→ Saturday

Late summer dinners → Feast

The Guardian Saturday 29 August 2026 £4.50 From £2.40 for subscribers

'We have nothing left. The flood took away everything'

At least 579 confirmed dead and 1,900 missing following Nepal disaster

Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Gaurav Pokharel Bidur

The three women sat together in the army tent and wept. They cried out for their sons, their husbands, their homes. On Wednesday

morning, flash floods had coursed through the Himalayan mountains, and a monstrous black wave had taken everything from them.

As a melting glacier high up in the Himalayas between Tibet and Nepal splintered and crashed into the valley below, it set off a deadly cascade of water, mud and debris down the Bhotekoshi River. The impact was so strong, experts initially reported it as an earthquake. The homes that lined the riverbank and clung to the mountainside stood little chance.

Sangke Dolma Tamang, 61, had been cheerily cooking snacks in her village of Mailung in Nepal's Rasuwa district, when the floods came without warning. The whole family ran uphill for safety, but as she grabbed for her husband, he slipped from her grip and was washed into the dark, fast-moving waters.

▲ A survivor yesterday in Bidur, from where the rescue effort is being coordinated PHOTOGRAPH: AHMER KHAN/THE GUARDIAN

Sweetener used in chewing gum linked to heart attacks

Study suggests xylitol, also found in ice-cream and jam, is associated with higher risk of stroke Page 2 →

US navy funds running low amid Trump's war on Iran

Drawn-out conflict and extensive naval blockade has left the force's 'piggy bank broken' Page 30 →

'My advice is: don't take my advice' Gordon Brown Interview

→ Saturday

The best TV this autumn

→ What's On

Doctors agree first universal definition of heart attack in care ‘revolution’ for women

Andrew Gregory Health editor

Doctors have agreed the world's first universal definition of a heart attack, paving the way for women to finally receive better treatment after decades of being “deprioritised”.

In one of the biggest shake-ups of medical guidelines in a generation, the world's four leading cardiovascular health groups have signed off on new guidance for healthcare professionals when seeing suspected heart attack patients.

Historically, less common forms of heart attacks, which evidence shows typically affect women far more than men, have been coded as less important, with treatment and care often worse as a result.

Until now, experts said, women were given less effective treatments that did not always target the specific cause of their heart attack and could even make them more unwell.

Now the world's top cardiologists have promised a “revolution” in care after agreeing the biggest overhaul to how heart attacks are defined and diagnosed, in part to reduce the often deadly delays afflicting women.

The agreement was announced in Munich on the opening day of the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the world's largest heart conference.

The new guidance will upgrade three types of attack that are up to 10 times more common in women and often caused by childbirth, exercise and emotional stress.

The most serious cases, previously known as “type 1” and now classed as “primary” heart attacks, had previously prioritised those caused by a clot blocking blood flow to the heart.

But the types of attacks more common in women involve reduced blood flow for other reasons, such as a tear or tightening of arteries, and are more likely to be missed or not treated as urgently, with delays to care.

'This could be life-changing for huge numbers of women in UK and worldwide'

Prof Bryan Williams British Heart Foundation

The new guidelines will also reduce the threshold for any type of heart attack to be diagnosed in women based upon the levels of a protein called troponin in their blood.

Until now, women had been expected to reach the same threshold as men for troponin - which is released when the heart is injured and damaged - to get a diagnosis.

Speaking to reporters in Munich, Prof Bryan Williams, the British Heart Foundation's chief scientific officer, said: "This is a landmark moment - a radical shift in how we define and diagnose heart attacks worldwide which will transform people's care.

"For decades, women have missed out on accurate diagnoses and treatment. This focus on finding less common causes of heart attacks, which predominantly affect women, should help to change that. It could be life-changing for huge numbers of women in the UK and worldwide."

Crucially, the new streamlined heart attack categories will also help patients to fully understand the cause of their heart attack and what comes next, Williams said.

The three types of heart attacks that have been upgraded - and which mostly affect women - are a coronary artery spasm, coronary embolism, and spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD).

The first involves the tightening of the artery, which can deprive the heart muscle of blood and oxygen and cause a heart attack, and can be caused by emotional stress, exercise or extreme cold.

The second is where a blood clot or fatty deposit travels to a coronary artery and causes a blockage. The third is caused by a tear in the coronary artery, which occurs in women 80% of the time and often happens during or soon after pregnancy.

Prof Nicholas Mills, a cardiologist at Edinburgh University who led the international taskforce of doctors that agreed the new guidelines, said it was “the first time that we’ve had a truly global approach to aligning how we diagnose what is probably the most important diagnosis there is”.

"Our job now is to implement this as widely as possible ... It is a revolution. It's going to make care better for patients."

Mills said there had been “unintended systematic bias against women”, including by using the key blood test for diagnosing heart attacks at an average level, which picks up all men but misses some women. “This is used for all types of heart attack in every emergency department in the world, and we want to make sure it’s used correctly,” he said.

The new guidelines, published in the European Heart Journal, were drawn up by the world's four leading cardiovascular health groups: the ESC, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the World Heart Federation.

Sweetener used in toothpaste and gum linked to higher risk of strokes and death

Andrew Gregory

A common sweetener used in products such as chewing gum, toothpaste, jam, yoghurts and ice-cream worldwide has been linked to an increased risk of strokes, heart attacks and death.

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol present in some natural foods in very low amounts. It is also added - often in amounts 1,000 times higher - to artificially sweeten foods, drinks and oral care products.

Despite its growing use, the long-term health impacts have never been widely studied.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers found high blood levels of xylitol were associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events. The findings were presented in Munich at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) annual congress.

Researchers looked at 17,710 people and compared the 25% who had the highest levels of xylitol in their blood with the 25% who had

The sweetener xylitol is often added to gum, as well as products such as jam and ice-cream PHOTOGRAPH: FLUXFACTORY/GETTY IMAGES

the lowest. Those with the highest amount were 57% more likely to die or suffer a heart attack or stroke than those with the lowest, within six years. Even after 30 years, they were still 18% more likely to have suffered a major cardiac event.

Taken with data from the middle quartiles, the results from both cohorts suggested a dose-dependent relationship: the higher the xylitol blood levels, the higher the cardiovascular event rate. The researchers showed there was an increase in cardiovascular events linked to xylitol irrespective of baseline characteristics, such as age and sex.

They highlighted that the association was independent of underlying factors such as body mass index, hypertension, diabetes and lipid levels.

The study's author, Dr Marco Witkowski, from the Charité university hospital in Berlin, said the results built on research that had raised concerns about xylitol. "In previous

57%

The increased risk of a heart attack or death seen among people with the highest levels of xylitol

studies, we showed that xylitol can enhance the ability of platelets to form clots," he said.

Witkowski and his colleagues also found that high blood levels of xylitol were linked to adverse heart events in high-risk people over a three-year period. “Artificial sweeteners are consumed by people who think they are healthier than sugar and they are generally regarded as safe by regulatory agencies,” he said.

"Our long-term findings in the general population highlight how little we know about the cardiovascular safety of xylitol and indicate that further studies are warranted, especially as the amount of xylitol in products continues to increase."

Prof Dan Atar, an expert member of the ESC communication committee, said: “Artificial sweeteners are widely embraced by modern society, and the safety ratings had been good and granted by regulatory authorities.

“In this observational work, however, it appears that xylitol has a negative long-term effect on cardiovascular events in the general population. As with all observational studies, causalities are difficult to infer, but this work shows that further studies are mandated into this societally important topic.”

Dell Stanford, a senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Artificial sweeteners such as xylitol are found in many foods and drinks, and people may assume they are the healthier choice, so consume more than they realise. This study adds to growing evidence that artificial sweeteners could have an impact on our health.

"It is important to note that this was an observational study, meaning it can only show an association between higher xylitol levels and cardiovascular events, rather than proving that xylitol directly caused them, and further research is needed. But it is not a green light to have more sugar instead, as we still need to reduce our free sugar intake.

"This study is a reminder that we all need to reduce our intake of processed foods and drinks that are often high in sugar, salt or sweeteners, and focus on a balanced diet to help protect our hearts."

Contact

For missing sections please fill out the form at www.theguardian.com/missingsections or call 0800 839 100.

For individual departments, call the Guardian switchboard: 020 3353 2000. For the Readers' editor (corrections & clarifications on specific editorial content), call 020 3353 4736 to leave a voice message, or email guardian.readers@ theguardian.com. Letters for publication should be sent to guardian.letters@theguardian.com or the address on the letters page.

Guardian News & Media, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. 020-3353 2000. Fax 020-7837 2114. In Manchester: Centurion House, 129 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WR. Telephone Sales: 020-7611 9000. The Guardian lists links to third-party websites, but does not endorse them or guarantee their authenticity or accuracy. Back issues sold and provided by Historic Newspapers: www.historic-newspapers.co.uk/old-newspapers/guardian. Published by Guardian News & Media, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, and at Centurion House, 129 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WR. Printed at Newsprinters (Broxbourne) Ltd, Great Cambridge Road, Waltham Cross, EN8 8DY; Reach Oldham Ltd, Hollinwood Avenue, Chadderton, Oldham OL9 8EP; Discovery Print, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL; and by Irish Times Print Facility, 4080 Kingswood Road, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24. No. 55,998, Saturday 29 August 2026. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office ISSN 0261-3077.

News

'I totally related to Rotherham' The day Dolly came to town

Esther Addley

Shane Jarman was up a ladder decorating a Christmas tree at the school where he was deputy head when he got a call asking him to come to Rotherham hospital ASAP. It was December 2007 and Jarman's wife, Claire, had given birth the previous day to their first child, a girl called Emma; all was well, he was told, but “everything would become clear when I got to the hospital”.

Once there, his wife told him - somewhat unexpectedly - that they were going to meet Dolly Parton. "And literally within what felt like five minutes, there were great camera flashes, lots of noise, lots of clicking and in walked this real big bundle of energy."

As Jarman's wife handed over their tiny 2kg (4lb 6oz) baby to the country star, "all I remember is seeing Dolly Parton with my little girl's head in her hand and these great big red nails".

Was he a little nervous about the nails? “I was very nervous about the nails, to be quite honest.”

Parton was in the South Yorkshire former mining and

Dolly Parton in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in 2007 to open the first UK outpost of her Imagination Library, where she performed and met local health and education leaders and children. Parton died this week, aged 80 PHOTOGRAPHS: RUI VIEIRA/PA

steelworking town - not principally known for its razzle-dazzle - for the British launch of the Imagination Library, the book donation scheme the musician had started in her Tennessee home of Sevier County a little over a decade earlier, and which she had been invited to extend to children in Yorkshire.

If Rotherham - or at least the gathering of local dignitaries that assembled later in a disused steelworks - was a little bemused by the singer, Parton knew places like this, and of course knew how to charm. “I gotta make sure I say your town name right - it’s Rother’m?” she said, flattening the famous southern twang to something approximating flat Yorkshire vowels. “Did I get it right? I’ve been practising because it don’t look like that on paper. In the States, anything that’s h-a-m we have to say Rother-ham.”

Among the torrent of tributes to the entertainer, businesswoman and philanthropist since her death on Monday, Rotherham too has been remembering the impact of a woman who for all her own glamour cared deeply about places that had little of it.

Parton may have jested when she said she'd considered buying a South Yorkshire pied-à-terre - “so you may be walking down the streets of Rotherham and see me coming out of a little cubby hole somewhere” - but her description of the post-industrial town as “a heart spot for me” was sincere, thanks to the similarities she saw to her own outsider upbringing.

“I totally related to Rotherham,” she said some years later. “I know that it’s out in an industrial area … When they were making fun of me for going out there, I thought, you know what? Don’t make fun of me.”

The scheme ensured that every Rotherham child was posted a free book, in their own name, for each month of their life until they were five, funded partly by Parton's foundation and partly by local authorities and other funders. Deborah Bullivant, who took over leading the Rotherham Imagination Library after Parton's visit, said that despite some initial scepticism, it "changed the culture" for many.

"Some people were very suspicious: why Dolly Parton?"

‘I was nervous about the nails, to be honest ...’ Parton with day-old Emma Jarman - now aged 18, above - and her parents, Shane and Claire

What is this thing?” she said. But for others, “can you imagine receiving a book - from registering your child’s birth, your baby in their own name receives the book every month through the letterbox? For many families who didn’t really have a background in reading, it changed the culture within their homes to being more of a reading culture and embracing books and using books and sharing books.”

Though the Rotherham scheme was wound up in 2015 after the council withdrew support, it would be rolled out to other places in Britain, including Doncaster, North Lincolnshire, the London borough of Southwark - “Hello Suth’rk! This is Dolly!” - and Nottingham - which even coaxed an “Ay up me duck!” from the singer.

In total, 6.3m books have given to children across the four UK nations since one-day-old Emma Jarman received the first in 2007, a copy of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which Parton autographed for her. Globally, the figure is 300m.

Now 18, Emma will shortly be going to university to study biomedical science, “and I think, if I know Emma, [the book] will go to university with her so that she can show her friends there”, said her father.

Cancer care Parton 'offered to join drug trials if that helped others'

Emma Joyce

Dolly Parton's younger sister Stella Parton has shared a moving tribute to the late singer, revealing she offered to receive experimental cancer drugs "in the hope of helping others in the future" - evidence of the kindness and generosity that extended until the end of her life.

“My sister was one of the most generous, thoughtful and kind people I’ve ever known,” Stella wrote in a tribute shared on Facebook on Thursday. “What the world saw is exactly who she was.”

Stella said Dolly, who died aged 80 on Tuesday shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, had volunteered to undergo experimental medical treatments to help future cancer patients.

Stella wrote: “She told me recently that if there was no hope for her, she would still allow her medical team to try experimental drugs in the hope of helping others in the future. My sister was always thinking of others.”

Stella, one of Dolly's 11 siblings and also a country music singer-songwriter, added that if fans wanted to honour the country music star's legacy, they should “show more kindness, lift others up and give more of your time and resources as she continued to do to the very end”.

Dolly was taken to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville following kidney and autoimmune issues and died surrounded by family. "If anyone gets to heaven I'm sure she made it right on time," Stella wrote. "I know she's showing out big time, in all her sparkles and shine." She said the sisters had a coffee date over the phone every Tuesday "before the sun came up". "My Tuesday morning coffee time will never be the same but her love, respect and goodness will remain," Stella wrote. "She left the world a better place by being in it so let's follow her example."

In 2016 Dolly said that she had a happy childhood despite being raised with so many siblings in a one-room cabin in Tennessee. “There was plenty of teasing and fighting but we were all in it together.”

News Floods in Nepal

At least 93,000 'in great need' as road damage hinders rescue efforts

Hannah Ellis-Petersen Bidur Sam Jones

The Red Cross has said at least 93,000 people may have been affected by Wednesday's flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border, which have killed nearly 600 people, left another 1,900 missing, and triggered a huge rescue operation that is being hampered by fears of new flooding.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the world's largest humanitarian network, said it feared the death toll would continue to rise as some of the hardest-hit areas remained inaccessible after roads and bridges were destroyed by the torrents.

"The trauma of this event is enormous," David Fisher, the IFRC head of delegation for Nepal, said yesterday.

“Thousands of homes have been destroyed or suffered significant damage. We believe that at least 93,000 people have been affected and are in great need. The death toll is very high and unfortunately likely to continue to rise.”

The deadly floods occurred on Wednesday morning after an enormous section of a glacier in the Himalayas broke loose and crashed on to the valley floor in Nepal's Langtang national park, unleashing a massive surge of water, mud, rock and ice that thundered down rivers and valleys. The resulting floods obliterated villages and destroyed power stations, roads and bridges.

Nepal's steep slopes and the lush valleys below are especially vulnerable to flooding and landslides, and extreme weather events such as intense monsoons and melting glaciers have become more common because of warming due to human-caused climate breakdown.

"The damage is just incredible," Lila Pieters Yahia, the UN resident coordinator for Nepal, said yesterday, adding that more than 40 bridges had been destroyed or badly damaged and "over 40km [25 miles] of road completely destroyed".

By yesterday afternoon, the death toll stood at 584 people: 579 in Nepal and five across the border in Tibet, China. Authorities in Nepal said 1,942 people were still missing, including hundreds of foreign nationals who were in the area to work, trek with guides or make a pilgrimage.

Rescue teams have reported finding bodies hundreds of miles downstream from the disaster zone in the Chitwan district of Nepal, near the Tibetan border. Dozens of injured people were taken to Kathmandu for advanced medical care and more than 100 people were rescued by Nepali army personnel in helicopters.

Rescuers were forced to suspend operations yesterday morning after a dam of debris overflowed earlier in the day, increasing the risk of further flooding. Residents in Nepal's Rasuwa district, on the border with Tibet, were seen rushing up hillsides to escape a possible surge in the river, according to witnesses.

▲ Nepal’s helicopters are the only way into many affected areas. Fears of further floods halted rescue operations early yesterday

The Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that a lake formed by piles of debris from the mudslide had begun overflowing yesterday, sending water towards the area where rescue teams were heading for, and forcing a brief pause in operations.

Rescue efforts in Bidur, the capital of the Nuwakot district in Bagmati province, Nepal, were disrupted yesterday morning as the Trishuli River began to rise again after the lake near the border overflowed.

Rescue workers were moved from the area and people who had tried to return to what remained of their homes were told to evacuate again immediately.

Bidur, once a bustling town on the banks of the Trishuli, now lies in ruins. Most homes were washed away when mud, rocks and debris surged down the river valley early on Wednesday. Survivors described clinging to buildings and trees as the water rushed over them.

Glaciers around the world are shrinking rapidly Cumulative ice loss since 1976, gigatonnes of water

Source: World Glacier Monitoring Service

The mangled concrete remains of a bank, a government office and an ATM booth were among the few structures left standing, although they were submerged in mud. Officials said there were bodies inside the buildings but it was too dangerous to recover them.

Nearby, people gathered along the muddy road, calling out for lost relatives and trying to dig out what was left of their belongings.

Most areas battered by the flash floods remained accessible only by army helicopter.

At the Bidur army camp, from where much of the rescue effort was being coordinated, rescue and military helicopters flew in and out every five minutes, bringing in dozens of traumatised victims.

Many said the floods had taken their loved ones, their homes and everything they owned in a matter of minutes.

The international community is scrambling to get aid to flood-stricken parts of Nepal and Tibet.

Nepal has said it does not yet need foreign assistance as the search and rescue operation - complicated by the destruction of bridges and roads across the mountainous region - continues.

"The offer for help is natural," Lok Bahadur Chhetri, a spokesperson for Nepal's foreign ministry, said yesterday. "Our security agencies are doing the search and rescue operation. For now we don't require such help."

The Kathmandu Post reported that India, China, the US, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had asked the government to allow their search and rescue teams to assist in the operation.

Dinesh Bhattarai, a former Nepali ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said the government's reluctance to accept foreign assistance may be linked to sensitivities over Rasuwa district and its border with Tibet.

“They may have thought about the locational sensitivity of the region and decided not to accept foreign teams,” Bhattarai told Reuters.

But Chhetri said Nepal's own rescue teams were handling the operation and the decision to refuse foreign assistance had nothing to do with sensitivities.

Scant information has emerged from Chinese authorities about the scale of the destruction in Tibet, the most tightly controlled part of China even under normal circumstances. Only brief, state-controlled media reports about the floods have been allowed to circulate in China and the authorities have confirmed only five deaths there. Chinese reports have focused on rescue efforts.

'My husband died in the 2015 earthquake. Now this flood took my only son'

← Continued from page 1

“Others tried to pull him to safety, but the flood swept him away,” she said, tears rolling down her weathered cheeks. There was, she said, nothing left of her village now. She had spent a night sheltering on higher ground, until an army helicopter arrived and took to her safety in the army barracks. Her son, too, had been missing since the disaster, and she was waiting anxiously for news.

"Now I have nothing left to live for," said Tamang. "The whole house is gone. We couldn't salvage anything."

Yesterday, two days after the disaster, at least 579 had been confirmed dead but more than 1,900 were still missing, the numbers rising by the day. Many in Nepal fear that the true scale of the disaster has yet to emerge as the worst-hit areas in districts such as Rasuwa are accessible only by army helicopter. The situation remains even more opaque in Tibet, which is under tight Chinese control. Though it was at the centre of the disaster, Chinese authorities insist only five people there have died.

In the army barracks in the town of Bidur, where Nepal's rescue efforts were being coordinated,

helicopters carrying those picked up from flooded areas continued to arrive every few minutes, while others carrying vital supplies of food and clean water flew out and high up into the mountains.

Yesterday morning, ground rescue efforts were halted over ▲ Survivors at an army camp in Bidur yesterday. Many had lost relatives in a split second PHOTOGRAPHS: AHMER KHAN

fears that the river levels were rising once again. But an army spokesperson, Gen Raja Ram Basnet, said the helicopter rescues would continue for as long as people were missing. He accepted the death toll was hard to calculate. "Right now, our focus is mostly on finding the living," he said.

Among those recently brought to safety was 60-year-old Murali Maiya Tamang, who had been in Rasuwa and was found hanging in a tree. As the flash floods came down the valley, she watched as her house was washed clean away. She convulsed with tears as she waited desperately for news of her son, who had been in their village when the floods struck and had been missing since. “My husband had already died in Nepal’s 2015 earthquake,” she said. “Now this flood has taken away the only son I had left. I am all alone now. What is the point of living now?”

