1 hour ago Victoria Beckham on Netflix review: This puff piece asks none of the tough questions

Despite the hype, the show pulls its punches constantly, in a way that doesn’t do Posh any favours

Politics

2 h. ago Victoria Beckham review – meticulously constructed but extremely boring

This documentary was a golden opportunity to show VB at her drily entertaining best. Instead, we get three hours of platitudes. What a maddening waste of her personalityAn intimate portrait of Victoria Beckham is what we were promised by the lavish publicity surrounding the release of the three-part documentary – entitled Victoria Beckham – about the female half of the enduring power couple, and an intimate portrait of the singer turned mogul is what was not delivered. It is about as intimate as a Pret sandwich, and if anyone thought for a moment it was going to be otherwise, well, let me introduce you to With Love, Meghan, whose searing insights into life as a duchess in Montecito are going to blow your mind.Victoria Beckham the documentary is as immaculately groomed, polished and controlled as Victoria Beckham the person. It is a puff piece for her, for husband David, her beauty line and, above all, her fashion business. It charts her evolution from stagestruck child and teenager ...

Politics

3 h. ago The Poems of Seamus Heaney review – collected works reveal his colossal achievement

The complete works, including previously unpublished poems and expert notes, are brought together in one volume for the first timeBaudelaire introduced ordinary objects into poetry – likening the sky to a pan lid – and by doing so revolutionised poetic language. Likewise, Seamus Heaney introduced Northern Irish vernacular into the English lyric, peppering his lines with words like glarry, the Ulster word for muddy; kesh, from Irish ceis, a wickerwork causeway; and dailigone, “daylight gone” or dusk, from Ulster-Scots. It is this that gives his writing a mulchy richness and cultural resonance that remain unique in contemporary poetry. One of the key poems in North (1975) is a version of Baudelaire’s The Digging Skeleton, to which Heaney brings an Irish flavour – the skeletons dig the earth “like navvies”. It’s especially rich as digging for Heaney is also a metaphor for writing, while the archaeological metaphor resonates with the darkly symbolic bog poems.Bringing all Heaney’s poems...

Economics

3 h. ago I Swear review – biopic of pioneering Tourette syndrome activist is funny, fierce and full of heart

Kirk Jones’s moving film about of John Davidson, the man who taught Britain about Tourette, offers compassion and catharsis Feelgood true-life heart-warmers about courageous people overcoming medical conditions are common enough. But not when that condition zaps and jabs and stabs at the genre itself, piercing the carapace of sentimentality while surreally commenting on the form and on the demure niceties of polite society, in which we all keep our thoughts to ourselves.Kirk Jones’s terrifically warm, generous film is about real-life activist John Davidson, who is from Galashiels in the Scottish Borders and has Tourette syndrome, with its tics, compulsive behaviour patterns and random obscene shouts. He was awarded an MBE in 2019 for his work educating the nation about the condition since he first exhibited its symptoms as a teenager in 1989, as captured in the BBC’s sensational documentary John’s Not Mad. I Swear contains a great performance from Robert Aramayo, full of intelligenc...

Politics

3 h. ago Keir Starmer promises bonfire of red tape for struggling pubs with key changes

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he is backing pubs and bars 'to thrive' with a four-week rapid review aiming to rip up old licensing rules

Events

10 h. ago Wayne Thiebaud review – staggering still lifes to make your mouth water

Courtauld Gallery, LondonThe pop pioneer’s paintings of sweets and cakes offer up a succulent and incredibly moreish slice of a long-lost American dreamYou’re not allowed to lick paintings in museums, which is cruel when you’re faced with something as mouthwateringly tempting as Wayne Thiebaud’s art. The American pop pioneer dedicated his long career to cakes, sweets and gumball machines, a visual world of treats and candies laid out in American diners and on deli counters, tempting viewers to commit the ultimate crime and take a big, juicy bite.But he didn’t just paint for the sake of getting you salivating. His work (here at the Courtauld in his first ever UK museum show) is both an ultraserious take on the material history of painting, a sort of update on the long legacy of the still life, and a deep dive into burgeoning consumerism and the capitalistic euphoria of the mass-produced, mid-century American dream. Continue reading...

Politics

10 h. ago Victoria Beckham review – Netflix’s riches to riches story reveals a woman eternally plagued by dissatisfaction

The former pop star’s determination to succeed belies a desperate need to be liked in this three-part documentary

Politics

10 h. ago Claudia's Celebrity Traitors fight for the best prize of all

What wouldn't you give to be a Traitor? Some of the stars jostling to stab each other in the back at Claudia Winkleman's Highlands castle are so eager, they might literally kill to take part.

