I have decided to name the heatwaves in London from El Niño ‘26. The first one was Alfonso. This one is Bruno. If next week counts as a new one, it will be Carlotta.  Stay with me on this, people. We may get to Fernando and Gloria before long. 

So now England face Mexico and I must choose between my loved ones and my axolotl.

It's Friday, it's five to five, it's the only chart that counts: my top 10 for the last week in May 26 includes new writing on McCartney, McKellen and Köln 75. trousse.ghost.io/ankle-deep-i... You can sign up, if you're so inclined here: trousse.ghost.io

Ankle-deep in ducks

McCartney, McKellen, Rohrwacher and Barthelme star in our top 10 for 29 May 2026

trousse.ghost.io

Delighted to be writing episode 4 of this beautiful beast 🐉 www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

New BBC drama Dragon Slayers to explore the work of legendary newspaper editor

The six-part series stars Matthew Rhys as Harry Evans, whose team broke some of the biggest stories in UK history

bbc.co.uk

Conversation with my 12yo Him : If there’s a channel 4 and a channel 5, then where is channel 3? Me: ITV is channel 3. But this was back in the day when people used the numbers on their remotes so they could choose what to watch based on what was on at the time. Him: Were you alive back then?

I have also just had my grant cut. We, as a community, are in shock, picking up the pieces and trying to work out what to do next. These callous, devastating and nonsensical cuts cannot and must not be allowed to continue.

Graeae Theatre Company@graeaetheatre.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Graeae has been informed that our artistic director, faces swingeing cuts to Access to Work support on the same day we close our survey asking for feedback on the scheme. Read the full story on our website with a statement from Jenny Sealey: graeae.org/resource/acc...

Morrissey: live in London. He appears crooning the opening lines of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” in a pink shirt, unbuttoned to the waist, like a Quorn beefcake Tom Jones, his collar extravagantly popped à la Eric Cantona, with perhaps a hint of Ming the Merciless and Dick Emery.

10 things we learned from Morrissey's London O2 Arena show

10 things we learned from attending Morrissey's show at London's The O2 Arena on Saturday, February 28, 2026

uncut.co.uk

Disabled people are facing an existential threat as #AccessToWork seems to be being gutted from the inside. We know it’s being reformed but not what this will look like or the timeline. We need leaders to engage now or risk undoing decades of investment www.touretteshero.com/2026/01/19/a...

Access Anxiety

Often when I write these posts I’m doing it with a wide audience in mind, but this one is slightly different. While everyone’s welcome to read it, it’s particularly aimed at funding bodies, grant admi...

touretteshero.com

If you are looking for something sublime to listen to, look no further than Ian Holm’s narration of The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins on audible. You’re welcome. Always happy to help. 

If you want to watch famous, powerful people lying, cheating and double-crossing each other, then skip Celebrity Traitors tonight and tune into #TheHack on ITV OK, OK you can watch both if you must. #TheHack is also on ITVX and lends itself very well to a binge.

🎥: In a live episode of Media Confidential, @janemartinson.bsky.social speaks to @arusbridger.bsky.social, actor Toby Jones, writer Jack Thorne and producer Patrick Spence about ITV’s new phone hacking drama The Hack.

The true story behind ITV’s The Hack—live with Toby Jones, Jack Thorne, Alan Rusbridger and more

This week’s special live episode of Media Confidential coincides with ITV’s new drama The Hack starring David Tennant. The show is about the phone-hacking scandal, which led to the closure of the Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World, the Leveson Inquiry, and a national reckoning on press ethics. Pros

youtu.be

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...

Me, Toby Jones and a timely reminder of why we need a free press

A new drama on the phone-hacking scandal shows us journalism at its worst, but also how reporting can make real change

prospectmagazine.co.uk

Official trailer for #TheHack just out. Hot off the press.. youtu.be/AShPTasA7eI

The Hack - Coming soon to ITV1 & ITVX

YouTube video by ITV

youtu.be

My kid forced me to watch K Pop Demon Hunters and it was so good it made me cry.