Many in the barracks waited for news of their fathers, brothers and husbands who had been working

▲Top, Sangke Dolma Tamang (in red), was cooking when the floods came. Above, the army barracks in Bidur, where rescue efforts are coordinated

on vast hydro-electric projects along the Bhotekoshi River, many of which had been washed away and the tunnels filled with mud. Footage yesterday showed rescuers pulling some workers to safety from within the tunnels.

A few miles from the army barracks stood the remains of the town of Bidur, on the banks of the Trishuli River. It was one of the last towns to be hit by the flash floods but it took just a few minutes for it to be reduced to mangled debris.

still missing, assuming that they are all alive. We are searching for everyone, whether they are Nepali citizens or international nationals.”

The ruins of a bank, a government office and an ATM booth stood still half submerged in mud. Local rescuers said there were bodies buried inside, but it was still too dangerous and the terrain too unstable to collect them.

'We are searching for everyone still missing, assuming that they are all alive'

Dozens of local people made attempts to return to the site of their homes, in an effort to collect any remnant of their lives. Most just found a deep abyss of mud.

Yesterday afternoon, Nepal's newly elected home minister, Sudan Gurung, surveyed the damage. "It is so sad to see such a heavy loss of human lives," he told the Guardian. "Our priority right now is rescuing people. We are searching for everyone who is

Home minister

Picking through the deep mud and devastation, Ashok Chaurasia, a shopkeeper, said he had heard the terrifying roar of the water before he saw it. The dark muddy waters were already snapping at his heels as he ran uphill for safety, a bridge over the river collapsing behind him. He survived by just 20 seconds, clinging on to the wall of a monastery for dear life. His nephew and his sister-in-law were not so lucky.

As he blessed his survival, he wept at his losses. “We had a three-storey house here, and now there isn’t even a single brick left,” he said. “Nothing can be seen. We have nothing to eat or wear. The flood took everything I have.”

News Floods in Nepal ▼ Missing Briton Sumitra Sapkota and her husband, Pramod Poudel. Below, nurse Sarada Simkhada PHOTOGRAPHS: HANDOUT/SARADA SIMKHADA

Relatives of 33 missing Britons rush to Nepal amid fears of more flooding

Rachel Hall Nadeem Badshah

Families are rushing to Nepal to search for the 33 British nationals who are still missing, as fears mount over the risk of a second wave of flooding in the region.

'I had come to accept my children were no more' Mother reunited with son, 8, who climbed trees to save himself

Among the missing are hundreds of foreign tourists who were visiting the mountainous region, which is popular with trekkers and pilgrims for its natural beauty and religious significance.

Relatives of Britons have shared their devastation as they desperately try to reach their loved ones who were last seen in the Rasuwa district, where power and communication lines are down. Many are scrambling to book flights to Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital.

In a video on YouTube, Jaggi Vas-udev, known as Sadhguru, a spiritual leader who founded the nonprofit Isha Foundation, told followers at the foundation's camp at Saga in Tibet, China, that 80 members of an Isha group returning from Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, high-altitude sites in Tibet revered by Hindus and Buddhists, were missing, including nine British people. Among them is Neetu Goyal Tiwari, 51. Her brother Naresh Goyal told the BBC completing the pilgrimage was "her dream".

Neetu's nephew, Anmol Goyal, said she had been travelling with a friend, and that her last known location was at the immigration centre on the Tibet-Nepal border. He said she had been added to the Nepali government's official list of missing persons.

Zoyal Ghale, an eight-year-old boy who ran into a forest and climbed trees to escape Nepal's deadly floods, was reunited with his mother yesterday after she had begun to fear he and his brother had perished.

A day earlier, Zoyal had been airlifted alone from the devastated northern district of Rasuwa with a broken leg and cuts on his face, while his mother, Matti Maya Tamang, 28, moved from one shelter and collection point to another looking for her two missing children.

"I had come to accept that both my children were no more," Tamang told Reuters. "All I could do was weep. I couldn't hold myself together at all."

Reuters journalist Sahana Bajracharya had met Zoyal at a small hospital in neighbouring Nuwakot district. His right leg was broken and his face was scratched and bruised. In his left hand, he tightly clutched two 10-rupee notes. Police officers who had rescued him had given him the money to persuade him to go to hospital with them, officials said.

He said he had been studying at school when the flood struck and he ran into the forest with a friend and climbed into the trees.

Asked whether he had been scared, he shook his head: "No."

When Tamang arrived at the hospital, he had already been transferred to Kathmandu, but Bajracharya left her number and was able to give Tamang the good news when she called. “When you told me you knew where Zoyal was, it didn’t sound real,” she said. Tamang had already found her younger son alive as well.

"[Zoyal] is always a mischievous kid," Tamang said. "This is not his first broken bone." Reuters

The Telegraph reported that Pravin Atmakur, 54, an NHS psychiatrist, had been leading a group of 77 pilgrims on the Isha Foundation's journey to Mount Kailash. The group's last known location was an immigration centre in Timure, in the mudslide's direct path. His wife, Manjula Atmakur, arrived in Kathmandu to search for him yesterday.

Fishtail Tours and Travels confirmed Leena Bector, 53, from Slough, was among 27 travellers in its group who were unaccounted for.

Her husband, Bhupesh Bector, told the Times he was booking the next flight to Kathmandu after the Home Office had failed to confirm whether Leena was on its missing persons list. "Even if they find her today or tomorrow, I need to be there," he said.

Also missing are an A-level student from Surrey, Spandan Sahu, 18, and his father, Santosh Sahu, 46, the chief executive of the UK pharmaceutical technology company Charac, his mother, Surabhi Manmath Padhy, 44, and sister Syna Kumari Sahu, 13.

Mahadev Semwal, a friend of Sahu's, said: "Our heart says they are safe somewhere ... But when you see the videos, it is unbelievable."

Also confirmed missing is Sarada Simkhada, a senior nurse from Dartford, Kent, who left for Nepal last Saturday on a religious journey.

Deepesh Patel told the Press Association that his parents, Bipin Patel, 66, and Mala Patel, 60, from Coventry, were missing after flying to Nepal last Saturday for a pilgrimage.

Vikram Kolagatla, from London, told the BBC he had not heard from his wife, Geetha Reddy. Reddy, who has two daughters aged 12 and 14, had been in the Hotel Kailash in the affected area when the flooding hit.

Tatjana Phillips, from Folkestone in Kent, told the BBC she had not been able to contact her sister, Julija Jakovicka, who was attending a yoga and meditation retreat near the Nepal-Tibet border when flash flooding hit.

Tanay Ranjan told the BBC he had not heard from his older brother Ankit Ranjan, 39, or sister-in-law, Ankita Chandra, 35, who had gone on a pilgrimage.

The tour operator Alpine Eco Trek said it had been unable to make contact with a party of 12 Britons aged 13 to 65 who had booked a tour to Mount Kailash, and were in the vicinity when the flooding occurred.

Sunil Amin, from Croydon in south London, shared with the Daily Mail the “horrible, horrible feeling” of repeatedly trying to phone his wife, Hema Amin, 63, who was on a pilgrimage with Alpine Eco Trek from Nepal to Tibet with her sister.

The Trekkers' Society, which organises tours across Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan, said nine UK nationals on a pilgrimage had gone missing. The organisation said they were four males, aged between 14 and 50, and five females aged 40 to 53.

The US tour firm Himalayan Glacier said it had lost contact with 47 guests and staff, including two Britons, who were also on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.

▲ Relatives check lists of patients' names outside a hospital in Kathmandu. Hundreds of foreign tourists are missing PHOTOGRAPH: PRAKASH MATHEMA/GETTY

Tour operator Kailash Journeys confirmed it had not been able to account for seven UK nationals - five women and two men aged between 18 and 55 - who were travelling with it.

Leaf Holidays, which runs Himalayan treks and expeditions from Kathmandu, wrote in a Facebook post that its group of 55 travellers remained missing, including four British citizens, Tara and Babar Gurung and Thaneswar and Tejkumari Gurung, who have not been heard from since Tuesday.

Twelve of the missing British citizens were on a tour to Mount Kailash led by Nabhi Nandan Das, 64, a Hindu priest who works at the Sanatan temple and community centre in Surrey, the Telegraph reported. He is understood to have been leading 11 Britons.

Pramod Poudel, who runs a Nepalese street food company in Uckfield, East Sussex, told the Daily Mail his wife, Sumitra, mother, Tulisa, brother Pradip and uncle Madav were all missing. His father, Purusottam, has been found alive.

National

▲ Pilgrims present Pope Leo with Kansas City Royals baseball mementoes PHOTOGRAPH: SIMONE RISOLUTI/GETTY IMAGES

Infallible style wins Pope Leo high fashion praise for fun and humility

Chloe Mac Donnell

For the first time in a decade, Vanity Fair has released a best dressed list. Featuring 70 names, the list ranks the most fashionable people in the world in 2026. The line-up includes the usual suspects spanning Hollywood actors and global pop stars but nestled amongst the celebrities is a more unexpected entrant: Pope Leo XIV.

The 70 year old head of the Catholic church has been praised by the magazine for taking papal style “to heavenly heights”. His most memorable look? A simple white cassock styled with a pair of Nike trainers.

Vanity Fair's style correspondent José Criales-Unzueta, who worked on compiling the list, says he and the team were impressed by the Pope's "innate Americaness with which he dresses."

The Chicago born pontiff has carved out something of a niche in papal dressing and garnered a loyal fashion following due to his enthusiasm for both bespoke vestments and vintage fashion accessories. As well as trainers, he likes simple black

The archive image of Robert Prevost, before his elevation, in Nike trainers. It was not an AI hoax PHOTOGRAPH: VATICAN NEWS

oxford shoes over the traditional red papal slippers.

He wears a discontinued Swiss made quartz watch, carries his own battered briefcase and last June popped a White Sox baseball cap (his favourite team) over his papal cap for a general audience in St Peter's square. For more formal occasions, he turns to the Italian designer Filippo Sorcinelli, who has also created liturgical vestments for Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

His inclusion comes at the Catholic church, with its long mastery of symbolism and optics, experiences an increase driven by gen Z. For Leo, being featured in a publication that its global editorial director, Mark Guiducci, has described as a “magazine about personalities” and that feels “like the pantheon”, works well with the papacy's own aim to position itself as a modern power.

"The world's embrace of this pope has been stunning to me," said Robert Orsi, professor of religious studies at Northwestern University in Illinois. Orsi pointed to Leo's criticism of AI and calls for peace as also speaking to gen Z.

Carol Richardson, professor of early modern art history at the University of Edinburgh said the pope would be aware of his inclusion on the list. "He and the people surrounding him are very savvy. The majority will think it's fun. They will like the fact it has been noticed how busy he is, that he has to wear trainers to run around in. That he is working."

From Christian Lacroix ecclesiastical riffing in the 1980s and the Met's Heavenly Bodies exhibition in

2018 to crucifixes and depictions of Christ on the most recent catwalks, Catholicism has long fascinated fashion. Criales-Unzueta says its vastness appeals. “There is so much to take in and so much to find inspiration in.”

The pontiff is listed in Vanity Fair's “originals” division, a category of individuals commended by the magazine for being “the most outlandish and innovative dressers” with “a singular point of view.” Others on the list

'Trainers symbolise a readiness to move to where he is needed'

Robert Orsi Church studies academic include the filmmaker Spike Lee and the singers Björk and Rosalía.

▲ Sporting a White Sox cap, his home-town team, at St Peter's

Criales-Unzueta described the list as “an opportunity to showcase the way fashion and style are deeply embedded in culture and society” and that “style, good style, is a practice that is not reserved for celebrities or their stylists”.

When Leo was first spotted last May wearing Nike trainers in a still from Leone a Roma, a Vatican produced documentary that retraces his time in Rome before he became pope, it instantly went viral.

Many people assumed the image was a fake. It was compared to the AI-generated image of Pope Francis wearing an oversized Balenciaga puffer jacket that has since been described as “the first real mass-level AI misinformation case”.

Criales-Unzueta says that was the moment Leo became “a talking point in and outside fashion”.

Trainer fans were quick to identify Leo's Nike pair as a discontinued retro tennis style shoe that were first sold in the 1970s. “What a papal flex” declared Esquire while some online users were quick to christen his style as “Holy Drip”.

By the end of last year, Leo found himself featured alongside A\$AP Rocky and Bad Bunny in Vogue's best dressed list while the New York Times named him as one of its 67 Most Stylish People of 2025.

Orsi says he has been thinking about what the trainers symbolise. "A sportiness? A familiarity with track and field, basket-ball courts, running?" he ponders.

For him it is “a lightness on his feet, a readiness to move quickly to where he is needed the most”, he says. “They signal that he is approachable, like a good coach, and also humble.”

ADHD and autism service costs 'out of control', NHS leaders say

Jamie Grierson

NHS leaders have warned that the costs of meeting soaring demand for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism services in England are “running out of control” and have become unsustainable, with spending in some areas rising by as much as tenfold over the course of a year.

The NHS Alliance, which represents health managers, said the rise in demand since the coronavirus pandemic was forcing some to close waiting lists and look at reining in other services they provide.

One integrated care board (ICB) cited in a report said its monthly spending had risen from £146,000 in 2024-25 to £1.5m last year. Another said spending on adult ADHD services had risen from £11m in 2023-24 to a projected £51m this financial year.

Increased demand and a lack of NHS capacity have led to a big influx of new providers, the report said, fuelled by patients' right to choose, which allows people seeking a diagnosis for themselves or a child to opt for any qualified provider.

One ICB told the NHS Alliance it now had 80 providers on its patch. Another said that two years ago it had received invoices from 12 to 14 providers, a figure that had risen to 48.

The rapid expansion of new providers has also prompted concerns from ICBs about quality assurance and regulation, the report said. This is a particular concern when large numbers of small, non-regulated providers that are able to deliver assessments but not continuing care enter the market.

This increased capacity has helped to ease some delays for assessments, but - owing to the lack of a national tariff - has resulted in huge variations in the prices paid for services, adding to already severe cost pressures, the report said. One ICB told the NHS Alliance it was paying £300 to £3,000 for similar services.

Rebecca Gray, the director of the NHS Alliance's mental health network, said: "Local health leaders are caught between a rock and a hard place.

"They understand the anguish and frustration caused by long delays in the system as people wait for assessments, treatment and support. But in working to meet rising demand they face soaring costs that are running out of control.

"As commissioners they must balance their budgets. Unplanned overspends on ADHD and autism assessments and treatment can impact on other activities and disrupt long-term planning.

"The current situation is unsustainable and delivers a bad deal for patients and taxpayers."

The NHS Alliance is calling for a national mandatory price, or tariff, for ADHD and autism services and a national service specification applied consistently across all NHS-funded providers.

National

Farmers call for UK to block Brazilian meat as EU imposes antibiotic safety ban

Fiona Harvey Environment editor

Britain's leading farming organisations and animal health experts have called for an urgent ban on imports of Brazilian meat, in light of concerns over the safety of non-UK foodstuffs.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) in England and its sister organisations in the devolved administrations wrote to the government yesterday warning that public health was at risk.

Brazilian cattle and poultry are feared to be frequently reared with the routine use of antibiotics, after Brazil failed to demonstrate compliance with EU rules on the issue, despite a tightening of some regulations by the Brazilian government.

The overuse of antibiotics in farming is a leading cause of the growth of superbugs, which are resistant to antibiotic medicines critical for human health.

Next week, the EU will ban imports of Brazilian beef and chicken over the same concerns, but Brexit means Britain need not follow suit. Imports to the UK from Brazil have risen strongly since Brexit, from about £3bn in 2021 to £5bn in 2025, of which meat is a big component. In 2024 Brazil accounted for about an eighth of Britain's chicken imports.

Farmers, who are already concerned about falling meat prices while input prices for feed and energy have risen, fear that with the closure of the EU market to Brazilian meat exports, more produce will be diverted to Britain.

Although Brazil has moved to restrict the routine use of antibiotics on farms, an investigation published last year by the Irish Farmers Journal and the Irish Farmers' Association found that Brazilian growers had easy access to antibiotics classified as highest-priority critically important for human medicine, without a veterinary prescription, and that traceability rules were not being applied.

Cóilín Nunan, of the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, said: “The rise of antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis. Each year it is directly responsible for about 1.14 million deaths and associated with 4.71 million deaths.

“We know that resistant pathogens can spread internationally on food. So why are we still importing meat from countries like Brazil that are allowing the irresponsible use on intensive farms of even the most critically important antibiotics?”

Tom Bradshaw, president of the NFU, met Angela Eagle, secretary of state for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in July to demand a ban, but the government has so far refused one.

A spokesperson for Defra said: "Our experts have sought urgent information and assurances from Brazil as part of a rapid assessment of beef and poultry production systems to ensure our high food and animal welfare standards are being met, while closely monitoring market impacts of the EU ban. This government will always act to protect our farmers and the public with our world-leading robust import controls which are in place to protect animal and public health."

In their letter to Eagle, the farming union presidents said: “Ensuring the health and safety of the nation is a core responsibility of any government and the UK has long recognised the risks posed by AMR [antimicrobial resistance]. UK farmers have worked hard to cut antibiotic use and maintain some of the highest production standards in the world - we should demand the same of our imported food.”

The government is already under pressure on food safety, following an outbreak of salmonella in imported eggs that killed at least one person and caused more than 200 people to become sick this month.

Finger on the pulse: shoppers buy beans as meat sales fall

Sarah Butler

British shoppers are eating more beans, lentils, tofu and tempeh - while cutting back on real and fake meat - to save money and improve their diet.

The quantity of beans, pulses and soya bean derivatives sold in the UK increased by 7.3% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, led by a 23% surge in cheap dried lentils, according to analysis of data from the market research firm NielsenIQ by the climate campaign group Madre Brava.

Shoppers turned to more upmarket legumes, including organic and jarred varieties, and sales of canned and jarred butter beans were up by 30.3%.

That growth was partly driven by new products and brands such as the Bold Bean Co, El Navarrico and Marks & Spencer's own-label, as well as recipes going viral on social media.

Baked beans, once the titans of the supermarket tinned section, initially appeared to have become has-beens in the frenzy, with 1.2% fewer cans sold - but the decline is actually owing to a drop in cans also containing sausages.

Fake meats, once seen as the future of vegetarian and vegan diets, also continue to fall out of favour, with 4.3% fewer packages sold. The decline was down to sales of textured soya, pea and wheat protein products, which offset renewed growth in mycoprotein - sold under the brand name Quorn.

“Shoppers are not abandoning plant proteins - they’re shifting toward simpler, higher-fibre foods, whose prices are rising more slowly than food inflation, widening the price gap with meat,” the Madre Brava report said. “This indicates that, while food inflation and affordability remain key factors, nutrition and ▲ Sales of beans, lentils and soya bean derivatives such as tofu rose by 7.3% in the first half of this year PHOTOGRAPH: NATASHA ALIPOUR FARIDANI/GETTY

▲ Shoppers are turning to simple, high-fibre foods, a report has said

health benefits are also driving purchasing decisions," it said.

Amid high inflation of meat prices, especially for beef and lamb, in recent years the amount sold by retailers fell by $1.8\%$ year on year according to Madre Brava's analysis of Euro-monitor International data.

The evidence of changing diets comes after the launch of the Bang in Some Beans campaign last year, led by celebrity chefs including Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and by supermarkets, which aimed to double UK bean consumption by 2028.

That steps up a longer-term push by campaigners for people to include more legumes in their diets.

Chloe MacKean, the food business transformation manager at the Food Foundation, said: “[Beans] are a healthy and affordable protein source, high in fibre and emit far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than animal protein.” She said large food companies were also aware of the commercial opportunities of beans and 29 companies including Sainsbury’s, Lidl GB, M&S, Subway and Harvester had all made commitments through the Bang in Some Beans campaign to sell more.

Cue acrimony: Sheffield snooker fans balk at ‘zombie’ mural

Jamie Grierson

A street artist has defended his mural of the snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan in Sheffield after critics suggested the world champion looked like a zombie.

Chris Ashmore was commissioned to produce the artwork featuring the seven-time world champion for the back wall of the Spot On Snooker Club, the BBC reported.

▲ The mural of Ronnie O'Sullivan, unfinished, according to the artist

Many residents have reportedly said they like the mural, others suggested O'Sullivan was “zombie-like” or “skeletal”, and others told the broadcaster the artwork was “shocking”.

Ashmore said he had only completed two weeks of the five assigned to the job, and “touch-ups” were still forthcoming.

“I usually use a scissor lift, where you can stand back and see things as a whole, but I couldn’t use it as the land is too uneven,” he told the BBC.

"When the scaffolding came down, I came away and boom - it's gone viral. I saw people saying it looks like Michael Jackson or a zombie. I've got thick skin, I'll be OK, but it didn't feel fair."

Gillian Jones, who lives near the mural told the broadcaster she liked it and it “brightened her day”.

Glen Bridock, a fan of the West-Midlands-born snooker player, said the design looked “brilliant”.

But Frank Short said: “The artwork is OK, but the eyes are all wrong. It looks like he’s taken something.”

Shaun Spalding said the mural was “shocking”. “His eyes are all wrong, his teeth are wrong, it just don’t look like Ronnie. It looks like somebody who’s got a skeletal face.”

Dan Kirkland, the manager of the snooker club, defended Ashmore's work.

“Yes, we’ve seen what you’ve seen. There are parts of the face that need tweaking, particularly around the eyes and mouth.

"Some relatively small changes will make a huge difference, so we'll arrange whatever access Chris needs.

