to find out

The ‘obscene’ movies once banned in the UK are now mostly freely available. Are these tales of cannibals and the undead antiquated schlock or genuinely repellent?Later this month, the cult film service Arrow will do something that would once have plunged the UK into screaming fits of utter chaos. That’s right, it’s going to stream Zombie Flesh Eaters.The film comes with a tremendously confusing backstory. In Italy, George A Romero’s Dawn of the Dead was recut by Dario Argento and retitled Zombi. Zombi, no relation to Bambi, was such a success that a sequel was commissioned, using the script of an unmade movie entitled Nightmare Island. This film became Zombi 2. In the UK, Zombi 2 was renamed Zombie Flesh Eaters. And then it was banned. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Moviedrome: the cult BBC film strand that changed how we watched movies

Made to feel like recommendations shared with you by a mate down the pub, ‘Moviedrome’ – which broadcast cinema’s wildest, strangest films – left late-night BBC Two audiences spellbound on Sunday nights from 1988 to 2000. As it inspires a season of screenings at London’s BFI, Alex Deller reminisces with its creators

Culture

9 d. ago Dukes Of Hazzard actor Rick Hurst is dead at 79: TV star passed away days before planned fan event

The actor, who was best known for starring on the original version of The Dukes Of Hazzard from in the late 1970s and early '80s, has died at the age of 79.

Events

2 w. ago ‘No one is immune to grief’: the team turning A Single Man into a sexy, grimy, heartbreaking ballet

Musician John Grant was blown away by Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel, finding deep resonances in its tale of gay love and loss. Now, he’s put songs to choreographer Jonathan Watkins’s new dance adaptation“I can’t believe that somehow I was able to make it all the way to the age of 55 without having read that book!” says American singer-songwriter John Grant. “It’s a transformative book. I was just completely blown away by it; I’ve been trying to get everybody that I’ve ever met to read it.”The book Grant is telling me about, enthusing from his sofa at home in Reykjavík, is Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man, published in 1964, turned into 2009’s most stylish film by first-time director Tom Ford, starring Colin Firth, and now about to be a ballet, premiering at this year’s Manchester international festival. Grant, the former Czars frontman and now an acclaimed solo artist (with albums including Pale Green Ghosts and his latest, The Art of...

Politics

2 w. ago Tories say they would support UK joining fight against Iran if Starmer deems it necessary – UK politics live

Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said.Campaigners from trade unions, voluntary organisations and the Church of Scotland have announced plans for an anti-poverty march to “demand better” from politicians in Scotland, reports the PA news agency.The campaign, Scotland Demands Better, will culminate in a march in Edinburgh on 25 October, walking from the Scottish parliament, up the Royal Mile and along George IV Bridge to The Meadows.Change for the better happens when people stand together and demand it. Scotland desperately needs that change.Too many of us are being cut off from life’s essentials. Too many are frightened of what the future will bring. Too many of us are feeling tired, angry, isolated, and disillusioned.Air pollution remains the most important environmental threat to health, with impacts throughout the life course.It is an area of health where the UK has made substantial progress in the last three decades, with con...

Politics

2 w. ago Kathy Lette looks back: ‘Older women are invisible, so I make sure to do something outrageous every day’

The author on her love for Spike Milligan, the furore over Puberty Blues, and why being middle-aged is greatBorn in 1958 in Sydney, Kathy Lette burst on to Australia’s literary scene in 1979 with Puberty Blues. Co‑written with Gabrielle Carey, the irreverent portrait of teenage girlhood became a cult classic, a film and a TV series. Relocating to London in the 1980s, Lette has worked as a columnist, television writer and campaigner, and has published a string of bestselling comic novels. She lives in London and has two children, Julius and Georgina, with her former husband, the human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson. Her latest novel, The Revenge Club, is out now.When I was 19, I was in a band called the Salami Sisters. As well as the occasional gig in a pub, we’d busk. The problem was, we kept getting arrested. I was furious. How come we were getting arrested for singing, when actual rapists were running free? My sister was a police constable at the time, so one day I bor...

Politics

3 w. ago Dancers take to the Royal Mile ahead of Scottish premiere of ballet version of 1970s cult film

The ballet was inspired by the 1979 film of the same name

Politics