54 h. ago Who is William Dunlop actor Jack James Ryan in I Fought The Law and where you've seen him before

The former Coronation Street actor plays William Dunlop, the first murderer to be sentenced under the new ruling fought by Ann Ming

Politics

4 d. ago The Guardian view on Christopher Marlowe: it’s time to read him and honour him | Editorial

England’s second most famous playwright is the star of a new play. But his own works should be staged more, and he should be commemorated betterFor a limited season this autumn, Christopher Marlowe will become a star of the London stage again. Enjoy it while you can, for Marlowe has become an ephemeral figure in Britain’s national culture. His plays, once staples, are now produced only intermittently, if at all. Today, Marlowe is probably better known for his dramatic death, stabbed in a London riverside tavern, than for anything he wrote or for being the literary pioneer that he was.From next week, however, the sexy and brilliant figure of Kit Marlowe will be the centrepiece character, played by Ncuti Gatwa, in Liz Duffy Adams’s two-hander, Born With Teeth, which is currently in previews in the West End, with its offical opening next week. The play teases with the possibility, first reported in this newspaper in 2016, that Marlowe and William Shakespeare, played by Edward...

Politics

7 d. ago Ulrika Jonsson criticises Serena Williams for 'forcing feminism back by several steps' after tennis player revealed recent weight

The TV presenter, 58, shared her concerns for 'impressionable young women' and said the endorsement was a 'betrayal of everything Serena has stood for.'

Politics

7 d. ago Venus Williams’ US Open return ends in spirited defeat to Karolína Muchová

Czech 11th seed beats 45-year-old 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 to reach second round‘I love playing,’ says 2000 and 2001 champion at Flushing Meadows On an unforgettable evening in New York, Venus Williams offered yet another demonstration of her perpetual greatness as she battled into the night with Karolína Muchová, making the 11th seed’s life difficult across an intense two hours before falling 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the first round of the US Open.As Williams took the familiar walk through the bowels of Arthur Ashe Stadium and on to the court, the 45-year-old’s latest appearance at her home grand slam tournament occurred on a notable date. On 25 August 1997, exactly 28 years ago, this stadium opened for the first time. Later that day, a 17-year-old Williams was one of the first players to compete on the court as she made her long-awaited US Open debut there, the start of her monumental run to the final. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago With Love, Meghan guest star who had key role in Duchess's royal wedding reveals what it was really like to be on her cooking show

Clare Smyth, an internationally renowned chef from Northern Ireland , will appear in the new season of Meghan Markle's new coking series.

Society

8 d. ago King and Conqueror viewers point out same problem with BBC historical drama

James Norton stars as Harold of Wessex and is also Executive Producer on King and Conqueror whilst Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays William of Normandy in the new BBC drama

Events

8 d. ago US Open order of play and day two schedule including Venus Williams and Carlos Alcaraz

The US Open is underway as the first round continues in New York

Politics

1 week ago Venus Williams' age gets attention at the US Open but players think her icon status matters more

Venus Williams is back at the U.S. Open to play a Grand Slam singles match for the first time in two years

Politics

1 week ago Do you remember the first time? Why Britpop nostalgia just won’t go away

Whether it’s Robbie Williams’ new album, a Blur v Oasis play or Britpop romance novels, Alex James and others explain why we’re all still in thrall to the m ad-fer-it 90sIt is a Tuesday evening, and in the suitably 1990s environs of Soho’s Groucho Club, Robbie Williams, resplendent in pair of dungarees, is in the process of launching his new album. It’s called Britpop, features some songs co-written with Gaz Coombes of Supergrass, and is, he attests, “the album that I wanted to write and release after I left Take That in 1995”. This was the brief period where he attempted to establish himself as an adjunct to the mid-90s wave of hugely successful UK alt-rock, releasing a string of audibly Oasis-influenced solo singles, palling around Glastonbury with the Gallaghers and temporarily employing one of the band’s inner circle, Creation Records’ former managing director Tim Abbot, as his manager. “I’ve been musically aimless for a little while,” Williams said to the assembled press. “I’ve...