“What has upset us is seeing some of the reactions becoming personal towards Chris.

“People are absolutely entitled to like or dislike a mural. But having an opinion about a piece of artwork is one thing. Slagging off the person who created it is another.”

National

Older women in arts report lack of roles and age discrimination

Rachel Hall

Women working in the arts believe they do not have equal opportunities for roles, especially as they get older, according to a report warning that the industry is fixated with “young and emerging” talent.

Nearly all (95%) women working in the arts believe gender inequality persists and three-quarters (75%) have experienced unconscious bias or sexism, according to a survey of 76 arts professionals. More than two-thirds (69%) feel that age negatively affects their career success, a figure that rises to 100% for those working in artistic rather than managerial roles.

The research warns that gender discrimination and ageism are being exacerbated by the use of AI in hiring, which can penalise women for taking career breaks for caring responsibilities, or reinforce historical biases in hiring. Many performers highlighted the additional pressure on women to look young relative to men. “Often younger actresses are cast to play opposite men who are older for parts that are supposed to be the same age,” said one actor.

One participant said that casting opportunities “drop off at 39”, while an actor said “there are twice as many roles for my male colleagues as there are for me. There are even fewer roles for actresses over 50.”

One respondent highlighted the obsession with words such as “young and emerging” to describe talent. “There seems to be absolutely no celebration of experienced, seasoned, insightful, adult, et cetera. It’s always ‘fresh’. As if anything that isn’t fresh is mouldy,” she said. Another pointed out that writers’ schemes tend to favour young people, while many emerging artist initiatives are aimed at young, graduating artists rather than developing older artists.

▲ Actor Maureen Beattie says more ‘meaty’ roles for women are needed

One person working in arts marketing said there was a prevalent idea that only young people truly understood the online world, while a writer said that the stories of older women were seldom commissioned.

The theatre and TV actor Maureen Beattie, who starred in Casualty and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, said: "So, we have proof at last that age discrimination is one of the major issues women face in the entertainment industry. Are we surprised? I'm certainly not. I'm one of the lucky ones who have slipped through this particular net and at the ripe old age of 72 have just come back from playing Lear in Pitlochry.

"We need far more of these great big meaty roles for women so the current waste of the great talent and life knowledge and technical skill older women bring to the table doesn't go on disappearing into the night."

Dr Jennifer Tuckett, who authored the report, said: "The findings regarding age discrimination against older women in the arts, and the potential for AI to increase issues for older women in the arts, are particularly worrying."

The findings emerged from a survey undertaken as part of a research project on women in the arts. It is funded by Arts Council England. A spokesperson for ACE said it would “consider the challenges women face around issues such as glass ceilings, harassment and caring responsibilities”, with a view to identifying good practice and interventions that support women at work.

The report calls for more targeted work to address gender discrimination, including more funding, representation targets and leadership programmes, as well as algorithm audits to minimise bias.

Actors back campaign warning of risk posed by AI voice cloning

Jamie Grierson

Nicola Coughlan, Hugh Bonneville and Matt Lucas are among a group of actors backing a campaign against artificial intelligence voice cloning.

PHOTOGRAPH: JED CULLEN/GETTY FOR BRITISH VOGUE

Save Our Voices Now, which is also being supported by Luke Evans, Jen Brister, Siobhán McSweeney and Pearl Mackie, aims to stop the practice in which AI technology is used to replicate a real person's voice to say anything it is prompted to.

Bonneville, the star of Paddington and Downton Abbey, said: "My voice is unique, it's mine, it's part of my identity. So is yours. That's worth speaking up about."

About 80 people have added their signatures to an open letter to the prime minister, Andy Burnham, and a Gov.uk petition has been launched to ask for everyone in Britain to be given ownership of their voice as part of their statutory rights.

The Derry Girls actor McSweeney said: “I’m deeply worried that legislation, contracts, working practices and ethics, and artists’ rights are not being considered or protected as quickly as AI technology is progressing.

"I believe that there is a way to work alongside AI and to use it as a tool that benefits us rather than rendering us obsolete. This is an existential problem and needs to be controlled legislatively as soon as possible. My voice is one of my tools.

"In order to adapt and move with technological advances, I don't see why we should remove the human from the equation. Our audiences want that human connection. Not AI," McSweeney said.

The campaign says that 28% of UK adults report they have been targeted by a voice-cloning scam.

The founder of Save Our Voices Now, Peter Caulfield, said: "In just three seconds, with the right AI system, your voice can be cloned, stolen and reinterpreted without your knowledge. It's a Black Mirror episode, except this isn't fiction. It's happening right now.

"The bottom line is the government is allowing AI companies to steal and profit from artists' voices without their consent.

“They are also allowing criminals to use AI to clone people’s identities and threaten everyone. We need to use our real voices now to stop it." In Denmark, legal reforms are taking place to give its citizens ownership over their face, body and voice, allowing them to demand removal of unauthorised AI content and seek compensation.

◀ Siobhán McSweeney, Jen Brister (top right) and Hugh Bonneville are among those backing the Save Our Voices Now campaign

Salmonella cases likely to continue rising until source of outbreak found

Tobi Thomas Health and inequalities correspondent

Salmonella cases in the UK are expected to rise until the common source is identified, something that is notoriously difficult to establish, experts have said.

There have been 474 confirmed cases and one death linked to the current outbreak, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), with an investigations suggesting it is associated with eating imported eggs in cafes and restaurants.

About 1.6bn eggs are imported to the UK every year, according to the British Egg Industry Council, with the number having risen 60% since 2021.

The link to eggs consumed outside the home is consistent with imported eggs commonly being used in catering, according to Prof Paul Wigley, professor of animal microbial ecosystems at the University of Bristol.

Wigley said: “Bought in bulk these eggs are cheaper than UK lion mark eggs and so can end up being used in schools and nursing homes along with cafes, restaurants and takeaways. The eggs may be mixed batches from different batches, but the clustering of cases suggests there may be a single source.”

He added: “Avoiding runny eggs outside the home, unless lion mark eggs, is perhaps the only step an individual can make.”

Although previous salmonella outbreaks in the UK have been linked to eggs imported from European countries such as Poland, the current source of this outbreak has yet to be identified. For some experts, this makes the current surge in cases particularly worrying.

Prof Chris Elliott of the School of Biological Sciences at Queen's University Belfast, said: "All we have been told is that the likelihood is that it's been imported.

“There is a huge amount of difficulty in tracing the origins of something like this.”

He added that the number of cases would keep rising until the source was identified, which could take “not days, but weeks”.

Elliott added: “My expectation is those numbers will continue to rise until they can not only track the source, but right back to the country of production.

"It is fiendishly difficult to track the source of a food and ingredient, so I certainly wouldn't be critical of the agencies.

Prof Mark Stevens, the chair of microbial pathogenesis at the University of Edinburgh, said the outbreak was also unusual because cases were occurring at the same time. He said: "There are thousands of salmonella cases each year, but rarely are they on this scale."

National Politics

Moscow losing more troops than it can recruit, say western officials

Peter Walker Senior political correspondent

Russia's military is losing about 6,000 more troops in Ukraine each month than it can recruit, according to western officials.

While Moscow is still acquiring battlefield recruits at speed - at an estimated rate of 1,000 a day over the past two months - even this has not been sufficient to replace the killed or wounded.

“We estimate that the gap between the number of people Russia is losing to casualties and the number they are being able to recruit is around 6,000 a month at the moment,” one western official said.

“Vladimir Putin’s response to this has been to escalate himself and to target civilian infrastructure and civilians in Ukraine, firing over 360 missiles since early July and exploiting Kyiv’s shortage of defence against ballistic missiles. It’s clear that Moscow intends to try to break Ukrainian morale by destroying its energy infrastructure this winter.”

The tactics are being deployed in part because Putin has limited options for overcoming the huge losses on the battlefield.

Western officials believe further mobilisation would be a big risk politically and economically. The last such event, in autumn 2022, saw about a million, often highly skilled, Russians leave the country, with less than half returning. It is also unclear whether the Russian military could absorb the several hundred thousand recruits that would result, given a lack of equipment and officers.

Ukraine has repeatedly attacked Russian targets connected to oil, creating fuel shortages, but has appealed repeatedly for more help from allies, both with offensive missiles and defence systems.

Andy Burnham visited Kyiv on his first overseas trip as prime minister this week. He told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the UK would give Ukraine previously classified information on the British-manufactured components for long-range cruise missiles.

Burnham also urged the international community to do more to protect Ukraine against Russian attacks, particularly with more US-made Patriot interceptor missiles.

He is expected to make this argument at next month's UN general assembly in New York.

In response, Russia has made repeated threats of retaliation, including talk of attacks on UK military sites inside and outside Ukraine. The western officials said that while the threat from Russia remained very real, the situation had not changed, and the assessment was that “Putin absolutely wants to avoid a direct confrontation with Nato”.

One official said: “We are seeing a continuation of hostile rhetoric and various accusations against the UK.

“This is absolutely consistent with longstanding Russian military doctrine, which is to use rhetoric to both exploit fears in adversaries and to influence decision-making. So this is not a new phenomenon.”

Officials say Moscow still has the capability to target the UK, with cyber-attacks or physical attacks by proxies on civilian targets, including factories and warehouses. Last year, six men were jailed over an attack ordered by Russia on a London warehouse housing aid for Ukraine.

Putin's overall aim in Ukraine, western officials believe, is to maintain a campaign of attrition, hoping that support from Ukraine's allies will ebb away, particularly if governments are spooked by public alarm over the Russian leader's threats.

Such threats should be seen, one official said, as attempts “to create an additional, fractured and more vulnerable Europe”.

Another said: “It’s important to keep in mind that this is not new. Russia has invoked the threat of the possible use of nuclear weapons numerous times in recent years to try to scare us into ending support for Ukraine.”

◀ Fire engulfs a shopping mall in Zaporizhzhia after a Russian missile attack yesterday. Ukraine has appealed for help with its air defences PHOTOGRAPH: DARYA NAZAROVA/GETTY

A tight spot Burnham faces tricky first budget to fund political change

Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor

When Andy Burnham made his first speech after returning as an MP, he promised that as prime minister he would oversee “the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years”. His style, direction and communication has been a big shift from Keir Starmer’s approach but, as he heads into the autumn, he is constrained by similar problems. With a budget in late October, and worsening economic circumstances, Burnham has made promises and commitments that put him in a tight spot. Here are some of the constraints he and the chancellor, John Healey, must square.

Fiscal rules

The biggest risk of Burnham as prime minister was always whether he would spook the bond markets and set in train a Liz Truss-style meltdown. Starmer's allies often played up this fear so Burnham had to ensure that markets knew he was a serious operator. Gilt yields rose after an interview last year in which he said the government was “in hock to the bond markets”.

So Burnham has committed to Rachel Reeves's fiscal rules on debt and borrowing, though he has indicated he will “use, obviously, any flexibility within them” where he can borrow to fund investment.

Tax rises

Burnham has said he will “stick to the manifesto”, which promises no increases in income tax, national insurance or VAT, though he cautioned in an interview this week that the public needed to be “realistic” about what had to be funded and how difficult more spending would be. That decision to stick to no rises in personal taxation had left businesses fearing a tax raid - and Burnham has been urged by some leftwing figures and union leaders to consider further wealth taxes. But the prime minister told the FT this week he was loth to do more to increase the costs of doing business and did not want to target “wealth creators”.

Economic turmoil

Reeves left £23.6bn of “headroom” in her last budget, which gives Healey a buffer to meet the fiscal rule of balancing day-to-day spending with receipts. But the Iran war and subsequent rises in inflation and borrowing costs for servicing Britain’s £2.9tn national debt are likely to have dented that headroom. Treasury sources say the impact may not be as much as feared, but the strait of Hormuz remains closed, growth is sluggish and inflation is creeping upwards.

Cost of living Burnham has made several popular ▼ Andy Burnham, work secretary Pat McFadden and London mayor Sadiq Khan on a supermarket visit PHOTOGRAPH: SIMON DAWSON/NO 10 DOWNING ST

early interventions to help ease the cost of living - including some, such as cutting VAT on energy bills, that are ostensibly funded by cutting existing programmes.

Healey has suggested there are no further plans to offer energy support before the price cap rises by 4% in October, which will wipe out the impact of the VAT cut.

The Treasury will want a contingency plan in place in case more help is needed in January. The Resolution Foundation suggested that even a targeted scheme for those earning less than £25,000 would cost about £2bn.

Defence

The Treasury confirmed yesterday that it would delay setting out when the UK would meet the target of spending $3\%$ of GDP on defence until next year's spending review.

committed to spending 3.5% of GDP on defence by the middle of the next decade. But there will be endless pressure to go faster.

Burnham would have had to find an additional £4.7bn over five years for defence in October's budget, after Starmer announced £15bn extra when he published the defence investment plan, without saying where the cash would come from.

Public control

Burnham promised he wanted to place life's essentials “back under public control” - specifically Thames Water. In June, he said he favoured public ownership for Thames Water, which is struggling with a £20bn debt.

The remaining £10.3bn will also have to be raised by “reallocating budget” from across government departments. Labour has

Burnham told the FT that he had intentionally spoken in terms of more public control rather than nationalisation, but the budget is his first opportunity to set out a direction of travel that goes beyond local control of bus routes.

Welfare

Two major reviews will report this autumn: one is the second part of the Timms review, which will look at a new system to deliver personal independence payments to disabled people, where the bill is increasing substantially.

The other is the Milburn review of youth unemployment and inactivity - also likely to require significant spending.

The Telegraph reported that Burnham was likely to push the issue of welfare into the new year.

Assisted dying PM to abstain to ensure free vote by MPs

Peter Walker

Andy Burnham has told Labour MPs that he will not cast a vote when the assisted dying bill returns to the Commons next month to avoid influencing the debate.

While the move was welcomed by supporters of the measure, No 10 officials say the prime minister has no wish to affect the process in either direction, and is just doing what he thinks is best to allow MPs to reach their own collective view.

In a separate letter to his ministers yesterday, Burnham warned them against trying to influence the process. When an earlier version of the bill was before parliament in 2025, Wes Streeting, the then health secretary, voiced worries about its impact on the NHS.

An original version of the private member's bill to permit assisted dying in limited circumstances in England and Wales, led by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, ran out of time in the last parliament after peers tabled 1,200 amendments.

Another Labour MP, Lauren Edwards, has tabled a near-identical version to allow adults with less than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel. It has its second reading in the Commons - the first opportunity that MPs get to vote on a bill - on 11 September.

Keir Starmer voted for Leadbeater's bill as prime minister on its second and third readings, while otherwise remaining neutral on an issue seen as a matter of conscience, and where MPs were given a free vote by their parties. Burnham said he was taking a different approach.

"The government remains neutral on the question of assisted dying and on the passage of the bill," he said, saying it was "vital that every view is respected".

Burnham wrote: “There is no single right position and I have deep respect for MPs on all sides, and the expertise they bring to this debate.”

Saying he had “my own personal views”, Burnham went on: “I am also clear that this is a matter for parliament to decide and my role, as the prime minister, will be to lead a government that implements the will of parliament in this area - whether that is to change the law or not.

"I also do not want to unduly influence the debate as prime minister and for every colleague to know it is a genuinely free vote. For these reasons, I have taken the decision that it is most appropriate for me not to vote at second reading," he wrote.

▲ Protesters as the assisted dying bill was debated in the House of Commons in 2025 PHOTOGRAPH: WIKTOR SZYMANOWICZ/GETTY

As Greater Manchester mayor, Burnham said he supported the idea in principle. But in July, he said it would be “very challenging” to introduce the change before palliative care and social care were improved.

Supporters of the bill argue that, with a proposed implementation period of up to four years, there is time for this to happen.

Burnham confirmed that, as is the convention for issues involving conscience, collective responsibility would be again set aside, with front-benchers free to vote or abstain.

MPs should be “able to reach those conclusions without feeling that the government is seeking to influence the debate”, he wrote, adding: “At the dispatch box, I ask that ministers reiterate that this is a question for parliament, on which the official government position is to remain neutral, with the same approach taken outside parliament when dealing with all forms of media, including social media.”

Defence Healey delays timeline to hit spending goal

Heather Stewart Lauren Almeida

The chancellor will delay setting out when the UK will meet the target of allocating $3\%$ of GDP on defence until next year's spending review, the Treasury has confirmed.

John Healey resigned as defence secretary in June under Keir Starmer's leadership, accusing the prime minister of being “unable” and the Treasury “unwilling” to “commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country”.

However, since succeeding Rachel Reeves following Andy Burnham's arrival at No 10, Healey has declined to set a date for meeting the $3\%$ target, which he had previously insisted should be reached by 2030.

Treasury sources confirmed that instead, the focus in Healey's first budget on 28 October would be fully funding the defence investment plan. The three-year DIP was one of Starmer's final announcements - but about £1.2bn a year was left unaccounted for, with Reeves suggesting the money would have to be found through cuts in other Whitehall departments.

The Treasury confirmed yesterday that there would be no further detail about the timeline in the budget. A spending review is expected to be held next year but no date for it has yet been set.

A government spokesperson said: "The first duty of government is to keep its citizens safe.

"The prime minister and chancellor are committed to fully funding the defence investment plan. At the spending review we will set out a pathway to meet our Nato commitment of $3.5\%$ of GDP on defence by

▲ John Healey has said 3% of the UK's GDP should be spent on defence

2035 and will set a target date to hit 3% on that path.”

Defence spending is on track to reach 2.7% of GDP by 2030, funded partly by Starmer's decision to cut the UK's aid spending.

Healey had previously said that this figure should rise to 3% urgently, given the growing global conflicts and security risks. He wrote in his resignation letter to Starmer in June: “As we have regularly discussed, I am certain that a headmark date for 3% of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set.”

So far, Burnham, has refused to commit to the 3% target.

In an interview with Sky News yesterday, Healey said fiscal discipline was the “first priority” for any chancellor. “It’s the bedrock for economic stability,” he said. “We simply can’t deal with the problems we face as a country by maxing out the country’s credit card.”

The chancellor will fly to North Carolina this weekend for a meeting of G20 finance ministers, chaired by the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent.

Healey and his colleagues will discuss the prospects for global growth, against the backdrop of continued high energy prices, volatile government bond markets and the US-Canada trade war.

Save on 1000s of electricals with our BIG RED discount codes*

fire tv Save 10% Use code: RED10

SAMSUNG Save 10% Use code: RED10

dyson Save 30% Use code: RED30

dyson Save 20% Use code: RED20

There's more to

National

South West Water worst for the environment in England

Pippa Neill Environment reporter

South West Water is doing more harm to the environment than any other water company in England, according to new analysis, with more sewage discharged in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset than anywhere else.

Friends of the Earth analysed water companies' environmental performance in six categories: sewage spills, water quality at bathing sites, pollution incidents or warnings at bathing sites, severity of sewage pollution at bathing sites, the percentage of rivers rated below the standard for good ecological health and the affordability of bills.

South West Water, which operates across Devon, Cornwall and parts of Dorset and Somerset, was among the top three worst performers in four out of the six categories.

The water company had the highest total duration of sewage spill events since 2024, averaging 574,323 hours annually. Severn Trent and Yorkshire Water came second and third respectively but were outstripped by South West Water, by almost 200,000 spill hours.

South West Water's designated bathing sites also recorded the most pollution incidents and warnings, with 666 recorded in 2025 alone.

There are 157 official bathing sites in South West Water's catchment. If a site is designated, the Environment Agency will monitor water quality during the bathing season to protect people's health.

A spokesperson for the company said: “We manage more than a third of England’s designated bathing waters, so improving water quality is a huge priority for us. We're already seeing progress, with storm overflow spills down 17% and spill duration down 25% over the past year, despite significantly higher rainfall across the region. We're also on track to meet new Environment Act bathing water standards by 2030, five years ahead of the national deadline, showing the impact of record investment across the south-west."

Alongside this poor environmental performance, Friends of the Earth said South West Water's roughly 1.8 million customers faced some of the highest water bills at £726 annually. Since 2024, they have had the second biggest increase in England, with bills rising by $39\%$ .

Southern Water is responsible for the most expensive water bills in England and the biggest increase since

2024, with £281 added to the average bill in that period.

Kierra Box, a water campaigner at Friends of the Earth, is calling on the government to bring forward a robust clean water bill that sets out a “meaningful plan for restoring the health of the UK’s rivers and seas”.

She said: “People have had enough of hearing ministers say they’ll fix the problem, only to bring in measures that superficially address the issue. If we’re to end the sewage scandal once and for all, we must see the government committing to a complete overhaul of our water system.”

A Defra spokesperson said: “The government recognises that we need to build on our reforms which banned bonuses so our water system works for the public. That's why we are driving forward the biggest overhaul of the water sector in a generation, with new legislation to give the public more control and help keep bills as low as possible."

Friends of the Earth is also calling on the government to nationalise water companies. Sources recently told the Guardian that the prime minister, Andy Burnham, was considering ripping up insolvency laws to make it easier to bring utilities under public control. However, the Times reported that Burnham had shelved plans to put Thames Water into administration amid concerns about the cost and the legal risk involved.

574,323 The annual average duration of sewage spill events by South West Water since 2024

£726

Annual bills paid by 1.8 million customers of South West Water, after a 39% increase since 2024

Defra said Thames Water remained financially stable, but the government stood “ready for all eventualities, including applying for a special administration regime”.

