7 h. ago Kenneth Branagh returns to Royal Shakespeare Company for first time in 30 years

Sir Kenneth, best known for Belfast and Hamlet, made his first appearance with the theatre company aged 23 in the 1984 production of Henry V.

Politics

4 d. ago Coronation Street’s Katherine Kelly looks back: ‘My friends were very accepting of me being a bit different’

The actor on wearing men’s clothes, her bohemian family and the six-week soap job that turned into six yearsBorn in 1979 in Barnsley, Yorkshire, Katherine Kelly studied at Rada before beginning her career with the Royal Shakespeare Company and going on to perform at the National Theatre and Manchester’s Royal Exchange. Her first major television role came in 2006, when she joined Coronation Street as Becky McDonald, a part she played until 2012. Since then she has appeared in The Night Manager, Gentleman Jack, Mr Bates vs The Post Office and Inside No 9. She stars in In Flight, available now on Channel 4.This is a very typical image of me aged four. I spent most of my preschool life with a towel on my head. It was a replacement for the long hair I so desperately wanted. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery review – whodunnit threequel is murderously good fun

Toronto film festival: after Glass Onion underwhelmed, Rian Johnson’s self-aware, star-packed Benoit Blanc series makes a barnstorming return to formIf Glass Onion wasn’t quite the deserving follow-up to Knives Out that many of us had hoped it would be (it was more focused on the bigger rather than better), it was at the very least a deserved victory lap. Writer-director Rian Johnson’s 2019 whodunnit brought us back to the starry, slippery fun of the 70s and 80s, when films like this would be a dime a dozen and it was a surprise hit, making almost eight times its budget at the global box office. While Kenneth Branagh had seen commercial success already with his Poirot revival two years prior, his retreads felt too musty, and the actor-director too miscast, for the genre to truly feel like it was entering an exciting new period.Johnson’s threequel, Wake Up Dead Man, is the second as part of his Netflix deal (one that cost an estimated $450m) and arrives as the whodunnit genre has fou...

Events

7 d. ago Kate Middleton stuns as she shows off new blonde hair in return to royal duties with William

Kate Middleton showed off her lighter locks as she and husband Prince William carried out their first joint official engagement since their summer break at the Natural History Museum

Politics

7 d. ago Kate Middleton steps out with new blonde hair as she returns to royal duties with Prince William

Kate Middleton's new look is a far cry from her signature brunette locks as she returned to royal duties with Prince William today at London's Natural History Museum.

Politics

7 d. ago Blockbuster ‘Night at The Movies’ Bonfire Spectacular returns to Edinburgh this November

Following a sell-out first year, Scotland’s biggest bonfire night celebration, Fawkes Festival, is to make a blockbuster return to the Royal Highland Centre this November as it brings together thousands of families and friends for a one-day-only spectacular of live entertainment, dazzling performances, and a firework display like no-other. General ticket sales are now available.

Events

7 d. ago Channing Tatum’s failed Thor audition left him with invaluable acting advice

Actor said director Kenneth Branagh ‘nailed my crutch’

Events

8 d. ago Kate Middleton to head back to work as George, Charlotte and Louis face important day

The Prince and Princess of Wales will be returning to their royal duties tomorrow with their first official appearance in seven weeks, as Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis head back to the classroom for a new school year

Politics

9 d. ago WWE superstars set to return to Scotland as part of Road to Royal Rumble tour

The tour will see WWE Superstars perform across the UK, Germany, Denmark, Poland and Northern Ireland as part of the Road to Royal Rumble

Politics

9 d. ago WWE confirms new Road to Royal Rumble Tour with some massive UK stops

WWE fans can rest easy as the Road to Royal Rumble is returning to Great Britain in just a few months, and tickets will be released very soon.

Politics

1 week ago Royal Mail returns to profit for first time since £3.6bn 'Czech Sphinx' takeover

Royal Mail has returned an underlying profit for the first time in three years as bosses hailed an 'important milestone in the company's turnaround'.

Economics

1 week ago Profits surge at Royal Mail’s parent company after £3.6bn takeover by foreign owner – business live

Royal Mail returns to an underlying annual profit for the first time in three years despite a “competitive and challenging” backdropRoyal Mail’s parent company has posted a surge in profits, in its first financial results since being taken over by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský.International Distribution Services (IDS) has reported that pre-tax profits jumped to £429m in the year to 30 March 2025, up from £114m the previous year.“It has been a year of change for IDS. Thanks to the hard work of our people and our investment in transformation, Royal Mail returned to profit for the first time in three years, marking an important milestone in the company’s turnaround.With IDS’s acquisition by EP Group complete and Universal Service reform decided now is the time for us to drive the business forward and capitalise on our momentum.This is in line with guidance and was achieved despite an increasingly competitive and challenging trading environment. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago Royal Mail owner set to return to profit in first figures since £3.6bn takeover

Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group completed its takeover of Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services in June.

Economics

2 w. ago Should Meghan ever be allowed to return to royal duties? Have your say in the Palace Confidential poll

You've read the headlines and heard our experts' opinions - but what do YOU think?

Politics

2 w. ago Should Meghan ever be allowed to return to royal duties? Have your say in the Palace Confidential poll

You've read the headlines and heard our experts' opinions - but what do YOU think?

Politics

2 w. ago Judi Dench, 90, is set to front her own TV show where she enjoys drinks with longtime pal Kenneth Branagh

Judi Dench has landed what may be considered showbiz's dream job, as she's set to appear in a Sky Arts special where she enjoys drinks with one of her celebrity pals.

Culture

3 w. ago The Devil weds Branagh! Prada star Meryl Streep gets a new husband as she films long

British actor Kenneth Branagh appears to be enjoying his role as her third husband during filming for the forthcoming Devil Wears Prada sequel.

Culture

4 w. ago Thousands of tabletop gamers return to the Royal Highland Centre this September

Tabletop Scotland is one of the UK’s premier festivals of analogue gaming, allowing visitors to unplug from technology and enjoy the best in board games, card games and roleplaying games. With over 130 different exhibitors, gamers will be spoilt for choice when exploring the tabletop hobby at the Highland Hall, Royal Highland Centre, over three days on the 5th, 6th, and 7th of September.

Politics

4 w. ago The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar review – whimsical fantasy in a kingdom long, long ago

In this first adult novel from the acclaimed children’s author, an immortal magician returns to tell the story of a royal court where he cast his spells some 500 years beforeThe American author Louis Sachar’s most celebrated book, 1998’s YA novel Holes, was a huge word-of-mouth success on both sides of the Atlantic. Its short, punchy chapters tell the story of plump, hapless Stanley Yelnats, sent to a summer camp for wayward boys, where a terrifying Warden has peculiar ideas about character reformation. The 5ft-deep holes the boys are required to dig turn out to have a surprising purpose. Shifts of time, register and perspective render a simple premise mesmerisingly intricate. It has peril, love, crime, wickedness, redemption and friendship in, well, spades.A quarter of a century later, Sachar has written his first supposedly adult novel, in which many of the same ingredients reappear. A man “dressed like a typical American tourist”, but with an odd habit of storing cake crumbs in t...

Politics