Politics

1 week ago Will at centre of legal battle over Shakespeare’s home unearthed after 150 years

Document from 1642 made by husband of Shakespeare’s granddaughter found in unlabelled box at National ArchivesA will that has been lost for more than 150 years and was at the centre of a bitter legal battle by William Shakespeare’s family over who owned the playwright’s final home has been unearthed in an unlabelled box at the National Archives.The original 1642 document was made by Thomas Nash, who was married to Shakespeare’s granddaughter Elizabeth Hall. In it, he bequeathed New Place, reputedly the second grandest house in Stratford-upon-Avon, to his own cousin Edward Nash. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Does James Bond have to be played by a man? Helen Mirren seems to think so | Zoe Williams

The actor says she is ‘such a feminist’ but that it doesn’t work to have a woman as the next 007. She may find that Amazon, which has taken creative control of the franchise, agrees‘I’m such a feminist,” Helen Mirren told Saga magazine, but there are some jobs a woman can’t do. To be precise: “You can’t have a woman [as James Bond]. It just doesn’t work. James Bond has to be James Bond, otherwise it becomes something else.”Mirren is starring opposite Pierce Brosnan in the film adaptation of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club, in which they both play amateur sleuths in a care home. Happily, that is a unisex job. Brosnan might also describe himself as “such a feminist” – he has never said so explicitly, but in 2019, he said a female Bond would be “exhilarating”. However, he’s now back on team men, saying: “I’m so excited to see the next man come on the stage and to see a whole new exuberance and life for this character.” Exhilaration, excitement, exuberance: all qualities I don’...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I got a nosebleed in minutes!’ How the Wedding Present’s indie banger classics inspired a musical

They lit up the 80s and 90s with abrasive tracks that were like kitchen-sink dramas. But can the Wedding Present’s acerbic songs work on stage? We meet the team making it happen – and the ‘rock god’ who penned the hitsIn 2009, Matt Aston was watching the Wedding Present frontman David Gedge perform a “bizarre and brilliant” gig with the BBC Big Band when he was struck by a notion: that the combination of the singer’s conversational lyrics and brassy, orchestrated new arrangements felt a bit like, well, watching a musical.“I parked the idea,” says Aston, a theatre director and writer. “Then some time later, I saw David’s other band Cinerama with a 16-piece orchestra and thought, ‘This could be musical theatre!’” Aston had had a few drinks and remembers sitting afterwards, trying to convince his mate – screenwriter and playwright William Ivory, who hadn’t been drinking – that this wasn’t the daftest idea ever. “Billy said, ‘You can’t make a musical out of Wedding Present lyrics. It’s ...

Events

2 w. ago Is Taylor Swift the modern day William Shakespeare? Pop star makes multiple references to iconic playwright on new album

Taylor Swift has made a number of references to iconic playwright William Shakespeare on her upcoming album, The Life Of A Showgirl.

Politics

2 w. ago Venus Williams, 45, will be oldest US Open singles entrant in 44 years

Williams to play first slam singles since 2023Oldest US Open singles entrant since 1981Seven-time major champ won in 2000, 2001Venus Williams will make her return to Grand Slam singles at the US Open after a two-year absence, having received a wildcard invitation Wednesday to compete at Flushing Meadows at age 45.Williams will be the oldest singles entrant at the tournament since Renee Richards played there at 47 in 1981, according to the International Tennis Federation. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Wrexham CEO's Ryan Reynolds comment speaks volumes as '£15m transfer offer' discussed

Wrexham CEO Michael Williamson has opened up on the club's approach to player sales, admitting he will soon have to discuss offers with co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney

Economics

3 w. ago ‘Love is the key, right?’ Evergreen Venus Williams plays on and on at 45

Seven-time grand slam winner is back on the US circuit with aim of being the best she can be despite health struggles“Still haven’t seen the Rolling Stones,” says Venus Williams, smiling, as she reminisced about her unforgettable professional tennis debut at the age of 14 in Oakland, California, an occasion that justified years of hype surrounding her stratospheric potential. Her first ever professional tennis match took place next door to a Rolling Stones concert. Now, 31 years later, at 45 years old, Williams is still here.Three weeks after returning to professional tennis for the first time in 16 months with a straight sets singles victory over the then world No 35 Peyton Stearns at the Citi Open in Washington, which marked her as the second-oldest woman in history to win a WTA Tour-level singles match and also silenced criticisms about her enduring presence on the tour, Williams now takes her comeback to the Cincinnati Open. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Care worker had sexual relationship with boy at children's home she 'fell in love' with, donning skimpy outfits and letting him sleep in her bed, court hears

Lindy Leah, 44, 'fell in love' with a teenage patient having been assigned as his key worker, it was revealed at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday. She had 'denied any improper behaviour'.

Society