Water UK said: “No sewage spill is ever acceptable, and we are working to end them ... we are tripling investment over the next five years to halve spills from storm overflows and upgrade the capacity of 1,700 wastewater treatment works.”

Red flags Brighton swimmers' fury over sea sewage

Pippa Neill

'I'm furious," says Jo Armstrong, 75, sitting on Brighton beach with her daughter and granddaughter. Armstrong lives

in Lewes, a town 8 miles from Brighton, and usually goes swimming in nearby Seaford in East Sussex every day. But over the past week the water there has been too polluted to swim. “Brighton beach was the only place that stayed clean,” she says.

In the week Friends of the Earth ranked the UK's water companies for their environmental damage, and news of further sewage leaks emerged, the Guardian headed to Brighton beach to talk to swimmers. According to public data, a sewage alert was issued twice at the beach in August, and 158 alerts recorded overall in 2025.

"There's a tiny bit of rain and then the sewage comes, I just don't understand it. It's extraordinary that we can't have clean beaches," says Armstrong.

This summer England has endured record-breaking heatwaves during which scores of people have spent time on beaches. In Brighton, the state of the water is an issue on many people's minds.

▲ Anna Field and her husband, Jim. She says checking for sewage spills is as important as checking the weather PHOTOGRAPH: MARTIN GODWIN/THE GUARDIAN

Hildi Mitchell, 55, runs a programme called Pool to Pier, where she teaches pool swimmers to swim safely in open waters. Increasingly, she is finding that pollution is stopping people from taking the leap to the sea.

"There are swimmers who have swum in the pool all year round but won't come out in the sea in the summer because they're worried about becoming ill," she says.

Checking for sewage spills has become as important as checking the weather and tidal patterns. "I would love to be able to swim anywhere, rather than thinking about trying to avoid pollution," Mitchell says.

Through Pool to Pier, Mitchell offers free workshops to children from families on low incomes.

Jo Armstrong on Brighton beach. She says it is ‘extraordinary’ Britain has beaches unsafe for swimming PHOTOGRAPH: MARTIN GODWIN/THE GUARDIAN

"These families already have limited things they can do in the summer to keep their children active, healthy and entertained. Swimming should be something that's free and available to local families, but it's not and that's really sad."

Greg Veros, 59, has lived in Brighton for 22 years and swum all his life, but after falling ill owing to what he believes was sewage pollution a few years ago, he now spends more time at Brighton's outdoor swimming pool. "I'm an enthusiastic swimmer, I can't get enough of it," Veros says. He used to have to skip his daily swim if there was a rainstorm or a sewage scare, but now the pool offers him an alternative. "It's the best thing to have happened to Brighton."

But for Mitchell, there is nothing that replaces swimming in the sea.

“It’s about freedom. It’s a place where you can just swim in the way you want to swim,” Mitchell says.

Anna Field, 54, moved to Brighton so she could swim regularly, but, like Mitchell, she says checking for sewage spills is as important as checking the weather. There have been several times when she could smell the sewage. When pollution stops her from swimming, it's a bit like not being able to walk in the park because it's raining, "except with this, you feel people [are] to blame".

“I absolutely love being in the ocean. It’s got its own personality. You look out of the window in the morning and it’s a different colour from yesterday. On some days it will tell you, no, you’re not coming in today.”

“Swimming is such a nice thing for people to be able to do and it’s public, anyone can go in. It would be a real shame if that was less accessible.”

London's Science Museum ends long-term partnership with BP

Pippa Neill

Environment reporter

The Science Museum has ended its decades-long partnership with the oil and gas company BP in what has been described as a “seismic shift” for the institution.

The Science Museum Group Academy, which was established in 2018 to deliver training and resources, announced yesterday that it would be ending the partnership. The director and chief executive of the Science Museum Group, Sir Ian Blatchford, said it had “drawn to a close at the end of the current contract term”.

Blatchford said BP's “generous contributions helped us to inspire more than 11,000 education, museum and science professionals through research-informed science engagement training, supporting vital work to spark curiosity and bring science to life for more than a million young people across the country”.

BP's relationship with the museum has come under scrutiny, with the fossil fuel giant accused by campaigners in January of having an “insidious influence” over the teaching of science, technology, engineering and maths in the UK through its partnership with the institution.

In 2024, the museum cut ties with the oil company Equinor over its failure to lower carbon emissions sufficiently to ensure it was aligned with the Paris climate agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C.

Chris Garrard of the campaign group Culture Unstained said this “seismic shift” came after years of pressure from educators and schools.

“With the world facing droughts and wildfires and BP recklessly ramping up its production of dirty fossil fuels, the museum has finally come to its senses and followed the rest of the culture sector in cutting ties to BP.”

Garrard added this decision represented only a “partial victory”. The museum still takes money from Adani Green Energy, a subsidiary of the Adani Group, one of the world’s largest private coal mining and energy conglomerates.

A spokesperson for BP said its partnership with the Science Museum would “draw to a close on Monday 31 August at the end of its agreed term”.

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

President and Vice-Chancellor

Lead one of Australia's most progressive and influential universities

Deakin University is a globally connected, innovative and future-focused institution committed to transforming lives and communities through excellence in education and research. Ranked among the world's leading universities, Deakin has built a reputation for educational innovation, industry engagement, outstanding student outcomes and research that delivers meaningful impact locally and globally. The University is recognised as Victoria's leading university for student satisfaction and is a pioneer in digital education, lifelong learning and emerging technologies.

Deakin was founded in Geelong in 1974, and that is still where the University sits. It is a regional university with a large metropolitan campus, not a metropolitan university with a regional address, and that shapes who Deakin is for, how it teaches and how it engages with its communities. With campuses in Melbourne, Geelong and Warrnambool, international branch campuses in India and Indonesia, a global network of partners and more than 370,000 alumni worldwide, Deakin combines educational excellence with research impact at scale.

Guided by its strategic ambition to generate ideas that transform lives and communities, Deakin is focused on becoming Australia's most progressive and responsive university. Its strategy is centred on leading the sector in digitally enabled education, advancing world-class research and innovation, strengthening industry and community partnerships, and maximising social, cultural and economic impact. The University is investing strongly in artificial intelligence, lifelong learning, employability, research translation and global engagement, ensuring it remains at the forefront of a rapidly evolving higher education landscape.

Reporting to the University Council, the President and Vice-Chancellor will lead the next chapter of Deakin's development, building on the University's strong foundations while positioning it for continued success in an increasingly complex and competitive environment. The role provides an opportunity to shape institutional strategy, advance academic and research excellence, foster a high-performing and inclusive student and staff culture, and strengthen Deakin's reputation and influence nationally and internationally.

The successful candidate will be an exceptional and inspirational leader with experience leading large, complex institutions. They will possess outstanding strategic, commercial and stakeholder engagement capabilities, together with the ability to unite a diverse community of staff, students and other stakeholders around a shared vision and purpose. They will have a strong understanding of and commitment to the University's academic mission, including excellence in education, research and engagement, and will bring the credibility and influence required to strengthen relationships across government, industry, philanthropy, the broader community and the global higher education sector.

This is a rare opportunity to lead a university with a strong reputation, clear strategic momentum and a distinctive place within the Australian higher education landscape. The next President and Vice-Chancellor will play a defining role in shaping Deakin's future and ensuring the University continues to deliver meaningful impact for students, staff, partners and communities around the world.

For a confidential discussion and candidate brochure, please contact Dr Courtenay Atwell at DeakinVC@kornferry.com.

Applications should include a cover letter, a brief response to the selection criteria and a curriculum vitae.

Applications close Wednesday 23 September 2026.

Four men plead guilty to attack on Jewish community ambulances

Emine Sinmaz

Four men have pleaded guilty to destroying four Jewish community ambulances in an arson attack, causing about £1m of damage.

Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, and Judex Atshatshi and Saif Ali, both 18, admitted a charge of destroying or damaging property being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

Atshatshi, Khan and Iqbal entered their pleas by video link from Wandsworth and Pentonville jails, with Ali in the dock of the Old Bailey yesterday.

Four ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola were set on fire on the morning of 23 March while they were parked near a synagogue in Golders Green, an area of north London that has a large Jewish community. Prosecutors said the attack had caused about £1m of damage.

The prosecutor Leo Seelig suggested the incident had a “terrorist connection” although no mention was made in court of potential proxies working for Iran.

Previously, counter-terror police had looked into the possible involvement of Iranian proxies in the Jewish ambulance arson as well as other attacks on Jewish sites in London.

Most have been claimed online by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, the Islamic Movement of the

Companions of the Right. However, in April, Iran's embassy in the UK said it “categorically rejects” allegations of involvement in “violent activities or incidents in the United Kingdom”.

Three of the defendants were said to have set fire to the fully stocked vehicles as a fourth waited in a blue Toyota Avensis. The blaze caused gas canisters in the ambulances to explode, and nearby flats and a synagogue were damaged by the fire.

The four men were arrested after an investigation by counter-terrorism police.

On his arrest on 1 April, Ali threw his mobile phone out of the window, the court was previously told. The defendant, then aged 17, had been in contact with someone in February with a view to buying a blue Toyota Avensis and had done research online about how much ambulances cost.

The prosecution had alleged Ali went on to source the Toyota that was used in the attack, with WhatsApp messages between him and a co-defendant relating to the purchase.

Prosecutors have said they believe the incident was a targeted attack against the Jewish community.

Hatzola is a Jewish charity providing free medical transport and emergency response to Jewish and non-Jewish people in north London.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb ordered pre-sentence reports for Iqbal and Khan, from Leyton, east London, Atshatshi, from Dagenham, east London, and Ali, of dual British-Pakistani nationality, from Walthamstow, north-east London.

Remanding them in custody, the senior judge said their sentencing would take place in spring 2027 at the conclusion of a separate trial.

At the same hearing, a fifth defendant, Subhan Ahmed, 18, from Walthamstow, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assisting an offender.

Ahmed, who is alleged to have helped to get rid of the car used in the attack, will go on trial at the Old Bailey on 27 January next year.

Additional reporting Press Association and Associated Press

The aftermath of the attack in Golders Green, north London, on 23 March, in which four ambulances were set on fire and nearby flats and a synagogue were damaged PHOTOGRAPH: JAMIE LASHMAR/PA

National Middlesbrough

Fear and hope on Teesside Residents speak out after week of tragic events

Mark Brown North of England correspondent

This place might look bad but it's not, the people are good people," said one woman before turning to

her young daughter and asking: "Is this place bad?" The girl shakes her head vigorously.

It's a difficult thing to say given the week's events in Grangetown and South Bank on Teesside.

Around the corner is the burned-out shell of a house that was deliberately set on fire on Wednesday, killing Natalie McDonald, 34, and her seven-year-old niece, Valentina Foster.

Metres away is the A66 where a head-on crash killed seven people on Saturday, including two police officers. Cleveland police had linked the crash to organised crime and initially said they could not rule out it being connected to the house fire, but yesterday said there was no link.

The news will be of no surprise to neighbours and well-wishers who had gathered opposite the house in Birchington Avenue, Grangetown. "There's no connection ... 100%," said one neighbour. Another said: "It's smackheads, that's the problem round here."

John Kirton, McDonald's brother, told reporters: "My sister was not involved with anything to do with gangs, or the [crash on the] A66. That's what makes this so senseless. People think they can do whatever they like. "There's some terrible people in the world and now my sister and Valentina have gone."

McGovern; Terry Chapman; and Natalie McDonald, who died in the fire

People, all reluctant to give their names, say the community is tight-knit. “Everyone looks out for each other,” said one woman. But they also agree that there is a big problem with gangs of boys and young men involved in drug dealing and other crimes.

People felt trapped in their own homes and afraid to go to the shops, said the Middlesbrough and Thornaby East MP, Andy McDonald. He called it a form of “terrorism”.

There have been nine deaths and other possibly gang-related local crimes including a knife attack and the ramming of an empty house.

On Thursday evening, video was posted on social media showing cars being torched at a vigil for one of the men who died in the A66 crash. It was in Haswell, County Durham, 20 miles north of the crash site. The events of the last week have left a community shellshocked and in need of help, fearful of what might happen next.

Alec Brown, the leader of Redcar and Cleveland council, said authorities were working “tirelessly” to ensure people felt ▲ Clockwise: the site of an arson attack in which two people died; a tribute to victims of the A66 car crash; Nathaniel

PHOTOGRAPHS: MARK PINDER/ THE GUARDIAN

safe. About 200 extra police from other forces have been drafted in and the hope is that a show of strength can dampen tensions and reassure the area.

Anna Turley, the MP for Redcar, said: “It’s really important to get across the fact that these incidents are not all linked. It could feel that way at the moment because of

the national spotlight on us, but unfortunately, we know we've had a high level of crime."

Terry Chapman is not from Grangetown, but was “born and raised” in a different part of Middlesbrough. He didn’t quite know why he had come to the site of the house blaze, but felt he had to. “I know these areas, they are like 'It's been a mad week around here, but you get nice and bad people everywhere, don't you?

Nathaniel McGovern Saabat Gallery, Middlesbrough where I'm from," he said. "We have problems but when things happen like this ... it's just hard to believe. It's really horrendous and scary."

▲ Valentina Foster, seven, died with her aunt in the fire on Wednesday

Chapman said gangsters were the minority. “The vast majority of people, including in places like Grangetown, are absolutely fantastic people.

“They may not have a lot. Some do. Some are managing and some are barely managing. But fundamentally, the majority of people are decent and they’re law-abiding. The trouble is that the small minority seem to have a bigger influence in places like this and it’s gone unchecked for years.”

Grangetown and South Bank are deprived, rundown areas. There are small terraces of shops, many shut, and no obvious centre. It's also striking how few pubs there are.

Saturday's collision took place on the A66 between Church Lane and Normanby Road. Police had been pursuing a VW Passat with five young men in it for before it turned on to the dual carriageway, against the flow of traffic. The pursuit was aborted. Ten seconds later the Passat crashed into a police car. Everyone died at the scene, including the police officers Matthew Blades and Tom Clough.

On the corner of Church Lane and the A66, a retired steelworker surveying the bouquets left for the PCs appeared close to tears at what had happened in his community this week. “The problem is the police don’t have the resources. There used to be a station in South Bank, there used to be a station in Eston. Now there’s no police here and they [the criminal gangs] are doing whatever they like with drugs passing from one to another.”

It's also true that the problems in this part of Teesside are not isolated. You can watch versions of the problem on TV whenever you want, whether it's Naples, Baltimore or Liverpool.

It's easy to see places like Grangetown and South Bank as postcards for forgotten England, places tabloids sometimes say are controlled by feral gangs. But scratch the surface and there is light. In South Bank on Normanby Road, near the A66 junction, is a community gallery set up by the Iraqi artist and Teesside University graduate Azad Karim Mohammed.

Saabat Gallery's coordinator, Nathaniel McGovern, has been there for five years. “Everyone is warm and welcoming round here,” he said. “People are happy to help and it’s a close community. It has been a mad week for everyone round here but you get nice people and bad people everywhere, don’t you? I’d say this area’s got more nice people than bad.”

If your bank hasn't raised the interest rate on your savings, it's not because they've forgotten.

They're just hoping you have.

Don't tolerate inactive banks Search >> Active Savings

HARGREAVES LANSDOWN

National

French far-right chief Bardella to speak at Reform conference

Angelique Chrisafis Paris

The French far-right leader Jordan Bardella is to give a speech at Reform UK's party conference in Birmingham next week, as he attempts to strengthen international ties before Marine Le Pen runs for the French presidency next spring.

Le Pen's far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) is polling high and she is predicted to reach the final round of the French presidential race in May.

Le Pen launched her presidential campaign this summer despite a Paris appeal court upholding her conviction for being at the centre of the embezzlement of more than €2.8m (£2.4m) in European parliament funds and funnelling the money into her party between 2004 and 2016. She has appealed against the ruling to France's highest court.

▲ Jordan Bardella is expected to run on a joint ticket with Marine Le Pen

Le Pen has said she will run for president on a joint ticket with Bardella as prime minister. Under the French political system, the president, who is head of state and has authority on foreign policy and national security, directly appoints a prime minister as head of government to run domestic affairs.

Bardella's team confirmed he would travel to Birmingham to address the Reform conference next Friday and hold a joint press conference with its leader, Nigel Farage.

Bardella, 30, and Farage, 62, held a private lunch in London at the end of last year, where they discussed anti-immigration policy.

“Nigel Farage is a great patriot, he has fought all his life to defend his country’s independence, freedom and sovereignty,” Bardella said after his talks with Farage. He said he hoped the Reform leader would be Britain’s next prime minister.

Bardella said: “We could perhaps tomorrow be at the head of our respective governments, in a situation where he would be leading a British government and me at the head of a French government. So we’re preparing our future cooperation.

"I think that we share a joint determination to stop immigration - to protect our countries from a wave of immigration to Europe that is just beginning. We're conscious that our people want to protect their identity, and I think we can find extremely pragmatic and extremely firm solutions to control immigration together."

Bardella, who is an MEP and president of RN, has supported greater police cooperation between London and Paris on people crossing the Channel on small boats but wanted migrants returned to countries of origin, not to France.

In the past, Le Pen has had a thorny relationship with Farage. In 2014, when Farage was Ukip leader and Le Pen's party was still called Front National (FN), she and Farage were competing to be seen as the EU's leading eurosceptics in European parliament elections. That year, Farage rejected a suggestion from Le Pen that Ukip could join a European parliament coalition with the FN, saying there was “prejudice and antisemitism” in Le Pen's party. She rejected his comments, saying Farage had made “defamatory” and “extremely disagreeable declarations” to increase his popularity.

The Reform UK leader was recently re-elected in a byelection in Clacton. However, parliament's standards commissioner immediately reopened an investigation into whether he should have declared gifts provided to him shortly before the last general election. These include a £5m personal gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, first revealed by the Guardian.

'Pack of lies' Farage and Badenoch in spat as they court Meloni

Helena Horton

Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch are used to trading barbs and fighting for the rightwing vote. But now the party

leaders find themselves in a much more bizarre struggle - for the affections of the rightwing Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.

The row began on Monday when the Times published an article claiming that in a meeting in Rome, Meloni had advised the Tory leader against doing a deal with Farage to unite the right. After complaints from Reform - and, reportedly, Meloni's team - the article was amended to remove that claim.

Now, sources close to Farage have told the Guardian that Meloni and the Reform leader talked this week and she apologised for any confusion. They said Meloni had congratulated him for his win in the Clacton byelection this month, in which he beat a man dressed as a bin. A Reform source added: "Meloni's people have also relayed that they are disappointed about what happened."

The Italian prime minister's team ▲ Badenoch in Rome with Meloni, who the Tory leader said advised her against doing a deal with Reform UK PHOTOGRAPH: CHRISTINE QUARMYNE/CCHQ

said she “did not enter and does not want to enter into domestic political dynamics and relations between British parties”.

On Monday, after her trip to Rome, Badenoch triumphantly posted a selfie with Meloni on social media, along with a caption which praised the European politician's “straight-talking, no-nonsense” attitude.

But the subsequent furore over Badenoch's comments seems to have killed her buzz. Shortly after Badenoch's cheerful post, the former Tory frontbencher Robert

Jenrick, now a Reform MP, crowed: "It was obviously very, very embarrassing for Kemi Badenoch. My advice, if you go and visit a foreign leader, is don't make up a pack of lies about what they say."

A Tory spokesperson insisted the party had not made any false claims. “Reform are just making things up and peddling conspiracy theories to distract from their fishy £5m donation scandal,” they said.

Meloni, a populist Italian firebrand who is firmly anti-immigration and champions social conservatism, including opposition to same-sex marriage, swept to power in Italy in 2022.

She has since moderated her approach and has become influential among world leaders, topping power lists in Forbes, Time magazine and Politico. Many on the right are keen to win her affections.

Raheem Kassam, a former adviser to Farage who owns the US politics website the National Pulse, said Meloni had fostered a good relationship with Farage since 2016.

“I have known Giorgia for a long time and in no world would she have done something like that. It’s not her style,” he said.

“She has a great personality. Her own personal strength and conviction is admirable.”

Perhaps rightwing politicians hope Meloni's stardust will rub off on them. Her government is on track to become the longest-serving single administration in the history of the republic on 4 September.

▲ Isabel Oakeshott of TalkTV said she had worked on the programme

TalkTV 'misled viewers' over journalist's Reform links

Michael Savage Media editor

Rupert Murdoch's online channel TalkTV is facing criticism after it did not disclose that a journalist who travelled to Britain in a small boat for a documentary was a Reform party member and activist.

The channel revealed the “world exclusive” this week, stating that the treacherous journey from France had made the former builder Christian Drogan the first British man “to invade his own country”.

The documentary, titled Invading Britain: The Undercover Migrant Returns, was released on TalkTV's YouTube channel.

However, TalkTV did not mention that Drogan had previously been clear that he was a Reform member who harboured ambitions of running for office for the party.

Appearing on Reform's in-house podcast in June, Drogan said: “I’m a Reform party member. I attend my branch meetings. I would like to stand at some level.”

Mic Wright, a media critic who raised concerns about Drogan's background, said audiences should be given the full picture about the reporter's affiliations.

Wright said: “It is fair enough to go and do this activity, but he’s not being represented as what he is - which is a Reform activist. He is not being presented in his totality. It is deceptive to the viewers, readers and listeners of these titles and broadcasters.”

The criticism was strongly rejected by Isabel Oakeshott, TalkTV's international editor, who is married to Richard Tice, Reform's deputy leader, and worked with Drogan on the documentary.