Just throwing this out into the ether.. Does anyone know anything about where (in UK) a visually-impaired person could learn to windsurf?

Please take a moment to watch this urgent message from Jess Thom about cuts to Access To Work. As ever, no one puts it like her and no one puts it better. m.youtube.com/watch?v=fxpq...

Jess Thom: My job hasn’t changed, my disability hasn’t changed, so why has my support changed?

YouTube video by Touretteshero

m.youtube.com

DYING FOR SEX is gentle, crushing, funny as fuck and will leave you either sobbing or speechless. It’s a story about cancer, sexual trauma, death, kink, pleasure and love that is like nothing I’ve ever seen. I am in awe of this script and all the people who brought it to life.

Proud to be part of this and grateful to this bunch of icons for their passion, time and hard work putting this vital campaign together. It’s time to ask our government to stop #TakingThePip

Frances Ryan@francesryan.bsky.social · last yr.

The letter will be part of a wider campaign launched by disabled celebrities that aims to bring attention to the government’s proposed cuts. Using the hashtag, #TakingThePIP asks disabled people to share their experiences, contact their MPs, and “take a stand” on social media.

“I’m in tears reading the stories of what might happen if these further cuts go ahead, which is why I’ve joined forces with others to demand action.” A strong piece by Cherylee Houston MBE on why she and fellow disabled celebs have launched #TakingthePIP. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Labour is taking the Pip – and disabled people have had enough | Cherylee Houston

I am in tears reading the stories of what might happen if these further cuts go ahead, which is why I’ve joined forces with others to demand action, says actor Cherylee Houston

theguardian.com

Norm 🍺 This is a delightful hour of George Wendt and Ted Danson reminiscing podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...

George Wendt (Re-Release)

Podcast Episode · Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes) · 09/04/2025 · 59m

podcasts.apple.com

Finished the final episode of SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE last week and I still feel emotional. That show is seriously special - such beautiful, tender, silly, clever writing. I loved and will miss everything about it.

My kid just described the date of my birth as the date when I was ‘first released’. Like an album. I think we should all adopt this terminology.

I am here to tell you all to watch #WeAreLadyParts immediately. Am watching with my 11yo son and it’s so good to be laughing together at something so bloody wonderful.

When this series is over and Stanley Tucci can no longer be spotted amid a herd of Calabrian buffalo eating a fistful of fresh mozzarella declaring ‘this - this is truly out of this world’ I shall be bereft. I may have to rewatch all 20 eps. Perfect for winter gloom 👌 www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy

Academy Award nominee Stanley Tucci travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country’s regional cuisines.

bbc.co.uk

It was such an honour to be invited behind the curtain on a show I’ve loved for fourteen years. Tonight’s episode of Call The Midwife (written by me) features a man in an iron lung and Poplar’s answer to the 1970 Commonwealth Games.

Keeping quiet about this for the last year or so has been hard work! This job was a madly exciting, pinch-me experience. The team are amazing. The show will be broadcast later this year. I wrote ep 4 and co-wrote eps 5 and 7. deadline.com/2025/01/the-...

‘The Hack’: ITV Unveils Phone Hacking Drama Series Starring David Tennant As Bullish Investigative Journalist Nick Davies, Robert Carlyle & Toby Jones

ITV has unveiled 'The Hack', a phone hacking Rupert Murdoch drama starring David Tennant, Robert Carlyle, Toby Jones

deadline.com

#TheFireInside is a true story perfectly told. The writing, directing, performances - all bloody stunning. It’s the kind of film that leaves you just feeling grateful that a film like this exists. It will also leave you empty of tears. This week particularly 🇺🇸🙏🏻

Go see #SingSing. It’s really something. Quietly, messily beautiful. Loved it.

At a time when audio drama and entertainment is having a moment, it seems short-sighted of the BBC to cut their radio drama slots. Still, that is what they have been quietly doing. Sign the petition opposing their latest cuts. chng.it/V6QyDwkfbp

Sign the Petition

Save Audio Drama at the BBC

chng.it