Politics

11 h. ago The Celebrity Traitors 5* review by CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: Claudia's Traitors fight for the best prize of all

What wouldn't you give to be a Traitor? Some of the stars jostling to stab each other in the back at Claudia Winkleman's Highlands castle are so eager, they might literally kill to take part.

Politics

11 h. ago The Celebrity Traitors review: It’s still the camp and menacing show we know and love – with a stonking all

The starry spin-off of the BBC hit stays faithful to the original formula – and it’s such a delight to be back at Ardross Castle

Politics

11 h. ago The Celebrity Traitors, episode one on BBC One review: the ultimate celeb

Watching celebs reduced to sweaty, dirty messes in the name of television is great fun

Politics

11 h. ago Celebrity Traitors has converted me to shows full of famous contestants – Strictly should try it

CELEBRITY Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity . . . introduced us gleefully to a whole new genre of star-spangled TV in the Noughties. But in the intervening 20 years it’s also inspired an endless stream of c**p. Celebs on the Farm, X Factor: Celebrity and, this year, celebrity shark swimming.  So a big-name spin-off from one of...

Culture

14 h. ago Maintenance Required review – Amazon’s synthetic You’ve Got Mail rip

The beats of the 1998 rom-com, which was itself a re-imagining of The Shop Around the Corner, are shamelessly regurgitated for this charmless copycatWatching, or rather enduring, Amazon-MGM’s charmless new romantic comedy Maintenance Required, I was so convinced it was an officially sanctioned re-imagining of You’ve Got Mail that I scoured the credits for confirmation. Surely, even in this cursed AI era of copyright erosion, no one would so shamelessly regurgitate the beats of that much-adored film without giving the requisite credit?But try as I might, I could not find a “based on” or even a “thanks to”, the film a copy of a film which was itself a (legally sound) remake of a film which had been inspired by a play (the script even, cheekily, refers to “a sweet little shop around the corner”). In a film that will hopefully be used as evidence in an upcoming lawsuit, a woman tries to keep her struggling local business alive as a big brand competitor opens over the street while she se...

Politics

15 h. ago Married at First Sight UK's Grace makes 'no apology' as she hits back at 'bad feminist' comments

Grace who has been paired with Welsh groom Ashley, has hit back at internet trolls

Events

16 h. ago Giustino review – sublime, and ridiculous, Handel rarity returns to Covent Garden

Giustino review – sublime, and ridiculous, Handel rarity returns to Covent Garden  The Guardian

Politics

17 h. ago Latest review reveals tenant participation across North Lanarkshire has grown year on year

There has also been an increase in tenants’ groups and more people coming along and being part of the council’s events.

Politics

19 h. ago Logitech Slim Solar+ K980 review: the wireless keyboard that never needs charging

Logitech’s Slim Solar+ K980 is a wireless keyboard powered entirely by light – even artificial light – meaning you may never have to charge it again

Politics

19 h. ago Turtle Beach Racer review: A fantastic Xbox driving wheel for the casual gamer

Turtle Beach has come up trumps again with a new gaming wheel for race fans who don't want to break the bank but do want an authentic drive in their Xbox titles

Sport

21 h. ago Katy Perry review – like being high on Haribo while trapped in a theme park

OVO Hydro, GlasgowIn a fun but frenetic show, the star hangs off props, wears a glove that shoots pyrotechnics and generally distracts from her own energy and charismaKaty Perry’s Lifetimes world tour arrives in Glasgow with a lot of baggage: somewhat scathing takes from its US run, backed up with lukewarm feelings about both her recent sojourn into space, and last year’s 143, an EDM-influenced album controversially co-produced by Dr Luke. Despite this, Perry is still a much-loved star in many camps, with her own brand of kooky iconography adopted by her fans tonight – like J-Lo at the 2019 Met Gala, I also run into a woman dressed up as a burger in the venue toilets. The tour is not the disaster that some have reported, but it does suffer from Perry not allowing herself to have as much fun as her audience are having.The show starts with a video setting up a convoluted storyline: a video game about Perry trying to save the world by rescuing stolen butterflies from AI overlords. This...

Politics

22 h. ago Carmakers push EU to ease 2035 petrol car ban ahead of review

Industry body says policy is based ‘on outdated premises and optimistic assumptions’

Politics