“This is a truly desperate attempt to find something negative to say,” she said. “It is, in any case, abundantly clear, in both the documentary itself and accompanying TalkTV coverage, that this groundbreaking investigation was led by me. My political links could hardly be more public. The extraordinary footage obtained by my colleague Christian Drogan speaks for itself. How he chooses to vote is his own business.”

Drogan said he had been motivated by “getting to the heart of the biggest issues facing our country”.

Murdoch's company News UK, which owns TalkTV, did not respond to requests for comment.

FIVE MARVEL AT MYTHICAL MUMBLES

THE FAMOUS FIVE © Hodder & Stoughton Limited. All rights reserved. *Ticket pricing reflects an Advance purchase single fare. These fares are released up to 26 weeks before travel for weekdays and up to 15 weeks before travel for weekends. Availability may vary by route and date of travel. The lowest Advance fares are not available for travel on Sundays. Correct as of 24 August 2026. Terms and conditions apply.

Explore legendary places with Great Western Railway.

London Paddington

to Swansea from £35.*

GWR

ADVENTURES START HERE

National

Hand in glove Smiths are soundtrack to Burnham's life and times

Zoe Williams

s an origin story, Andy Burnham: Smiths Fan has a lot going for it. It's plainly authentic: he can name the time he

saw them live (Salford University, Queen Is Dead tour, 1986). A cynical young man in a hurry might fake that now, but not when he first said it, in 2013. Asked by Labour Uncut for his desert island tracks during his 2010 leadership bid, three of the eight were sung by Morrissey (two Smiths singles and one off Viva Hate), which is superfan territory.

Andy Burnham launched his 2024 mayoral re-election campaign at Salford Lads Club, immortalised by the Smiths, left, pictured in 1987 PHOTOGRAPH: CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY

That's a softball exercise to endear yourself to Labour members; you have eight chances to hit every base, and so to blow three lives on an artist who had already been dabbling in nationalism for 18 years (we'll come back to this) was dicey and brave. You will recall that Burnham did not win that election. If you were an enemy state, amassing this hinterland for an asset, you'd have basically done a really good job.

In the business of projecting a human being, through a miasma of talking points and half-answers, it's more important that the passion be genuine than that it hit the right cultural and social touch points, but in the late 90s and early 00s, the Smiths hit those too.

Bear in mind that they'd already been split up for a full decade by the time Tony Blair came to power and Burnham appeared in parliament, so they already signalled a bygone youth, rather than: "I am a cool dude who still goes clubbing."

But the Smiths' body of work has a worldview and it's explicitly political: the lyrics describe a nation in permanent decline, its justice a sham, its education a meat factory, its meat factories (obviously) murder, its subjects shot through with nihilism and despair. People who called the Smiths miserablist were wilfully ignoring what they sounded like, which was the opposite of despair, a penetrating vivacity that obliterated the greyness the words described.

It was funny, ironic, complicated and, even its counterculturalism was knowingly passé, declinist. There was so much in there about the queen - and who cared about the royals by the mid-80s? It had a defiant intellectualism and

Morrissey is known for his ‘ugly politics’

prefigured the 90s spirit in which everything was interpretable, and to be contradictory was a sign that you were alive.

In that sense, Burnham's fandom encapsulated the long 90s pretty well. You didn't have to be left behind to be alienated by modernity. You could just vibe left-behindness. When Burnham jammed Rusholme Ruffians on guitar in Kyiv on Monday, there was something plangently nostalgic about it, not for 1985, when the song was released, but for the turn of this century, when we could all be lonely yet not alone, where death wishes were routinely

expressed but also a metaphor for whatever you liked, where fairgrounds were empty but also full.

The prime minister could not resist picking up a guitar in a mobile recording studio during a recent visit to Ukraine PHOTOGRAPH: HENRY NICHOLLS/ PRESS ASSOCIATION

It was the era when history was over, when ideological differences had collapsed; and while that turned out not to be true, it did allow in a spirit of openness and intellectual experiment that was extremely rich. It was the kind of attitude now derided as “metropolitan elitist” and Burnham noticed that, caveating in an interview in 2015, during his second leadership bid, that he went off the Smiths in his mid-20s when he decided that they were “for people who almost want to make themselves slightly superior: ‘I’m into the Smiths and I look down on people who listen to Level 42.””.

That, too, was risky, since this was the musical love of his life, and he was suddenly prepared to throw them under the bus to avoid the possibility that Level 42 fans might vote for Liz Kendall. You will recall he did not win that leadership election either, and no one voted for Kendall, except, conceivably, Level 42 fans (she got 4.5%).

Two things complicated the picture. First, Morrissey's politics. By 1992, he was lyrically and performatively flirting with a nativism that is now, unavoidably, a visceral Islamophobia. Burnham has addressed, in pretty weak terms, the fact that he and Morrissey no longer see eye to eye, but that probably does it.

The musician's politics were ugly from the start of his solo career - the lyrics of Bengali in Platforms are stomach-churning - but the Smiths were never just him (as a judge famously determined in 1996, ruling on the matter of royalty-sharing). It seems unlikely to me that even Johnny Marr, (the late) Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce could tell what Morrissey would later become, when they were making that work in the 80s, let alone any of the fans.

Second, in 2006 David Cameron marched in and vandalised everything, choosing This Charming Man on Desert Island Discs, describing listening to the Smiths at Eton. It tested the proposition - we can all be as alienated as each other - to destruction, and with the most insulting imaginable song: “Why pamper life’s complexity / When the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?” can function as so much, but it cannot work as karaoke for the guy in the seat.

Marr and Morrissey both publicly forbade him from liking the Smiths, which I guess may have mollified true fans such as Burnham but did nothing to head off Cameron's callow, low-affect "I'd like to capture all the wealth but also join in your economic alienation, it looks meaningless and kinda fun" politics, and their ruinous effect on the nation.

At 56, there's no going back for Burnham. He'll die a Smiths fan. He may as well enjoy it. Judging by his Kyiv jam and his July "I left the north again / I travelled south again" video on socials, quoting Is It Really So Strange?, it looks like he is.

"QUINTESSENTIAL ALMODÓVAR... IMMACULATE"

VARIETY

FESTIVAL DE CANNES SÉLECTION OFFICIELLE 2026 COMPETITION

BITTER CHRISTMAS A FILM BY ALMODÓVAR

NOW SHOWING IN CINEMAS

CURZON

National

Labour rejects Polanski's call to halt AI datacentre construction

Robert Booth UK technology editor

Labour has rejected calls to pause the construction of major AI infrastructure in Britain after the Green party's leader, Zack Polanski, said it was time to “slam the brakes on these energy-guzzling, water-guzzling datacentres”.

The government hit back at the opposition party's call for a “moratorium other than [for] local-scale datacentres for the local community”, saying such a move “would be a disaster for jobs and national security”.

Polanski's call for a pause comes amid one of the UK's worst droughts in years and predictions that data-centres' electricity use, currently standing at about $2.5\%$ of the UK's supply, will rise four-fold by 2030.

Datacentres contain the processing chips that power billions of AI prompts every day and are used to train new models. Labour has designated them as critical national infrastructure, a decision Polanski called “outrageous”.

"To most people, critical infrastructure means hospitals, water, electricity," he said. "It doesn't mean artificial intelligence."

He added: “Right now the government is putting our communities, our water security and our climate ambitions second to the demands of tech giants.”

A spokesperson for the government said: “A pause on building new datacentres would simply send investment and good jobs abroad, while leaving Britain dependent on overseas computing for the processing of sensitive health and defence data.”

The government said that “critical national infrastructure” status did not give datacentres priority access to water or electricity, and did not automatically put them ahead of households during shortages. In England, datacentres’ water usage represents less than 1% of non-household water consumption, it said.

▲ About 2.5% of UK electricity fuels datacentres and usage is set to rise

There are signs that datacentre policy, already a political issue in November's US mid-term elections, is rising up the agenda in Britain. In energy- and water-rich Scotland, the SNP appears to be “inching towards a moratorium” amid voter pressure, while local disputes have erupted from Devon to Buckinghamshire and Cardiff to Fife. Residents have raised fears about noise, heat, traffic and the visual impact of datacentres on house prices.

Labour's AI minister, Kanishka Narayan, has linked the need for more

AI datacentres to strong defence, and this month said the British public “doesn’t just want foreign billionaires to own things that matter to our lives. If we’re being true to those British values, it is impossible to achieve that without building a sovereign level of datacentre capacity.”

The government spokesperson said its refusal to pause development “does not mean a blank cheque for big tech or that every datacentre should be approved”. They said developers should “prioritise clean power, use water responsibly, create British jobs and supply chains, and provide investment to the communities in which they are built”.

The tech equity campaign group Foxglove warned that with some datacentre developers seeking to sidestep long waits to connect to the national electricity grid by planning gas-fired power stations, there is a risk of a “deeply alarming backward step on climate action”.

Rosa Curling, Foxglove's co-executive director, said: "It's good to hear that the government thinks there shouldn't be a 'blank cheque' for big tech's datacentres. But without urgent action, that's exactly what will happen - the public and the planet will be left to foot the bill for the environmental and social costs of these energy-hungry giants."

Drumcree Ruling on parade reignites old tensions

Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

The boiling cauldron known as Drumcree that used to scald and torment Northern Ireland every summer gradually cooled two

decades ago, leaving it as a name for the history books.

Instead of pitched battles between Orangemen and police around the parish church near Portadown in County Armagh, and spin-off, murderous sectarian violence across the region, a de facto truce reigned.

The Orange Order still wished to march down Garvaghy Road in the run-up to Twelfth of July celebrations - a route opposed by the mainly Catholic residents

- but its members no longer tried to storm lines of police who dug trenches and erected barbed wire to stop them.

Fury dwindled after 1998, when the mayhem threatened the nascent Good Friday agreement, and the Orangemen settled for annual peaceful, ritualised

▲ Orange Order members are blocked from marching in Portadown in 2023. Below, David Trimble, Tony Blair and John Hume in 1998, the year of the Good Friday agreement PHOTOGRAPHS: CHARLES MCQUILLAN/GETTY IMAGES; PA/ALAMY

protests. However, a court ruling this week ignited a political row over Drumcree and raised the spectre of renewed confrontation next July.

'The question here for the leaders of unionism is: why do they want us to revisit those dark days?' Michelle O'Neill First minister

The high court in Belfast on Wednesday quashed a decision by the Parades Commission to ban the Orangemen from Garvaghy Road, overturning a decision it has made every year since 1998. The commission accepted that its decision-making had been

flawed. Billy Gamble, one of six commissioners, resigned.

Unionist parties hailed the ruling as an overdue comeuppance for a statutory body that adjudicates on contentious marches. Gavin Robinson, the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader, said: “The outcome of the legal challenge is a totemic victory which has laid bare why confidence in the Parades Commission has collapsed within the unionist community.”

Nationalist politicians, in contrast, expressed foreboding.

Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill, the first minister, visited Garvaghy Road and said residents feared a return to violence. "Does anybody really want to see those days? This community certainly doesn't. I certainly do not want to see those days visited upon us and I think the question here is, for the leaders of unionism: why do they want us to revisit those dark days?"

The dispute centres on the legitimacy and workings of the Parades Commission. It adjudicates on thousands of marches each year and is credited with a dramatic reduction in parade-related disorder but unionists have long alleged bias.

The Orange Order accused the commission of a “copy and paste” response in refusing applications and of overlooking the Order’s willingness to engage with communities that opposed certain marches.

Last month a Portadown Orangeman launched a legal challenge over the most recent decision on Drumcree, which led to Mr Justice McAlinden ruling that the commission had not followed procedure.

“Public administration must have the confidence of the public and that means that when errors are made, when shortcuts are taken, when sloppy procedures are manifest, those issues come to the public knowledge and appropriate corrections are made within that administrative body to ensure that such behaviour does not occur again,” he ruled.

Unionist leaders want all the commissioners to resign but the chair, Evelyn Collins, vowed to stay and fix the problems, saying: "We will work hard to regain the trust of all sections of the community."

Fuel prices at four-year high in time for bank holiday

Lauren Almeida

Petrol prices have hit their highest level since 2022, piling more financial pressure on motorists over the bank holiday weekend.

The average cost of petrol has reached 161.6p a litre, while diesel costs an average of 183.4p, according to the AA breakdown company.

The last time the petrol price was so high was in November 2022, when it soared in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It comes as millions of people prepare to make car journeys over the bank holiday weekend, which will be marked in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The RAC estimates that the UK's motorways and major roads could have the most traffic since its records began in 2015.

The services company predicted yesterday was likely to be the worst day for heavy traffic, with more than 4.1m cars expected on the roads.

Luke Bosdet of the AA said the rise in petrol prices showed that “UK pump pricing is back to its worst”. It is “too often overpriced and uncompetitive, with too many communities denied road fuel at a reasonable price”, he said.

The UK's competition regulator told fuel retailers this year that it would step up its monitoring of pump prices amid concern over profiteering as the US war with Iran drives up wholesale costs.

Before the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February, Brent crude - the international benchmark for oil prices - traded at about \$72 (£53) a barrel. It hit a peak of \$126 a barrel in April, before dipping to \$71 at the start of July on hopes of a peace deal. It now trades at \$89.63.

The Competition and Markets Authority found this summer that many petrol stations were too slow to pass on falls in wholesale energy prices to their customers.

A government scheme called Fuel Finder allows drivers to compare the cost of fuel across the UK. The AA found that in some areas, petrol was being sold at about 10p below the national average cost for a litre on Thursday night, at stations in areas such as Aylesbury, Wembley and Gloucester. Bosdet said just one competitively priced forecourt “can often pull down the price of fuel locally, including at nearby supermarkets”.

This month the CMA said it had sent out more than 1,000 warning letters to retailers that had failed to share their prices with the Fuel Finder service.

161.6p

Average cost of a litre of petrol, its highest level since November 2022, according to the AA. Diesel is 183.4p

ADVERTISEMENT tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, ticks, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick tick, tick tick, tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, ticks

ck, tick, tick, ck, tick, tick, ck, tick, tick, ck, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, etc.

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, etc.

HAVE A BLAST

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, etc.
tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick 100 tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, etc.

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, tick, tick, tick, tick

Dads v the dudes Vests and baggy shorts take on smart looks at US Open

Ellie Violet Bramley

There is a competition going on at the US Open this week and it's not the one involving rackets and balls. Instead, leading men

who are not entered into the draw are serving looks rather than aces.

Tennis legend Roger Federer took to the court on Tuesday in green-blue polo shirt, navy blue shorts, sweatbands and socks. The young Spanish player, Carlos Alcaraz, wore a Nike vest, untucked, the colour of Ribena, maroon shorts, and trainers that looked like a sweetshop counter.

The players represent two style clans that are dominating current menswear: the dads and the dudes. If you're not sure what side of the sartorial net they're on, here's a quick form guide. Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz and Félix Auger-Aliassime are all "dad". Arthur Fils and Andre Agassi: "dude".

The “dad” look, which has nothing to do with paternal status, is summed up by straight, tight lines, on the whole more muted colours and embellishment for practicality's sake; a carefully placed sweatband for a tennis player; a pair of neat little cufflinks on a suit. What it is not, says men's fashion editor Hikmat Mohammed, "is just your dad who wears normcore. It's an elevated dad ... they wear Ralph Lauren, they wear Brunello Cucinelli, they wear Loro Piana." Or if thousand-pound price tags aren't in reach, they wear Cos and Arket.

Mohammed cites Mark Zuckerberg in caramel-hued cashmere on the Prada front row this year as “dad”. But “Elevated Dad” has trickled down to the latest John Lewis menswear look, which is full of sensible overcoats, cashmere cardigans and argyle knits. According to Jacqui Markham, fashion creative director, “a lot of what we’re calling ‘dad style’ is really just great menswear fundamentals rediscovered, after a few years of fashion having moved so fast in the other direction.”

Roger Federer's classic cool style contrasts with Carlos Alcaraz's baggy look. Above, Adam Sandler was declared a fashion icon in 2019

Searches for “elevated wardrobe staples have increased significantly this season”, she says - “polo shirts with proper collars, chinos that actually fit, the perfect cut blazer”. Dudes wear things baggier, have adornments for adornment’s sake - a backwards cap or a chunky chain. It’s an atmosphere in which the late Bill Oddie has been hailed a style icon. But the patron saint of the style is Adam Sandler who, in 2019 was declared a fashion icon for his unapologetic “grocery-run look” by Vogue writer Liana Satenstein.

Dude-style streetwear can take a lot of searching for, and can cost far more than a shirt and chinos, especially some of the rare, vintage stuff, which “[has] almost become memorabilia”, says Mohammed.

Why are these style camps so prevalent now? Mohammed thinks it could be a recession indicator: "People just want a full look that's clear and really sharp," he says. It could be as well a case of the slower menswear cycle playing out: "I feel like finally the quiet luxury that womenswear had is finally catching up to men."

Stage Mr Nostalgia looks back in standup

Falling From a Moon Pleasance Courtyard ★★★★☆

$\triangle$ Standup Li Jin Hao returns to Edinburgh's fringe with playful ruminations on myth and memory PHOTOGRAPH: REBECCA NEED-MENEAR

Brian Logan

There's a moment when that ends," muses Li Jin Hao, "and this begins ..." As well as being packed with swoonsome one-

liners like that, Li's show traces the tension between this and that; the draw that the past exerts on this self-proclaimed Mr Nostalgia versus the necessity of living in the present.

Beginning with a yearning sun-and-moon myth, Li's show - nominated for the Edinburgh comedy award - toggles between a day in his current London life and memories of his upbringing in Asia.

What makes the show distinctive, though, is the ruminative angle at which Li addresses his experiences - so many ravishing insights revealing the world to us in shapes askew. It's a leap forward from his 2024 debut, which was sheepish in its delivery. The only thing sheepish here is the twisty livestock gag that opens Li's show, with a swagger that marks a performer now in his element.

So if his present is in such good nick, why the nostalgia? That question won't initially trouble you, as we follow him from his flat with a sloping floor, to public transport (on pressing the stop button: “I’m tickling the bus!”). He detours via sumptuous routines and notions: how differently letters and numbers behave and rhyme versus reason, then back to a Chinese childhood and Singaporean youth in vivid colour.

The show is about the need to put that past behind him - a theme it over-articulates in its closing moments. We can glean plenty from what goes before, while glorying in the play contained in image after joke after slanted aperçu. That was the show I saw; this is Li's moment.

Until tomorrow

Comedy Gently weird lessons from an ex-teacher

Tom Towelling Teaches You to Knit

Pleasance Courtyard ★★★☆☆

Brian Logan

The route from the classroom to the comedy stage is well travelled, and the ex-maths teacher Tom Towelling makes

it the thread of his show here, conducting his audience like so many recalcitrant pupils.

In case that sounds triggering, never fear: this debut show is unlike any schoolroom you've been in. Towelling is one of several oddball comics elevated to the best newcomer shortlist for this year's

Edinburgh comedy awards, and his show is a noodly, mellow collage of sketch, song and educational back-and-forth with the crowd.

Let's get the title out of the way. When audience members play ball, Towelling rewards them by binding them together loosely with wool. As the show progresses, a cat's cradle unspools, towards - well, nothing in particular. That's not the only instance when you feel you're on the receiving end of quirkiness for quirkiness's sake - see his closing routine revealing his supposed life ambition.

At the performance I saw, that skit was memorably interrupted by an invader demanding to see his 12-inch penis. Hilarity ensued - and Towelling can take some credit, having set that process in motion when he expelled an audience member for requesting to hear his supposed “forbidden joke”. Harness that level of unpredictability to his act and he really could be in business.

In the meantime, he's got a gently cocooning hour of low-level eccentricity. A winner last year of Channel 4's Sean Lock award for comic invention, Towelling showcases that quality here, even if inventive parts are yet to knit together into a satisfying whole.

Until tomorrow

A new stage Festival fans fear 'nepo babies' are benefiting from ditching BBC scheme

Daniel Dylan Wray

This year's Reading and Leeds festival lineups are a testament to the catholic tastes of a generation who have little regard for

musical tribalism or the concept of genre: brash pop stars rub up against drum'n' bass acts, underground rappers, meat-and-potatoes indie bands and much more.

What at least $70\%$ of those acts have in common, however, is that early on in their careers they were supported by the BBC's Introducing scheme, a combination of regional and national radio shows playing music submitted by unsigned artists and festival stages that platform them. For almost 20 years, a BBC Introducing stage has been a core part of Reading and Leeds - until it was scrapped last month.

“It’s a loss,” said Juliette Jackson, of the Mercury-nominated indie band the Big Moon, who played the stage in 2015, a year after forming. “It was a really big deal to play that as a new band with no money. It’s huge when you’re starting out - it gives you an opportunity and puts you on a platform.”

Over the years, British artists including Ed Sheeran, Charli xcx, the 1975 and Sam Fender started their careers with support from the initiative, which has few of the barriers to entry of the traditional music industry. Regional DJs suggest local acts for festival slots, with final decisions made by a wider BBC team.

Reading and Leeds organisers Festival Republic did not respond to detailed questions from the Guardian about why it had pulled the plug on an unsuspecting BBC, who were already planning their 2026 lineup. It has been replaced by the Canopy stage, billed as a “home for new and breaking acts”.

