Bake Off star Paul Hollywood set for royal handshake after being made MBE

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor For more than 40 years, Aardman Animations has been producing classics like “Wallace & Gromit,” “Chicken Run” and “Shaun the Sheep.” Now, following in the footsteps of pioneers such as Peter Lord, David Sproxton and Nick Park, new recruits have come on board at the company’s headquarters on Spike Island in the port city of Bristol, in the West of England, replenishing its creative treasure chest. Variety steps along the gangplank to meet some of the more recent additions to the crew: Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, the creators of Oscar-nominated “Robin Robin” (see here); kids’ comedy series “Lloyd of the Flies” creator and director Matthew Walker, and co-director and voice director Jane Davies (see here); and Lucy Izzard, the creator, writer and director of “The Very Small Creatures,” a BAFTA nominated preschool series (see below).

Coronation Street fans have been left confused following scenes involving wheelchair bound Paul Foreman, who is battling motor neurone disease. In Tuesday's (23 January) episode of the ITV soap, Paul (Peter Ash) headed on a trip with his mum Bernie (Jane Hazelgrove) and sister Gemma (Dolly-Rose Campbell).The trio set off out of Weatherfield in a caravan, but they were soon stopped in their tracks as Bernie managed to get them lost.

A damaged elephant that was bought for £8 became one of the most memorable auction sales on Antiques Roadshow after bringing in a staggering profit. Back in 2012, BBC experts Charlie Ross and James Braxton broke records when they were given a budget of just £200 to buy a selection of second-hand collectables in the hopes of making money.

With two adorable daughters under three and another on the way, Camilla Thurlow certainly has her hands full. But there's one person the former reality TV star can always rely on and that's her husband Jamie Jewitt. The couple, who originally met on ITV's Love Island, have been married for almost three years and share two daughters, Nell, 3, and almost two year old Nora, together.They also recently announced they're expecting their third baby in spring this year - and this time it's a beautiful boy.

For anyone with a keen interest in hair care, then Dyson has become the be all and end all of branded stylers.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were spotted holding hands as they made a surprise appearance at a film premiere in Jamaica last night.

A series of Monklands roads will shut for work over the next month, with motorists asked to take note of available diverted routes.

The Scheme star Marvin Baird has made an unexpected return to social media as he teases big news.

Prince Harry is reportedly eager to reconnect with the Royal Family after a string of serious health emergencies, according to an insider.

Only Fools and Horses fans are desperate for another episode of the much-loved comedy to hit screens for one last time.

Motor insurance customers who buy cover monthly can end up paying hundreds of pounds more than those who pay for policies annually - and the gap appears to be growing in cash terms - according to research from Which? The consumer group used data from comparison website Go.Compare to find the average difference between prices paid by annual and monthly customers between December 2018 and September 2023.

Chloe Radford has stormed out on her partner following a huge row about their daughter's birthday.

Martin Lewis has issued a crucial energy warning to anyone considering fixing their tariff ahead of the new price cap starting on April 1. Energy bills are set to fall by more than £300 a year from April following a drop in wholesale gas prices, according to Cornwall Insight.

Ellise Shafer Heaven knows Johnny Marr is miserable now after Donald Trump played a Smiths song before a campaign rally. A video posted by ABC presidential campaign reporter Soorin Kim on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed the Smiths‘ “Hatful of Hollow” hit “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” playing during a Trump rally in South Dakota back in September. The band’s former guitarist took to the platform on Tuesday night to denounce the use of the song, writing: “Ahh…right…OK.

Naman Ramachandran Revered Indian actor and filmmaker Aparna Sen is the subject of Suman Ghosh‘s documentary “Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen,” which has its world premiere at International Film Festival Rotterdam‘s Cinema Regained strand. Sen came to notice as an actor with the “Samapti” segment in Oscar winner Satyajit Ray’s “Three Daughters” (1961). She acted in several more films by Ray and also worked with Indian cinema greats Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Rituparno Ghosh.

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Percy Jackson And The Olympians has shared the reason behind a drastic character change from the novels to the series.Aryan Simhadri, who plays the character Grover Underwood in the Disney+ adaptation, has opened up about a key difference in the character’s presentation.Grover, a close friend of Percy’s, is a satyr, a Greek mythological creature that is half goat, half human. In the novel series by Rick Riordan, Grover’s primary diet consisted of furniture, aluminium and tin cans.However, according to The Direct, Simhadri has explained why this detail had to be altered for the series, which guest stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lance Reddick and Toby Stephens, among others.“Because you know, a lot of younger kids are going to be watching the show, and we don’t really want any eight-year-olds eating tin cans,” he explained.“So, yeah, we’ve maybe went a little light on eating sharp metal objects.”It is also mentioned several times in the novel series that Grover likes cheese enchiladas, so this trait was utilised in the adaptation.“Now [the diet’s] mostly consisting of enchiladas and banana bread, I think,” the actor explained.However, it seems the prop team did initially try to represent the character’s tin can preference, as Simhadri shared: “The props team came up with like a fondant tin can.