In a public statement, Festival Republic claimed it offers greater opportunity: “Previously, only artists who had been selected by the BBC were qualified to play the Introducing Stage - now, we are able to open up this important

platform to a much wider pool of emerging talent and book any new music artist for the stage."

But that “wider pool” has come under scrutiny. Fans have been highlighting the connections behind acts booked, such as Violet Grohl (daughter of Dave), Cruz Beckham (son of Victoria and David) and the Villanelle frontman Gene Gallagher (son of Liam). The boyband December 10 are already signed to a label after they formed on Simon Cowell’s Netflix series The Next Act.

It has led some to nickname the Canopy “the nepo baby stage”, and prompted coverage in Private Eye. In an Instagram post, the music industry commentator the Secret DJ decried “nepotism and the rising use of famous names over new talent [that] is rapidly destroying the arts”.

In a general statement provided to the Guardian, Festival Republic said their booking policy for the stage is “open to emerging artists from all backgrounds and at different stages of development. Artists may be independent or signed and may have come through a variety of routes into the industry."

▲ Violet Grohl, onstage in California with her father, Dave Grohl, will perform on the Canopy stage. Right, BBC Introducing alumnus Charli xcx

The BBC Introducing editor, Kelly Betts, told the Guardian: “We will miss being at Reading and Leeds for this year. Programming decisions for that stage are made

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: SCOTT DUDELSON/GETTY

by the festival organisers, so it's not really for me to comment on how they choose to curate it."

Jason Carter, who founded BBC Introducing in 2007 and was responsible for forging the relationships with festivals to put on live events, said he was “disappointed to hear [the news] and sad to see it no longer there” but that he “can see both sides”, adding that the industry has changed and “there’s a lot more ways today to access new music that the festival probably wants the opportunity to feed off”.

The ex-BBC Introducing presenter Tom Robinson said that while “the beauty of BBC introducing was that you needed no inside access”, it could still occasionally be an “arcane” process. It was also not immune from someone in the industry “having a whisper in the ear of somebody, and an act that a record company was supporting would mysteriously appear on the BBC Introducing stage. But on the whole, it worked, and it was great.”

But with Glastonbury fallow this year - and with it their BBC Introducing stage - it's an extra blow for young artists. "Reading and Leeds is a big moment in our calendar," said Jess Iszatt, who hosts BBC Radio 1's Introducing show. "Because it's got such

'It's a loss. It was a big deal to play BBC's Introducing as a new band with no money'

Juliette Jackson The Big Moon

a young audience, it's a really important one, and it means there's less opportunity for the artists that we share each week on the show. It's really sad and it feels like the end of an era."

BBC Introducing is far from finished - it has just announced a month of live events in 10 British cities in November, has expanded into the US, and continues to host stages at other festivals. But the sole grassroots pipeline to a major UK event has now been closed off. "When we talk about the successes of it, it [the decision] doesn't make sense to me," said Iszatt.

As for accusations of favouring established artists, Robinson prefers to see this as an opportunity. “Let the nepo babies go and do their nepo baby thing. If they make shit music, it’ll still be shit music. If they make great music, they deserve to succeed, but let’s not worry about them.”

Last chance

Your weekly read, al fresco

This summer, get 50% off the Guardian Weekly magazine, showcasing the best of the Guardian's journalism, culture, opinion, and puzzles.

Also enjoy ad-free reading and unlimited access to the Guardian, Feast, and Editions apps. Subscribe before this limited-time offer ends.

Visit theguardian.com/gwsummer or scan the QR code

Package	Full price per quarter	Intro offer 50% off for the first quarter
Quarterly subscription	£57	£28.50
Price per issue	£4.47	£2.24

The GuardianWeekly

Introductory offer for quarterly subscriptions is £28.50/for the first quarter, then £57/quarter afterwards unless you cancel. Offer only available to new Guardian Weekly subscribers. Offer ends 11:59pm BST on 6 September 2026.

Environment

Extinction fears Bears killed 13 people so Japan killed more than 14,000 bears

Gloria Dickie

E very summer, millions of people escape the heat and humidity of Tokyo by heading to the tranquil resort town of Karuizawa in

Japan's Nagano prefecture - just an hour by bullet train from the capital. Here, at the foot of Mount Asama, visitors stroll bamboo-lined pathways, cycle in verdant highlands, and practise the wellness ritual of shinrin-yoku, bathing among the cool hinoki forests. It would be the ideal nature retreat - if it wasn't for the bears.

From June to August, bears often move close to Karuizawa, feeding on the mulberries, ants, leaves and cherry blossoms that grow near the town. Unlike nuts, these foods are low in calories, spurring the bears to seek out further sustenance. "They're more likely to get close to residential spaces to see what they can find," says Amelia Hiorns, a British zoologist who previously worked with Picchio Wildlife Research Center in the town. "This combines with the busiest season for tourists."

Picchio, a small Japanese conservation and nature education group, has been working to improve coexistence between bears and people in Karuizawa and the surrounding region since the 1990s. Staff respond to reported bear sightings with one of their three karelians - a dog breed trained in the western US to chase away bears. When dogs aren't enough, the Picchio team tranquilises and relocates bears deep in the forest.

Today, Karuizawa's approach has few parallels in Japan, as conflicts between bears and humans surge to unprecedented levels across the country.

Last year, bears attacked more than 230 people in the country and killed 13, making it the deadliest year on record. Most attacks were in the mountainous northern prefectures of Akita and Iwate, where record-breaking heat affected the growth of beech nuts and acorns that bears rely on to fatten up for hibernation. Diminished human populations in Japan's rural hinterlands, with orchards and woodlands

left abandoned, exacerbated the situation as bears descended into villages in search of food.

The attacks dominated national and international news. Foreign governments - including Britain's - issued travel advice warning of heightened bear risk. Insurance companies began offering “bear insurance” to cover repairs to ransacked properties. Farmers installed animatronic wolves with glowing red eyes to frighten off the animals. Warning posters adorned lamp-posts. One Japanese company promoted a private bear attack shelter.

In Karuizawa, Hiroo Tamatani, the leader of Picchio's bear team, said it had already captured 19

bears this year and responded to more than 130 sightings and incidents - up about $20\%$ since this time last year. But there has been no rise in the actual number of bear damage incidents. After news coverage of the attacks, people are simply more aware of bears.

Hiorns said: “People would be seeing little molehills in their garden and think it was bear poop ... We would get calls asking if it was safe to come to Karuizawa. People lost business because of it.”

Central to the rise in bear attacks, the national government says, is a lack of skilled hunters to help manage the population. Local associations have struggled to attract new members, with the number of licensed hunters falling by more than half since 1975.

Left with few options, last year the government relaxed the rules for shooting bears in populated areas, as officials laid traps across the country. The result: from April 2025 through to January 2026, Japan culled more than 14,000 bears, government data shows. That included about 12,000 Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) and 2,000 brown bears (Ursus arctos).

An Asiatic black bear in northern Japan. The species accounted for 12,000 of the 14,000 bears culled from April 2025 to January 2026

The high death toll has raised concerns among conservationists. Asiatic black bears are deemed vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with fewer than 60,000 remaining worldwide. “If this level of trapping continues, we believe regional extinctions are a real possibility. We feel a profound sense of crisis,” said Yuko Muroya, chair of the Japan Bear and Forest Society (Kumamori), which focuses on conservation and coexistence.

Japan is one of the Asiatic black bear's last strongholds, with an estimated 42,000 bears. Scientists say that figure is likely to be an undercount, but no one really knows how many there are there.

Still, removing what could amount to a quarter of the country's population has seemingly done little to deal with the problem. Since April, six people have been killed and more than 35 attacked across at least nine prefectures - including some close to Tokyo - according to government statistics.

Muroya said it was clear Japan's heavy-handed approach was not working. Yet the government announced a target of slaughter a further 8,800 bears this fiscal year. "A government strategy focused solely on reducing bear numbers will not solve the bear problem until bears themselves are driven to extinction," she said.

The scale of bear culling in Japan is unrivalled in the modern era. Most countries, including Canada, Russia and the US, permit the legal hunt of less than 10% of their respective brown bear and American black bear populations - neither of which is considered endangered. In India, where aggressive sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) attack hundreds and kill dozens of people every year, authorities estimate that fewer than 100 bears are destroyed- often through retaliatory killings rather than government mandate.

Only Sweden and Slovenia come close to Japan's statistics. In 2024, the Swedish government permitted hunters to kill about $20\%$ of the country's brown bears. Last year, Slovenia approved a cull for one-fifth of its brown bear population.

“It’s a big reaction,” said Dave Garshelis, a biologist and co-chair of the IUCN’s bear specialist group and its Asiatic black bear expert team. “I think the [Japanese] government felt compelled to just get rid of these bears.”

Until last year, Japan had adopted a more retrained approach. From 2008 to 2018, between 1,000 and 4,500 bears were slaughtered every year, as well as legal sport hunting of about 500 a year. But that number had been ticking up, with more than 9,000 bears killed

▲ A Picchio member in forests near Karuizawa with a karelian bear dog

Growing pains Which plants cope in hot conditions? Saturday, page 62

▲ A bear-intrusion drill in Kanagawa prefecture, near Tokyo. Below, warning stations are common on mountain trails MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS

in 2023-24 - another bad food year for the animals that led to six human fatalities.

Whether Japan's bear cull ultimately poses a global conservation concern “really depends on how many they have”, said Garshelis.

Bears are notoriously hard to count, owing in part to their solitary and wide-ranging nature. Japan last attempted to put some parameters around its population in 2011, tallying between 13,000 and 21,000 Asiatic black bears by aggregating prefecture survey estimates. Since then, officials have said there are 42,000 - but no new study has been conducted.

Shinsuke Koike, an ecologist at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, leads the Japan Bear Network, a nonprofit promoting coexistence through research. He is sceptical not just of the national figures, but also of global estimates. "In many countries, even the distribution of Asiatic black bears is not well understood," he said. "It is impossible to estimate the global population with high accuracy."

In one study area of central Japan in 2023 Koike's team found the Asiatic black bear population was growing at a rate of between $11\%$ and $12\%$ a year. He said that under the right environmental conditions, it was possible that population growth in some parts of western Japan might reach $15\%$ .

That would mean, without hunting or culls, the country's bear population would double every five years. Under such a scenario, killing 15% of bears every year would keep the population stable. Anything greater would trigger a decline.

Globally, the IUCN says the Asiatic black bear population is shrinking. A 2024 study in the journal Scientific Reports found the Asiatic black bear's worldwide range had contracted by about half compared with records from the 19th and 20th centuries.

“Animal welfare groups often claim the Asiatic black bear is an endangered species, but that is from a global perspective, and it should not be brought into Japan’s bear issue,” Koike said.

Garshelis agrees with Koike that falling populations in, say, Vietnam or Laos should have little bearing on Japan's management. "If you're in Japan and you're having people being mauled by bears, I don't think they have the responsibility to the species as a whole in terms of the other countries." The hazard was that if authorities thought they were slashing the population by a quarter, they might find they had halved the bears' numbers because their estimates were inaccurate.

A spokesperson for Japan's environment ministry said a new nationwide bear survey had been started this year, and would take an estimated three years to complete.

But Japan's booming bear population has now run up against a sharp drop in forest foods. Kumamori's researchers are documenting how the climate crisis is altering Japan's forests. They have witnessed widespread dieback of Mongolian oak, acorns destroyed by grey weevils, poor seed production in Japanese beech and sharp declines in pollinating insects that have led to sparse berry yields.

Kumamori plants nut-bearing trees, hoping to encourage the bears to stay in the woods.

“In the past, Japan successfully maintained a separation between people and bears.” Muroya said. “We should learn how our ancestors achieved that coexistence. We should also learn from other countries, many of which have moved beyond policies focused solely on culling.”

'Slowest fashion imaginable': the woman growing her own dress

Nicola Davis Science correspondent

From crop tops to shorts and brightly patterned dresses, many clothes today are a result of fast fashion. Now one woman is taking a radical approach to challenging the trend - by growing her own dress.

Eve Ogden Schaub is creating a linen garment based on flax she is growing at home, documenting the process on videos shared on her Instagram account. “I had this idea that I wanted to find the slowest fashion imaginable. And that’s when I had the idea I could grow a dress from seed in my backyard,” she says.

Schaub is already 18 months into the project, begun in April 2025 when she turned a 600 sq ft (56 sq metres) vegetable garden in the US state of Vermont into a plot for growing flax.

Having harvested the first crop, she sowed and harvested a second. She is also learning to process the material in steps that would not sound amiss in a Grimms' fairytale - sometimes enlisting family and friends to help.

“We retted it, which is a sort of decomposition process, and then you do breaking and scutching and hackling, and you have to spin and scour and then maybe dye your yarn,” she says, adding she is growing indigo plants for the last purpose.

Once the flax has been spun into linen yarn, Shaub will weave it on a huge loom - not unlike Penelope in The Odyssey - before cutting out and sewing a dress. "So it's an enormous undertaking, but something that not all that long ago was completely commonplace, and I found that a very attractive, interesting facet of the project," she says.

As she points out, it has never been easier to get a cheap, convenient garment delivered to one's door. However "fast fashion" has become an environmental and health catastrophe, with garments ending up on huge dumps in Ghana, and workers in India's recycling factories experiencing ailments including lung disease.

In our current culture, “if you can do something cheaper and faster, it’s always the preferred option”, Schaub says. “And I want to step back and say, but is it? What might we stand to gain if we were to slow down and try to find things that are more meaningful to us, that bring us something that we can’t get from this fast-paced commercial world?”

She also wants to explore the value of creativity, and question what

'It's an enormous undertaking, but not all that long ago was completely commonplace' Eve Ogden Schaub Author

PHOTOGRAPHS: STEPHEN SCHAUB

benefits people may gather from making more things.

A self-described “fibre-person and maker” Schaub is no stranger to lifestyle experiments, having written books on several projects, including her family’s attempts to give up sugar for a year and go 12 months without producing any rubbish.

The latter, says Schaub, dovetails with her new endeavour, noting that in avoiding waste, she learned about synthetic materials and the issues plastic poses for our environment and our bodies. “Unfortunately, we’re all walking around wearing plastic bags most of the time, and we don’t even realise it,” she says.

Schaub hopes her project will shine a light on the implications of modern clothing - including the poor treatment and low pay of those producing such garments.

"The whole system, I want to question and say, is this what we want?" she says.

▲ Schaub is also learning to process her flax to spin into linen yarn

In her efforts to go from ground to garment, Shaub has picked the brains of myriad experts, adding that valuing shared knowledge is another facet of the experiment.

But she admits some steps have proved easier to get the hang of than others: in one of the many videos capturing her attempts at spinning Schaub is left grimacing at the camera.

“There’s something inherently funny in the learning process, because you screw up and you screw up, and you know you’re going to screw up,” she says.

The project, she adds, has been an eye-opener for many. “I get so many people commenting on my social media posts saying, ‘now I understand. Now I understand why clothes were so expensive, why cloth was a valuable commodity, why people only owned one or maybe two outfits, because it was so hard to get,’” she says.

Schaub adds her own views about clothing have changed too, noting she no longer finds department store clothing appealing, and has a greater motivation to appreciate and mend the clothes she already has.

As for the final dress, Schaub admits her previous experience in sewing has only run as far as making Halloween costumes. But she is planning to work with an experienced friend to design the linen garment based on historical dress patterns.

"I cannot predict when this project will end, but I promise I'm gonna wear something at the end of this," she says, adding whatever she produces, it will be deeply meaningful to her. "Because of that, I hope it will be beautiful," she says. "I know it will be beautiful to me."

Eyewitnessed Pictures of the week

▶ A mural of Dolly Parton in Costa Mesa, California. The country music star, actor and philanthropist died aged 80 on Tuesday JUSTIN SULLIVAN/ GETTY

▲ Two girls walk past collapsed buildings in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Israel has continued to attack the strip despite last year's ceasefire BASHAR TALEB/GETTY

Taiwanese soldiers mark 68 years since the Taiwan Strait crisis, when China attacked its islands BEN BLANCHARD/ REUTERS

▲ A home razed by the Hawk wildfire in Reno, Nevada, which spread across 6,000 hectares and destroyed at least 32 homes JOSH EDELSON/GETTY

A horse rider displays his skills before a cheering crowd at the annual Sant Climent festival in Menorca. After music and parades over the weekend, the fiesta ends with a water fight PHOTOGRAPH: MATTHIAS OESTERLE/SHUTTERSTOCK

▲ An anti-US billboard in Tehran. The US said on Monday it would impose sanctions on any country maintaining economic ties with Iran AFP/GETTY

$\triangleleft$ Julius Mokaya poses as Enjin, a character from the manga series Gachiakuta, before Nairobi's Otamatsuri comic-con convention LUIS TATO/GETTY

World

Trump's war on Iran is rapidly draining US navy's budget, documents reveal

Aram Roston

Donald Trump's war on Iran has driven the US military into a severe financial crisis, with the US navy forced to transfer money from its payroll and other sources to cover the costs of combat, according to documents seen by the Guardian, and interviews with navy officials, contractors and defence analysts.

The US-Israeli operation, which has depleted US munitions stockpiles and prompted retaliatory Iranian strikes that have wrecked strategic bases across the Middle East, is piling pressure on budgets across the military.

One Pentagon memo about navy funding seen by the Guardian warns that there are “shortfalls in payroll” accounts due to the department “raiding” them to fund combat operations.

Experts and former officials say the accounts are running dry. “The piggy bank is broken,” said Harlan Ullman, a retired naval officer. Ullman is a member of the National Commission on the Future of the Navy, but he said he was not speaking on the commission’s behalf.

One official and one navy contractor said non-emergency maintenance on shore-based facilities had been deferred because of the cash crunch.

When Trump started the war on 28 February, it quickly strained the military's existing budgets - particularly that of the navy, which not

▼ Sailors line up missiles on the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln at the start of the war in February PHOTOGRAPH: US NAVY/GETTY IMAGES

only helped launch the initial wave of attacks but was later responsible for an extensive naval blockade. The White House eventually asked Congress for emergency funding to pay for the war, but prospects that the request will be approved are dim amid the unpopularity of the conflict.

A navy official who was briefed on how the service was planning to address the shortfalls said money was shifted around in imaginative ways. “The money for payroll,” he said, “was robbed to pay for overseas contingencies and is being backfilled by money that hasn’t been spent. They are backfilling payroll so we get enough money in our paycheck.”

The navy's budget for 2026, almost \$300bn (£220bn), has separate batches of money allocated by Congress for various requirements: personnel, shipbuilding, procuring specific weapons systems and "operations and maintenance", the day-to-day running of the fleet and its bases. The law limits how money can be redistributed throughout all those batches of money.

The issue has occasionally surfaced in some hearings on Capitol Hill. In a 21 July hearing of the Senate appropriations committee, its chair, Susan Collins, said: “I’m told some military services face near-term solvency challenges.” A staffer said the navy was one of the services Collins was referring to.

In a statement, a navy spokesperson said maintenance and operations funds had not been depleted. “The Department of the Navy,” the statement said, “is actively managing its resources to meet current pay obligations on time. We continue to work closely with Congress to address ongoing operational demands and sustain our personnel and readiness throughout the fiscal year."

Inside the service, the cash shortage is no secret. “They’re just not speaking publicly about it,” said Todd Harrison, a defence analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “And I suspect that is a deliberate decision of the civilian leaders in the Pentagon, starting at secretary, that this is for political reasons, that they don’t want to look like they’re damaging future military readiness over a war that is becoming increasingly a political liability.”

The military knew the crisis was coming. In mid-May, Adm Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, warned Congress that the crunch would hit in July. “The FY ’26 budget didn’t bake in Epic Fury,” he said. “I do fear that I’ll have to start making decisions in the July timeframe on how I do force generation. That could make differences between how I do exercises, how I do routine operations in order to make sure that I … have the funds necessary to continue the war effort for Epic Fury.”

Pete Hegseth has pushed Congress for emergency funding, without which, he said in July, “we face critical shortfalls”. The defence secretary testified that the Iran war cost \$35.7bn, but it is unclear if that is a full assessment of the war’s costs.

When the Trump administration asked Congress for \$67bn in emergency funds for the defence department, it did not break down how much would be for the navy. The House passed a \$1.15tn defence bill in July and a separate budget authorisation that would provide \$73bn for the war in Iran, but it is unlikely either will become law.

Ullman noted that during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, funding was more forthcoming from Congress because those conflicts were authorised by a resolution. “There is no authorisation to use force in this case. Is Congress obliged to pay for a conflict it did not authorise?” he said.

The fact that the navy is broke - or at least out of money for now - may be a slap in the face for Trump.

Among his naval ambitions are plans for “Trump class” ships - the largest battleships in US history.

At this point, however, funding a war with no clear endgame is the main challenge. A former military officer now working for a navy contracting company, who has been briefed on the shortfalls, said: "They're fucked. They shot all their weapons; they trashed all their ships; they ran out of their money."

'An act of memory'

Couple chooses to wed in Putin's path of destruction

Dan Sabbagh Kramatorsk

n the bright early afternoon sun of Kramatorsk's central and now paradoxically named Peace Square, Tetiana, in her bridal dress, and Oleksandr, in his

military uniform, are holding their phones up at the ready. It is a public holiday, 35 years since Ukraine's declaration of independence, and a popular day for a wedding, though the open-air location is not ideal.

Three days earlier, Kramatorsk, perhaps Vladimir Putin's principal target, was formally designated part of the combat zone, the front inching towards the city as Russia closes in on the parts of the Donetsk region it does not control. It is quiet at 2pm though; the ceremony brief. There are no guests other than the Guardian team.

Getting married in Kramatorsk, Oleksandr says, is a necessary act of memory, because soon there may not be much more left to survive. “In this war, all this can just be vaporised, in a few months, in a few days,” the groom explains immediately after the ceremony. “On the battlefield, many cities, towns, small villages where I was two, three years ago, they are now just ruins, just destroyed.”

A year ago, Kramatorsk was a functioning city, a regional industrial centre, swollen with the presence of the military. Now it

Butcher of Bosnia Ratko Mladić's dark legacy remains Page 33

Vaccine lies US senator calls for RFK Jr investigation Page 35

Both with ties to the Donetsk region, their wedding was about ‘building something beautiful’ there, said Tetiana
Oleksandr, a soldier, lifts his bride, Tetiana, a medic, in Kramatorsk, a city on the verge of attack, right PHOTOGRAPHS: JULIA KOCHETOVA/ THE GUARDIAN

is covered in anti-drone netting, locals and businesses are in short supply; many buildings have been bombed, chipboard replacing windows in those still standing.

Six people were reported killed between last Saturday and Tuesday in 51 shelling incidents as the city heads towards becoming uninhabitable for all but the most stubborn civilians. Reports swirl that Russia's elite Rubicon drone unit has deployed to attack a city that Putin wants captured by the end of the year, though his forces will almost certainly take far longer.

The day before the wedding, Russian quadcopter drones had repeatedly tried to target the vast Ukrainian flag atop an 80-metre pole in the city's central park, just under a mile to the south. Such is the pettiness of the war at times, and a small tear was visible in the standard afterwards. Yet the couple were determined to marry there, regardless of the threat.

Tetiana says it is “about preserving memories of the Donetsk region, if only in this way”. Oleksandr is from Mariupol, captured after a bloody siege at the beginning of the war, while

The two met as recently as

Tetiana spent “every summer” at her grandmother’s home, now in occupied Donetsk, until she was 15.

February, after she had reached out online, offering to treat him. Each already looks sure of the other. Oleksandr believes their shared understanding of the four-and-a-half-year war, forced on to their country, will bind them close, at a time when “there is a big gap between military and civilians”. Her “experience in battlefield medical evacuations and so on makes it easier for us to understand each other,” he explains.

A volunteer combat medic - “I don’t want to say no to military service, the number of wounded isn’t getting any smaller”, she says - Tetiana had been based in Kramatorsk until a few days earlier, but her Hospitallers paramedic crew was redeployed to Kyiv.

Their adult lives have been dominated by war. Tetiana and Oleksandr are both the same age as Ukraine itself - 35 - meaning they would have been in their early 20s when Russian-backed separatists

Undeterred, she travelled back east the day before to meet Oleksandr, a battle captain on deployment. On the day itself, the pair drove for several more hours, the final miles under continuous anti-drone netting, to make their wedding day appointment.

35

Years since Ukraine declared independence. The anniversary is now a popular day for weddings

Ukraine introduced online weddings in 2024, a necessity in a war in which soldiers and their partners can be physically separated for months on end. The service has rapidly gained popularity in a digitally literate nation - $38\%$ of marriages were conducted online in the first half of the year, according to Ukraine's ministry of justice. Though Tetiana and Oleksandr were together, the officiant was online.

The couple were determined to marry in the city despite the danger and a journey there under miles of anti-drone netting

People killed in Kramatorsk in the week of the wedding, as a result of 51 shelling attacks on the city

Proceedings begin promptly. Bride and groom hold their phones forward; the town's already battered Palace of Culture, a five-storey museum and landmark in the Soviet classical style, behind. They place a traditional embroidered cloth, a rushnyk, in front of them, though it will not stay down in the wind.

captured Kramatorsk and neighbouring Sloviansk in April 2014, beginning a war in eastern Ukraine that has never ended. Both cities were liberated that July, and only now has the front line returned, a dozen years later.

Oleksandr brings over two loose tiles, taken from the square's flooring, to hold the rushnyk in place. The newlyweds will take the tiles with them afterwards. It is not an act of vandalism but rather one of preservation, taking tiles from a square that was relaid six years ago as part of the decommunisation of what had been Lenin Square. Tetiana plans to break the tiles and make a mosaic with them.

Rings and vows are exchanged, a bridal kiss is shared, and the couple step on the rushnyk together. This is an act of egalitarianism; tradition holds that whoever steps on the embroidered towel first has the last word in the family. After a few more photographs, it is time to head indoors to the nearby Coffee House Bakery, one of the few businesses still open, though its owner, Kateryna Seledtsova, has relocated to Kharkiv and the cafe feels more like a shelter, albeit one with cream cakes inside.

There is a moment of worry in the cafe, because a drone has been spotted above while Tetiana is outside. But she is quickly found and, over wedding cake, the newlyweds focus on their plans for children. “Starting a family during the war is about hope. I think it’s important to build something new, to build something beautiful, in a world that Russia is trying to destroy,” she says.

"I think that at a time when Russia is trying to spread gloom and darkness, destroy us and frighten us, it is important to create something beautiful, to wear beautiful clothes, to do kind deeds, to help and look after one another, and to love one another. That is what Russia wants to take away from us."

Crowds of mourners gather to lay flowers for the late king in the grounds of the royal palace in Oslo PHOTOGRAPH: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/GETTY

Norwegians mourn great moderniser King Harald V as son succeeds to throne

Jon Henley

Europe correspondent

Thousands of Norwegians have gathered to pay their respects to King Harald V, Europe's oldest reigning monarch, who has died aged 89 in Oslo. He was succeeded immediately by his son, King Haakon VIII.

The new king thanked “the government and Norwegian people for their support and sympathy for the royal family at this time”. A period of national mourning was announced as crowds left wreaths and messages outside the royal palace in Oslo.

Flags around the country were lowered to half mast and church bells rang out at midday. “An era has ended. A new one begins. The king is dead. Long live the king,” the prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, said after meeting the new king.

Haakon, whose wife, Mette-Marit, has recently come under scrutiny over scandals including a much-criticised association with the late US child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, formally notified the government of his father's death yesterday morning.

Haakon, 53, told the cabinet at an extraordinary council of state that he would take the name Haakon

▲ Harald was a stabilising figure in a turbulent period for the royal family

VIII, as expected. He also chose as his personal motto: “Everything for Norway.”

The new king will swear an oath of accession in parliament within the next few days. Coronation ceremonies were abolished in Norway more than a century ago, but Haakon could choose to have his reign blessed at a consecration ceremony.

On Thursday the palace said Harald's health had deteriorated and that the king, who was considered a unifying and stabilising figure amid a string of recent family scandals, was in an “extremely serious” condition.

Støre said he had received news of the king's death "with deep sadness", adding: "A whole nation is in mourning, and the people of Norway are left with a deep sense of gratitude for a long life in the service of Norway.” Royalty across Europe sent their condolences. Spain’s royal family hailed Harald’s “responsibility, dignity, humility and tireless dedication”, and Denmark’s King Frederik and Queen Mary said he was “loved like few others”.

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden said: “I wish my dear godson Haakon, who now succeeds his father as head of state, success and good fortune.”

Belgium's royal family recalled Harald's “humour, humanity and sincerity”, while Britain's King Charles mourned the loss of his “dear cousin”, who guided his country with “warmth and humility”.

Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said Norway had “lost a great figure who stood for prudence and unity”, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, expressed “deep sadness”.

Harald, who had been the ceremonial head of state since 1991, was treated in Oslo's University hospital for haemolytic anaemia, a condition caused by an abnormally rapid destruction of red blood cells. Despite numerous health problems he had always ruled out abdicating.

His death comes at a turbulent time for Norway's royal family. Documents published in the US in January showed that Mette-Marit corresponded with Epstein between 2011 and 2014, long after he was convicted.

'People [have] a deep sense of gratitude for a long life in the service of Norway'

Jonas Gahr Støre Prime minister

The files appeared to contain almost 1,000 mentions of Mette-Marit, including intimate exchanges. They drew fierce public criticism, with Støre accusing her of “poor judgment”. Mette-Marit apologised via the royal household, expressing her “deepest regret for my friendship with Jeffrey Epstein”.

In June, Marius Borg Høiby, 29, Mette-Marit's son from a previous relationship, was sentenced to four years in prison for two rapes and 32 other charges, including violence against a former partner. He has appealed.

The scandals have affected public support for Norway's monarchy. A poll in February found support was down to $54\%$ , from $72\%$ in 2024. Several polls found nearly half of the population felt Mette-Marit could not become queen.

Harald was considered the Norwegian monarchy's great moderniser, revamping the crown estates and changing the way the court was run. He married Sonja, a commoner, in 1968. A great-great-grandchild of Britain's Queen Victoria, he succeeded his father, Olav V, at 54 after studying at Oxford and representing his country in sailing events at the Tokyo, Mexico City and Munich Olympics. He was widely appreciated in Norway for his commitment to national unity.

In a widely praised 2016 speech, he lauded diversity, tolerance and LGBTQ+ rights, saying Norwegians came from Afghanistan and Pakistan, believed “in God, in Allah and in nothing”, and included “girls who love girls, boys who love boys and girls and boys who love each other”.

Mette-Marit, 53, who has a serious lung disease, was a single mother to Høiby when her engagement to Norway's crown prince was announced in late 2000.

Outcry greets reports that US is in talks to gain access to Venezuelan oil

Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent

Reports that the US is preparing to claim a major stake in Venezuela's huge energy reserves have prompted an outcry, with critics describing the move as “predatory” and a “rapacious” land grab.

Several media outlets this week reported that the Trump administration - which abducted Venezuela's authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, in January and has steered the South American country ever since - hoped to secure long-term access to its oil and gas fields.

Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves with an estimated 303bn barrels, compared with Saudi Arabia's 268bn and Iran's 208bn.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal said Trump officials were in “advanced talks” with Venezuelan officials to take “a direct stake in more than a dozen oil fields” containing 90bn barrels, nearly a third of Venezuela’s energy reserves.

"This is real and being discussed at the highest levels of the US and Venezuelan governments," a source told Reuters, which said the fields being negotiated were in the Orinoco Belt and Lake Maracaibo regions.

Axios claimed the deal would be “a legacy-defining moment for President Trump”, with one official telling the US outlet: “Calling this deal huge would be an understatement.”

Citing sources familiar with negotiations, Bloomberg said one deal under discussion was a 100-year-lease on several oil fields.

The reports caused unease and anger among members of Venezuela's opposition who are already up in arms about Trump's failure to bring about genuine political change after capturing Maduro.

"It's a land grab," said one well-known opposition figure who asked not to be named. "It's revolting ... This is not the United States of the Marshall plan. This is a rapacious, mafioso United States," they added.

Since January's special forces raid on Caracas, Venezuela has been led by interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's vice-president and minister of petroleum. Other key members of Maduro's regime are still in positions of power including the interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, who has been collaborating with Trump officials - despite a \$25m (£18.5m) US bounty on his head for alleged drug trafficking.

Ricardo Hausmann, an exiled former minister, wrote on X: “An illegitimate interim government with an illegitimate hydrocarbons law has no legitimacy to strike this unconstitutional deal. It will be a fiasco.”

The economist Francisco Rodríguez urged Venezuela's national assembly to reject what he called a “predatory deal”.

World

Butcher of Bosnia Mladić's grim legacy still divides the Balkans

Kim Willsher

To most of the world, he was and will always be the “Butcher of Bosnia” - a grim epithet but one that somehow still fails to

fully convey the evil and horror inflicted by Gen Ratko Mladić, who died in prison on Thursday.

As commander of the Bosnian Serb forces he was responsible for the massacre of an estimated 100,000 men, women and children during the savage breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. He was most notoriously the architect of ethnic cleansing and the genocide at Srebrenica in which at least 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were slaughtered.

Thirty-one years after the Dayton agreement ended the Bosnian conflict and the 1,425-day siege of Sarajevo - the longest in modern warfare - Mladić is dead, but his legacy still divides the Balkans.

Džemil Hodžić was 12 when his brother Amel, 16, was killed by a sniper while playing tennis in Sarajevo in May 1995. “As kids, Mladić was a kind of horror creature. Everyone knew him and his name. We were very well aware that he was responsible for our situation and the suffering we were going through,” said Hodžić, now 43 and founder of the Sniper Alley photo project in Sarajevo.

“Perhaps we were too young to comprehend everything, but children living through the Sarajevo siege knew the shootings by snipers, the shelling of our schools, the killing of our friends and family ... was down to him.”

Zoran Kusovać, a Croatian journalist and geopolitical analyst who reported on the Balkan wars, met Mladić several times, once on a

▶ Džemil Hodžić with his father, Bajro, at the funeral of his brother Amel, killed by a sniper during the siege of Sarajevo

plateau overlooking Sarajevo where Bosnian Serb forces had installed heavy artillery. During the siege of the Bosnian capital they killed more than 11,000 people, including 2,000 children, in a daily campaign of shelling, bombing and sniping.

"We were up on the mountain and Mladić said to me: 'Look, I have Sarajevo in the palm of my hand. I can either destroy it or take it whenever I want,'" Kusovać said. "He was a bully and nobody, not even his superiors, had the guts to tell him he was wrong. He also kept meticulous notes of what he did ... he wrote everything down with the absolute confidence of a man who believed he would never be held responsible for it."

As well as those killed in Bosnia in the 1992-94 conflict, up to 50,000 women and girls were raped and 2.7 million people displaced.

Srebrenica is one of the international community's most shameful failures. The Bosnian town, its mainly Muslim population swollen by refugees, was declared a UN “safe haven” and locals told to hand all weapons to peacekeepers. The UN then abandoned it.

▲ The ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ died while serving a life sentence for war crimes

To many Serbians, Mladić was a hero who believed in a mythical “Greater Serbia” but was traduced in an international campaign against Serbs who still feel misunderstood and victimised. On Thursday, the Serbian government in Belgrade once again defied condemnation as it said Mladić, who died while serving a life sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity, would be buried with “all the military and state honours to which he is entitled”.

The ultranationalist politician Vojislav Šešelj said: “Mladić fought against those villains [at The Hague] for a long time; they expected his death two or three years ago, but he did not give up.”

The office of the UN secretary general, António Guterres, told those in power to “refrain from denying the seriousness of the crimes”, particularly the Srebrenica genocide, or glorifying war crimes.

Emir Suljagić is the director of the Srebrenica Memorial, and one of only a handful of men and boys to escape Srebrenica. “The people he sent to their deaths never had the chance to grow old. That is the only fact about his death that matters to me,” Suljagić told the Dnevni Avaz newspaper.

"Now the hardest part of the job remains: not to let the truth, responsibility and memory die with him. Mladić's death is another moment in which we must decide what we will remember and, more importantly, what we will not allow to be erased."

Please don't rearrange our shoes on arrival, say Japan paramedics

Gavin Blair Tokyo

Etiquette, manners and consideration for others are integral pillars of Japanese society but there are times when they might go a step too far, according to emergency services.

The fire department in the central city of Kanazawa has urged people not to tidy up the shoes that paramedic crews have taken off when entering a house, warning it could hinder their ability to get in or out quickly, particularly when carrying someone on a stretcher.

In an Instagram video that has amassed more than half a million views since it was posted on 5 August, the firefighters demonstrate how paramedics leave their shoes positioned at entrances in precise spots, so that three stretcher bearers can step straight into them without shaking the patient around, or risking dislodging their oxygen mask.

It is customary for homeowners to rearrange the shoes of guests to face the doorway so that they can slip them on easily when they leave.

▲ A video explains why paramedics place their shoes at specific points

Interviewed by TBS News Dig this week, firefighter Daisuke Yamashita said: “Emergency crews decide the direction of their shoes according to their roles, so if someone changes their position out of kindness, it can interfere with putting them back on and delay the transport of the patient. From our experience, it can result in a loss of about 30 seconds.”

Most of the comments underneath the video expressed gratitude. One user suggested that strict etiquette could perhaps be forsaken at such times: “It’s an emergency. I would just tell them: ‘Please step inside with your shoes on!’”

Necklace on loan to Vienna museum stolen by pair in view of witnesses

Deborah Cole Berlin

Austrian police are hunting two men who stole a 200-carat platinum necklace encrusted with 673 diamonds that was on loan to a Vienna museum and once belonged to Egyptian royalty.

Authorities released pictures of the suspects captured by security cameras during the heist at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), amid a rash of spectacular smash-and-grab thefts from European cultural institutions.

The unmasked men bought tickets to the exhibition before shattering a glass display case with a hammer in front of witnesses during opening hours on Thursday afternoon and making off with the historic piece. In an appeal for information from the public, police said: "The perpetrators fled with the jewellery in an unknown direction."

Officers fanned out through the city centre and deployed a police tracking dog to search for the suspects. The Kronen newspaper said investigators believe the men were probably carrying out a “contract job” on behalf of a criminal gang.

MAK said the piece had been snatched from a jewellery exhibition that had been on display since June, featuring more than 300 works by the French designers Van Cleef & Arpels. No one was hurt.

Notes for the show said the necklace once belonged to Queen Consort Nazli of Egypt, who wore it at the 1939 wedding of her daughter Fawzia to Iran's then crown prince, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who later became shah. The necklace was sold by Sotheby's in New York in 2015 for \$4.3m.

The MAK said the exhibition brought together about 200 “unique and rarely seen objects” from its own collection and pieces spanning the 120-year history of the Parisian jewellery house, from the Van Cleef & Arpels patrimonial collection.

A guided tour planned for yesterday was listed as “cancelled” on the museum website and the exhibition, which was due to end on 27 September, was temporarily closed.

A report this month by Europol found robberies at European museums were becoming more violent, with thieves brandishing guns, assaulting staff and using sledgehammers, axes and even explosives to smash their way to targeted loot.

World

Ebola outbreak Trust is key to fighting disease, says health chief

Tracy McVeigh

The statistics, says the man responsible for overseeing the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), are

meaningless. That it is the largest outbreak, the most deadly strain, that 100 days have passed, that the death rates keep climbing, says Prof Pierre Akilimali, should never detract from the human tragedies at the centre of this virus.

"It is behind those numbers that matters; the father, the child, the loved relative. Behind every case is a person and behind every person is a family. For us Congolese, we hold on to that as we work."

Akilimali, of the DRC's National Public Health Institute, and the incident manager of the country's multi-agency response, is certain the numbers will continue to rise. As of 24 August, the Bundibugyo variant of the virus had 5,656 confirmed cases and 2,715 deaths. "Let's say in two months we will reach the peak and start seeing a decrease, but this is guesswork," said Akilimali. "The honest thing is that we do not yet know. As we are improving community engagement we expect to have more confirmed cases, so we need to be sure that treatment centres are able to cope."

Akilimali, like most Congolese health workers involved in the Ebola response since the outbreak was officially declared in May, has been working flat out. He spoke to the Guardian on a rare day off, his first in months, but had to delay the interview several times to take urgent, work-related calls.

“Rest is not an easy thing for the Ebola workers to find,” the doctor said. “Many of my colleagues have been away from their own families for long periods. What carries me and the team is the simple knowledge that every contact followed, every family supported, is a life where the worst was avoided.”

There is particular concern over the risk of the virus crossing borders - Uganda has just been declared Ebola free after several cases emerged there - but efforts seem to have contained the spread.

That brings little comfort, however, for the people of eastern DRC, a region exhausted by years of war, neglect, resource-stripping

▼ A Unicef team with banners and a megaphone raise awareness among people at Alanine market, Goma PHOTOGRAPH: DANIEL BUUMA/GETTY
'Complacency about community mistrust is more dangerous than the mistrust itself'

Pierre Akilimali DRC incident manager

and underdevelopment. This is the 17th outbreak since Ebola was identified in 1976. As the virus is transmitted from animals to people, Ebola usually begins in remote areas where people and wildlife live closer together and where health authorities have few outposts. People here are suspicious and distrustful. There have been attacks on clinics, and on healthcare and burial workers.

Akilimali said: “Communities have lived through a great deal - periods when the response did not always arrive, of confusing information, and the fear that

▲ Health workers carry babies tested and cleared at an orphanage. Left, a worker at the National

Institute of Biomedical Research in Kinshasa MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: GRADEL MUYISA MUMBERE/REUTERS

comes with a disease that is frightening and carries a high toll. It would be wrong of us to be surprised that some people hesitated at the start - that is not ignorance; in most cases it is the understandable fruit of hard experience, including experience of institutions letting them down."

But things have been changing. "We have seen openness and cooperation grow. But mistrust does not disappear overnight, and we cannot count it out. Complacency about community mistrust is more dangerous than the mistrust itself.

"The response belongs first to our own institutions - the Ministry of Public Health and the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale - and my work sits firmly inside that national framework." However, he added: "We need solidarity. This outbreak will cost a lot of the DRC government. So we need support from the regional and international community."

Teams on the ground also face a struggle in convincing people it is still safe to visit clinics and doctors for other conditions. “An outbreak response that destroys the rest of the health system is a response that has failed, and we intend not to do that,” Akilimali said.

Even bringing in cash for workers' wages has been problematic and led to people going unpaid for long periods.

“What is making us a little uncomfortable is when foreign organisations say ‘oh, we are bringing all this money but this money is not reaching the ground’ - it’s not true when people say this. Their money is not managed by local government or regional centres, it is managed by the NGOs.”

"The community hears them saying they are collecting all this money, and think we are managing this huge amount, but it's not true.