Tokyo Police Club have announced that they are to break up this year, announcing details of a final hometown farewell gig.The four-piece – David Monks, Graham Wright, Josh Hook and Greg Alsop – formed in Toronto in 2005, releasing debut EP ‘A Lesson In Crime’ the next year.Full-length albums ‘Elephant Shell’ (2008), ‘Champ’ (2010), ‘Forcefield’ (2014) and ‘TPC’ (2018) followed.“It’s time for us to say goodbye!” the band told fans. “This band has meant so much to us for so many years, but all magical things must come to an end.

Wednesday 13 has announced a UK and European tour celebrating 20 years of Murderdolls – find all the details below.The horror punk musician – real name Joseph Poole – will be marking 20 years of his former band with the late Joey Jordison of Slipknot.The tour will see Wednesday 13 and his current band – featuring former Murderdolls members Roman Surman and Jack Tankersley – perform full sets of tracks from their 2002 debut album, ‘Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls’ along with 2010 comeback album ‘Women And Children Last’.The stint will kick off on October 24 at Riverside in Newcastle, followed by stops in Glasglow, Manchester, Southampton, Nottingham, London and more, before they close out with a show at Roadmender in Northampton.The European leg will then pick up at De Casino in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium on November 12, with shows planned for Milan, Rome, Cologne and more, rounding up at Melkweg Oz in Amsterdam on November 24.Hardcore Superstar will perform at support across select dates. Tickets go on sale this Friday (January 26) at 10am GMT, and UK dates can be purchased from here.

And just like that, Netflix is close to tying up another major content licensing deal.

Thomas Cailley’s fantasy drama The Animal Kingdom topped the nominations for France’s César Awards, which were announced in Paris on Wednesday.

EXCLUSIVE: A two-part Netflix documentary from Louis Theroux‘s production biz will tell the story of the victims of a prolific UK cyberstalker and how they ultimately helped bring him to justice.

Coronation Street's talented twin actors, Liam and Connor Mccheyne, who play Dylan Wilson on the show, have been showered with lots of love and support on their recent personal milestone. Liam, who returned as Dylan full-time in July 2022 after sharing the role with his brother from 2011 - 2012, is at the centre of some interesting plots as his character deals with school bully Mason. While Liam returned to acting, his brother Connor has decided to swap acting for a career in cricket and often shares glimpses into his cricketing career on his Instagram page.

SAS: Who Dares Wins star Ollie Ollerton has opened up about his decision to go sober, revealing that one of the scariest things about giving up alcohol was that he “never knew” who he was without booze. During an interview with OK!, the former Special Forces soldier spoke about his sobriety and how he transformed his relationship with alcohol thanks to the hit Channel 4 show. “The biggest thing for me was that I never knew who I was.

Snow Patrol, Paolo Nutini and Jamie T have been announced as headliners at Tramlines Festival 2024 – check out the full line-up below.Nutini will top the bill on Friday night of the Sheffield festival – which takes place at Hillsborough Park from July 26-28 – followed by Jamie T on Saturday and Snow Patrol on Sunday.Other acts announced for the 16th edition of the festival include Bombay Bicycle Club, Tom Grennan, The Human League, The Charlatans, Holly Humberstone, Yard Act and many more.The festival will also feature Sophie Ellis-Bextor, The Snuts, Example, Soft Play, Miles Kane, NewDad, The Magic Gang and more.Pre-sale will go live on Thursday (January 25) at 12pm GMT, where a limited number of weekend and day tickets will be available. You can sign up here.Remaining tickets will be available in the general sale this Friday (January 26) at 12pm GMT.Check out the full line-up so far below.A post shared by Tramlines Festival (@tramlines)“I’m delighted to release the first wave of acts for Tramlines 2024,” said Tramlines Festival Operations Director Timm Cleasby in a statement.

Prince Archie's former nanny, Lorren Khumalo, has shared that her first meeting with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was quite "surprising". Lorren, a paediatric nurse and consultant, was hired by the Sussexes to care for their first child, Archie, just months after his birth. At the time, Harry and Meghan were living at Frogmore Cottage, before they announced their decision to step back from Royal duties and move to the US.

Fat White Family have announced details of their fourth studio album, ‘Forgiveness Is Yours’, and shared new single ‘Bullet Of Dignity’.The band’s new album will be released on April 26 via Domino, and follows first preview ‘Religion Of One’, which came out in late 2023.Discussing the new album in a statement, frontman Lias Saoudi said that ‘Forgiveness Is Yours’ “is about life as eternal contingency…about no longer suspecting, but knowing that this shit will never get any easier…in fact, it’s about to get a whole lot worse, your body’s going to go into decay and the people you love will slowly start dropping dead around you…but somehow, you’ve smashed enough of your expectations thus far in life, you’re sort of fine with it…you accept it”.Watch the video for the new track below.1. ‘The Archivist’2. ‘John Lennon’3. ‘Bullet Of Dignity’4. ‘Polygamy Is Only For The Chief’5. ‘Visions Of Pain’6. ‘Today You Become Man’7. ‘Religion For One’8. ‘Feed The Horse’9. ‘What’s That You Say’10. ‘Work’11. ‘You Can’t Force It’The new album is the band’s first in half a decade, following 2019’s ‘Serfs Up’.

Netflix have announced that they may ask members to increase how much they are paying for the service.The streaming platform released its quarterly shareholder letter this week, which contains details of a potential cost increase for subscribers.The letter read: “As we invest in and improve Netflix, we’ll occasionally ask our members to pay a little extra to reflect those improvements, which in turn helps drive the positive flywheel of additional investment to further improve and grow our service.”Currently a standard subscription in the UK costs £10.99 a month, allowing viewers to watch on two devices at a time. The ad-supported subscription is £4.99 a month, which, according to Netflix, has 23million monthly active users.

Palworld could be coming to PlayStation soon, per a post on X (formerly Twitter) from PlayStation head of indies Shuhei Yoshida.Yoshida replied to a post which asked for the team to “support SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment] so that the PS5 version can be released as soon as possible”.Yoshida tagged the development partner at PlayStation in the reply, writing “Yes”.Previously, the community manager of Palworld posted that the title “won’t be on PlayStation” and will only be available on “Xbox and Steam“. However, on January 21 the community manager posted on X to state that Palworld may still come to PlayStation.“The above post said Palworld may release on PS4, PS5, Xbox or PC.

Since The Traitors kicked off earlier this month, we've been getting to know the contestants hoping to walk away with the huge cash prize. Mollie Pearce is one of the Faithfuls hoping to weed out the last of the Traitors ahead of the final on Friday, 26 January. Disability model Mollie, 21, from Bristol, has a stoma bag after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when she was just 11 years old.This is a long-term condition where the colon, the large intestine, becomes inflamed.

CIX have released their first ever single album ‘0 or 1’, featuring title track ‘Lovers or Enemies’.The single album, alongside the video treatment for ‘Lovers to Enemies’, dropped today (January 24) at 6pm KST, portraying the five members of CIX in some sort of cybernetic universe as they struggle to figure out where they stand with the girl of their dreams.“Now, either embrace me / Or become my enemy / It has to be one of the two / It can’t get simpler, right?” CIX belt on the chorus. Apart from ‘Lovers to Enemies’, ‘0 or 1’ only includes one other track, titled ‘My Name Is Shadow’.‘0 or 1’ marks CIX’s first music of 2024.

Stars of ITV's Vera have bid farewell to the hit show after the thirteenth series came to a close, and it's yet to be revealed if another season will be made. The popular detective drama focuses on DCI Vera Stanhope, played by Brenda Blethyn, and began airing in 2011.The latest series starred the likes of Julia Sawalha, Emily Kathryn, David Leon and Jake Lowe. Riley Jones, who has played DC Mark Edwards in Vera since 2011, shared a goodbye message to fans on social media after the 13th series finished airing, where he thanked viewers for their support as well as his co-stars.

Emmerdale viewers were left puzzled by a Coronation Street newcomer on Tuesday night's episode, which saw Ella Forster's growing friendship with Mandy Dingle continue. Ella is portrayed by Paula Lane, who soap fans will remember as Kylie Platt from Coronation Street. Paula was a major player on the Cobbles from 2010 to 2016 until her character was tragically killed off in the street by Clayton Gibbs - Shona Ramsey's son.

died suddenly on Nov. 15, 2023. He was 32.The LA County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Tuesday that Dex Carvey died from a lethal combination of fentanyl, ketamine, and cocaine.His death is listed as accidental, according to the report.Dex Carvey was an aspiring comedian, whose most notable gig was opening for his father’s 2016 Netflix special “Straight White Male.” In the same year, he also appeared in the short film “Carpool Pandering,” directed by F.

Naman Ramachandran Top Indonesian star Laura Basuki headlines auteur Razka Robby Ertanto’s “Yohanna,” which has its world premiere in competition at International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film follows young nun Yohanna, whose encounter with the underworld of child labor in the eastern island of Sumba, one of the poorest places in Indonesia, restores her sense of purpose in life.

A new mum booked a lash and brow appointment HOURS before her planned C-section so that she would look "perfect" giving birth - but admits she ended up looking "horrific".