"This can influence the community reaction and our work in the field. It was one of the reasons they were destroying the health centres; they were saying you are earning money from each death, you are killing people to push up numbers.

“This outbreak is serious ... and we are not pretending otherwise. But I would also say, honestly, that the situation today is not the situation at the start,” he added. “Confidence in the laboratory has improved, our teams have access to areas that were harder to reach and the national institutions have confirmed their stewardship of the response.

"We are in the middle of a serious outbreak, being fought by people who have done this before and learned from it - that is the most honest framing I can give."

The things that mattered most now, Akilimali said, was finding every case and every contact of that case; keeping people safe and offering dignified burials; infection control in treatment centres; and building trust.

"Our community engagement is not a soft afterthought - it is as urgent as vaccine or any other technical pillar. Our approach is simple in principle, harder in practice: we do not lecture; we meet people where they are. We work through local health workers, community leaders, religious leaders and survivors themselves, because evidence shows that the voices people trust most are close to them.

"We explain what we are doing, we correct misinformation quickly and calmly when it appears, and we are prepared to change how we work when communities tell us what does not fit them. And we treat dignity and safety - including how families bury their loved ones - as frontline response.

"The biggest challenge is the scale and speed of the outbreak against a geography and a cost of reaching everyone. Every case that is found late tells us there is at least one chain we have not yet seen.

"One moment I come back to is a mother I met who brought her child to a treatment centre after others in the neighbourhood had been brought in too late to survive. She did it against a current of fear. It took real courage."

World

Call for criminal investigation into RFK Jr after Guardian story

Michelle R Smith

A senior Democratic senator is calling for a criminal investigation into the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, after reporting by the Guardian indicated he lied during Senate confirmation hearings in 2025.

Ron Wyden of Oregon said: "RFK's platform is built on lies and grifts that leave a trail of dead children in their wake. There are consequences for lying to Congress."

The Guardian's reporting was based on letters that were obtained - by the newspaper, along with Associated Press - after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

Wyden told the Guardian he would be pressing Republican colleagues, who currently control the Senate, to issue a criminal referral of Kennedy to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation: “And when Democrats retake the majority in the Senate, RFK will be at the top of the list of Trump officials the finance committee will hold accountable for endangering American families.” Wyden serves as the top Democrat on the finance committee.

Meanwhile, the US government watchdog group American Oversight has sent a letter to the justice department requesting that it immediately open an investigation into whether Kennedy violated the law by making false statements to Congress.

Other Democratic officials called for Kennedy to be removed or leave office in the wake of thenew reporting.

Wyden was among the senators who asked Kennedy during two confirmation hearings last year about a 2019 trip he took to Samoa, when Kennedy was leading an anti-vaccine group. Months later, a measles outbreak made thousands of people ill and killed 83 people, most of them children under five.

When asked about the trip by Wyden and Ed Markey, a senator from Massachusetts, Kennedy testified that his visit had “nothing to do with vaccines”. The newly obtained letters contradict that testimony. In one, Kennedy explicitly told the Samoan prime minister he wanted to study the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the Pacific island nation; he used the words “vaccine” or “vaccination” eight times.

“Lying to Congress is a crime, whether or not the witness is under oath,” said Josh Chafetz, a professor of law and politics at Georgetown University Law Center. “But this would require the executive branch to prosecute, and Trump’s [justice department] is unlikely to do so.”

▲ Newly obtained letters suggest the US health secretary lied to Congress

Attorneys with expertise in Senate procedure said that if the Democrats won control of the House or Senate in November's elections, they could use Kennedy's statements as grounds for hearings or an impeachment inquiry.

Markey also weighed in on the new reporting, saying the records showed Kennedy falsely said his trip had “nothing to do with vaccines”.

“This is a pattern, not a slip. RFK Jr has lied to the Senate, lied to the American people and jeopardised the health of children to advance his anti-vaccine agenda,” he said. “He should never have been confirmed, and he cannot be trusted to run [the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)] for even one more day.”

Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, a member of the Senate health, education, labour and pensions committee, which oversees Kennedy's department, repeated her call that the health secretary resign or be fired.

Hawaii's governor, Josh Green, a medical doctor who travelled to Samoa to help in the measles response in 2019, again called for him to step down: "It is clear that Kennedy misled Congress about his intentions in Samoa and his stance on vaccinations during his confirmation hearings two years ago. It is time for him to immediately resign," Green said. "He must do this for the safety and health of our country."

The Guardian sought comment from HHS but it did not immediately respond. In a previously issued statement it said Kennedy's visit to Samoa “was unrelated to vaccines. Any claim or insinuation based on these letters that Secretary Kennedy lied under oath or to Congress is not only false but outright defamatory.”

Kennedy was not under oath during the two confirmation hearings. Wyden's staff said whether he was under oath is not relevant as it is a crime to lie during a confirmation hearing either way.

Iceland vote Polls open on whether to resume talks to join EU

Miranda Bryant

For a long time, the prospect of becoming the third generation to run his family farm was an exciting one, says Davið Clausen

Pétursson. Icelandic farmers were starting to get higher prices for their meat and milk, debt was no longer such an occupational prerequisite, and innovation was on the rise.

Now, the 29-year-old is anxiously awaiting the result of today's referendum, as Icelanders are asked whether or not they want to restart accession talks with the European Union.

Davíð believes joining the bloc could have negative ramifications for Icelandic farmers, slowing progress and reducing profits.

Across Europe, small- and medium-sized farms have struggled, with thousands closing each year because of brutal economic conditions. In Iceland however, the picture has been somewhat brighter for some farmers because they have been able to make a profit and innovate.

Since the government announced that it was bringing forward the vote, amid Donald Trump's efforts to take control of

Pjóðin ræður

nearby Greenland, the debate has taken in food security, national identity, defence, housing, inflation, language and resources.

The latest polls show the two sides - which cut across the political spectrum and generations - are neck and neck. According to Thursday's Gallup poll, the no campaign is slightly in the lead with

▲ Supporters of the no campaign, which is narrowly ahead in polls

51.6% of the vote and yes on 48.4%. While the yes campaign has strong support, critics of the EU have been louder in part because a yes vote is less decisive - it is agreeing to begin negotiations, rather than a definite yes to joining the EU.

“Of course I am quite invested in how it goes,” says Davíð at his remote farm in Hvammur, southwest Iceland. “I want to build my life around farming for 30 to 40 years, and I would also like my kids to be able to do that as well.”

He fears that uncertainty created by years of negotiations, before the nation votes again, will put a halt to all momentum in farming.

As he explained to his nine-year-old son, a litre of milk costs them about 100 ISK (61p) to produce, which they can sell for 145 ISK. Davið worries that joining the EU would mean he would have to significantly decrease the price of his products. “It is not that I am against anything in the EU at all. I am half Danish, my mother is Danish and we of course buy a lot from Europe,” he says.

"The regulations they have there are suitable for countries that live next to each other, but I am fearful that if it is a yes, the uncertainty will make it quite hard for us to see where we are going, so that will put everything at a bit of a halt."

Iceland's farming system was built on the country being a lone state in the Atlantic with unique weather conditions, he says. "We can figure it out ourselves. We make trade agreements with everyone around us."

He understands that high food costs are frustrating for consumers, $\triangleleft$ Icelandic prime minister Kristrún Frostadóttir's Social Democrats back a yes vote to restart talks with the EU PHOTOGRAPH: SIGGA ELLA/THE GUARDIAN

but believes it is worth it. “There is a high cost to food security in Iceland. But there is an even bigger cost to being dependent.”

The EU vote taps into a sense of lament among some in Iceland that, in a globalised world, the country's foundation in agriculture and fishing - central to life here until a few decades ago - is being rapidly forgotten. Davið says that 30 years ago children came to work at the farm in the summer, but machinery and specialisation mean that is no longer possible.

Supporters of EU membership believe it could help bring down the high cost of living and inflation in Iceland, and would be good for the country's security.

At his home by the sea in Porlákshöfn, Kári Böðvarsson, 79, a retired fisher, says he plans to vote yes despite being right-leaning politically. “It doesn’t matter if you’re on the right or on the left, people are just voting across politics,” he says.

He is an outlier at his gym among his training buddies and enjoys provoking them - but will be glad when the debate is over. There is not much the EU can do to return power from the big fishing companies to individuals, he says. But perhaps it could help with housing costs.

At a public meeting in Reykjavík, the prime minister, Kristrún Frostadóttir, told attendees that joining the EU was a “unique opportunity” and “good timing” for Iceland’s security - not just in light of the US but also China. “This isn’t about being afraid,” she said. “It’s about being prepared and seizing opportunities when they arise.”

Polling stations open at 9am today. The first results are expected between 10pm and midnight.

Pause your subsc...

...ription whenever you like

SATURDAY

FEATURE How clever became cool again 2013.05 LIFESTYLE The people chosing pets over kids 2013.07

Save up to 31% on the retail price when you subscribe

Scan the QR code or visit theguardian.com/newspapersubscription

Subscribe to being flexible. Subscribe to the Guardian.

Going away? It's easy to have a holiday from your subscription too. Simply log in and mark the dates you won't be needing the paper, and your payments will go on hold - for a total of up to five weeks each year.

The Saturday Read

By Robert Booth

Spotlight

Monty Python-like moments at China's robot games show humanoids are not fit to be humanity's overlords just yet. But, say experts, 'By 2030 it will be a different world'

▼ A robot falls to bits as it competes in the 100m semi-finals at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing PHOTOGRAPH: TINGSHU WANG/REUTERS

n a spectacular set of events including exploding pelvises, enough comic pratfalls for a Buster Keaton showreel and the occasional moment of ruthless violence, the

World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing gripped audiences around the globe this week with an unsettling mixture of hilarity, trepidation and relief.

The five-day showcase staked out China's claim to undisputed leadership in humanoid robotics, as android martial artists landed knock-out roundhouse kicks and robot teams marched into the arena heralded by flag-waving captains astride giant robotic dogs. The games' blue-riband event, the 100m, did not disappoint when one robo-sprinter ran quicker

than Usain Bolt before slamming mindlessly into a padded wall in a blaze of sparks, flames and flying mechanical limbs.

There, in a 10-second clip perfect for the games' global online audience, was proof of what international experts described as China's “staggering” engineering progress, combined with comfort that the disintegrating robots might not yet be ready to become humanity's overlords.

“Ready for another big day of fail,” read a typically schadenfreude-laced comment from one of the millions who tuned in to viral social media clips and live streams of events from boxing to breakdancing, in which the humanoids displayed a jerky mix of ruthless effectiveness and pathetic failure.

If the games had a slogan it might have been: faster, higher, funnier. The obstacle course involving humanoids scrambling under nets, down stairs and over stepping stones reminded the comedian Charlie Higson of Monty Python's Upper Class Twit of the Year sketch. "It's only lacking ‘taking the bra off the debs' and ‘shooting themselves’," he said.

Higson came back the next day for more. “They get better and better,” he tweeted as a cheerleader robot wielding glittery pom-poms flailed around as though it was having a fit.

Others caught themselves experiencing unexpected empathy. One captioned an image of a robot struggling through the 400m obstacle race: “after drinking 4 bottles of wine at 2am”. Another

→ Continued on page 38

Spotlight

← Continued from page 37

found a weightlifting contest “way more emotional than I expected” as the bots strained to achieve their sporting goals.

But the games were not intended only to entertain. Involving more than 2,000 humanoids built by over 660 mostly domestic tech companies, it was a propaganda flex of China's robotics muscle weeks before Xi Jinping, its president, lands in Washington for a summit with Donald Trump, where the superpowers' race to tech supremacy will be high on the agenda. Only last month Trump banned imports of Chinese humanoids and four-legged robot dogs, citing cyber and national security concerns.

The event was also a billboard to boost global sales of Chinese robots as US rivals prepare their own launches, notably Elon Musk's long-hyped Optimus humanoid, which is reported to have finally gone into production this month. Last year China produced 12,800 humanoids, about $90\%$ of the global total, according to the Mercator Institute for China Studies - a dominance that perhaps gave China the confidence to candidly broadcast so many comic failures, which surprised some onlookers.

he event reflected the fact that, for the Chinese Communist party, humanoids are a high priority, offering solutions to a

looming demographic crunch in the labour market, rising military ambitions and, as they walk more widely among the people, the state's desire to tighten its surveillance web. Beijing is fuelling an intensely competitive robot industry by seeding hundreds of companies to create an evolutionary survival of the fittest dynamic, with the games creating a hard deadline for competitors to demonstrate measurable progress.

Xi's latest five-year plan, approved in March, was studded with pledges to boost robotics industries, accelerate the “practical application of ... humanoid robots” and explore “embodied AI in roles experiencing labour shortages or high-risk environments”, which probably include war. The military potential of the humanoids on display worried some onlookers.

“Fascinating, and honestly, a little scary,” said Arun Bothra, a senior police officer in India, which is embroiled in a dispute with China over the countries’ shared border. “Watching robots run, play football and compete like humans is one thing,” he said. “Seeing them on borders some day, carrying guns and making decisions, will be something else entirely.” Or, as another viewer concluded after watching a humanoid hoist a

▲ Robots compete in the 400m for small robots. Left, a humanoid robot that caught fire after finishing a 100m large-sized group preliminary race MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: ANDRÉS MARTÍNEZ CASARES/EPA

'Watching robots run is one thing. Seeing them carrying guns and making decisions will be something else entirely' loaded barbell in the weightlifting contest: “Humanity is preparing its own end.”

Of course, China is not alone in pursuing robotic warfare. As the Beijing games progressed on Monday, Ukraine was staging a novel military parade in Kyiv made up of robotic weaponry and defence equipment.

But how to explain the numerous crashes and fits in the arena where the competition took place? Experts said the games revealed how China was making the most rapid strides in developing humanoids' bodies rather than their digital intelligence.

"The progress they have made from last year is staggering," said Thrishantha Nanayakkara, a professor of robotics at the Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College London. "Everything seems to be coming together ... by 2030, it will be a very different world."

The fastest sprinter, Tiangong Ultra, completed the 100m more than twice as fast as last year, while the peak standing jump rose from 0.96m to 3.40m. Liquid cooling has allowed Chinese engineers to increase the torque of the motors that drive their limbs, creating more twitchy and powerful force.

Ingo Keller, the head of robotics at the National Robotarium, based at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, said: “This execution is incredible. You would not have expected the speed of development. [But] does it move the goalpost in utilising humanoids? Not necessarily.”

xperts stress that the games revealed progress in specialist, not generalist, humanoids: the robots were fast runners or good boxers, not both, partly because the AI models that govern their decisions are not yet able to process the physical world's complexity.

The industry talks about reaching a ChatGPT moment - a tipping point when humanoid technology becomes generally useful and explodes into the mainstream. By one definition, that comes when a robot can succeed at 80% of tasks in an unfamiliar home, instructed by voice or text. The event coincided with a sobering speech from Wang Xingxing, the founder of Unitree, a leading Chinese robotics company, who said it could be a decade before that happens.

A wistful end to summer until the big school shop brings it all back to earth Emma Brockes

“Humanoids are not yet capable enough for mass deployment,” he said. “The limitations in the AI models that power robots’ decision-making and interactions remain the industry’s biggest bottleneck.” Amid uncertainty about the impact of robotics and bubble fears, Unitree’s share price has been oscillating wildly since it was listed in Shanghai this month.

Georg Stieler, who advises multinational companies on robots, said he did not see much progress in their autonomy in Beijing. He reported that some Chinese robotics companies were privately cynical about the showcase, complaining about a lack of funding for long-term pilot projects “to do something useful in a factory”.

“It’s not so difficult to make a stunt which people will share on LinkedIn or X,” Stieler said. “The major challenge is to do something that’s really useful.”

Humanoid robot dexterity requires much more work. There was little obvious coverage of a Monty Python-esque category that included power-tool assembly, powder weighing, bottle opening, cap prying, box unpacking and picking beans using tweezers. One such challenge was briefly featured when the race track was occupied by the unspectacular sight of a humanoid struggling to pick up a small object from a table and spilling water in a pouring challenge. The cameras panned away to find a humanoid martial artist carving the air with kicks.

I could've gone pro but politics needed me more...

Diary

Monday

Is there anything sadder than the end of summer? As schools go back and parents rely on the boosting effect of a return to routine, we look around for other ways to lessen the blow. A few things this year that might make it easier: the need for rain ensures that the advent of autumn is slightly less depressing than usual. People with attic conversions you could bake a muffin in will be able to use them again. And if you happen to be a woman of 50 or thereabouts, the fresher weather is ... a relief.

Still, looking down the barrel of dark nights and the slow descent towards Christmas clenches the spirit and I find myself pining for the very recent past. I think of this as micro-nostalgia, a form of self-indulgence that in this case involves looping back in my mind to the first days of summer when it was all still ahead of us. There should be a word for this particular kind of yearning, which might be described as: a wistfulness for past anticipation based on the certainty of future nostalgia. Even the Germans might struggle to find a compound to cover it.

Distraction comes in the form of the back to school shop, which, stupidly, I think will be nice to do the old-fashioned way. And so we take our actual bodies to an actual shopping centre, visit 700 shops, buy two lip glosses and some stick-on nails, then come home and order the entire back-to-school haul online. So much for nostalgia.

Tuesday At the National Theatre in London for a production of Pride, the

musical, which has been making people weep in the aisles since it first opened in Cardiff in March, and London in June, and will, presumably, continue to do so when it transfers to the Bridge theatre in Southwark this winter. I was ready with tissues but managed to hold on - just - despite the show's absolute best efforts to take me down.

If you know the story, which chronicles the solidarity between striking Welsh miners and gay activists in the mid-1980s, you'll understand the show's potential for poignancy and the stage production is, if anything, even more moving than the 2014 film. Part of this is because it leans slightly more heavily than the film into the Aids story. Towards the end of the show, Pride uses a trope popularised in recent times by Madonna, who in 2023, during her Celebration tour, sang Live to Tell while screens came down and images flashed up of all her old cohorts from the 1980s who had died of Aids and everyone in the audience lost it. The recently shuttered Broadway show Cats: Jellicle Ball, which celebrates the 1980s drag queens of Harlem, did a similar thing to stunning effect.

And it's not spoiling anything to say that Pride uses a similar method to flay the audience into a final state of sniffing, gulping and hiccuping disintegration as fallen heroes come up on screens in black and white - captured in a youth made more glorious by its horrifically truncated end.

Wednesday

Harry and Meghan fly back into Britain on Wednesday after six years in the US, and the world's media is treated to the thoughts of British people stopped on the street to share their opinions. It always strikes me how much better prepared the average American is compared with the Brits when called on by a passing TV hack to offer a spontaneous opinion. This was particularly in evidence this week as passers-by in Nashville were stopped for their thoughts about Dolly Parton, and were by and large effortlessly fluent, while those in the Cotswolds, where the not-quite-royal couple are reported to be moving, were required to say something sensible about Harry and Meghan. There was a lot of shifty body language, sliding eye contact and “made their bed and lie in it” commentary, which made me feel very fond of my people.

Meanwhile the Daily Mail dug up the term “Praetorian Guard,” and raised, with relish, the prospect of the two brothers running rival courts, while the New York Times speculated on William’s “silence” since his brother’s return. Which begged the question: what, exactly, did anyone expect the Prince of Wales to have to said?

Thursday

Pushback against the forthcoming Ali G movie, Ali G: Who Iz I?, gathers force in the form of a petition - 34,000 signatures and counting - to keep the film out of cinemas on the basis that, under not very subtle cover of satire, it reinforces racist stereotypes. On the other hand, it may be the case that no petitions are necessary if Sacha Baron Cohen's 20-year-old vehicle strikes modern audiences as an embarrassing anachronism

If that's heavy rainfall I hear, a reminder to enjoy the flooding as nature's very own water park!

that is as bafflingly bad as it is crashingly unfunny.

Early indications aren't good. You might have seen Baron Cohen in character earlier this year, towing a camera crew to Centre Court at Wimbledon and contriving to get himself thrown out. Dressed in a white tracksuit with a marijuana leaf insignia that turned on a joke about the All England club's “grass”, he did a piece to camera in which he joked that tennis was a “crap version of ping-pong”. It’s a short video I defy you to get through without hiding your face in mortification.

The other Baron Cohen characters haven't aged well, either. Does anyone want to see Bruno, a straight guy playing a screaming gay man that plays on a tonne of homophobic tropes? Borat was the best of the bunch, somehow managing to retain an endearing core that gave the character more humanity than the others and lacked what feels like the speciousness of Ali G.

Why is he doing this? (One can make a good guess). Baron Cohen has also directed the movie and surely, nobody wants it. If Ali G had a novelty value back in the day, he has long been replaced by characters like Diane Morgan's Philomena Cunk, who manage to send up dumb TV culture without humiliating people or trading in caricatures.

Friday

A good end to the week in the form of an outdoor screening at London's Barbican of the 1996 film, Beautiful Thing, an adaptation of Jonathan Harvey's classic coming-of-age play and a movie I must have watched 100 times back in the day. The film, directed by Hettie Macdonald and starring Tameka Empson and Linda Henry, Jamie's mum, killed me then and I assume will kill me now. This is partly down to the soundtrack from the Mamas & the Papas, and also to all those 1990s references - peppermint foot lotion from the Body Shop, anyone? - that feel so far removed they might be signifiers of a lost world in a JG Ballard novel. Of all the film's lines, it's strange what sticks and the line I keep thinking of ahead of the screening tonight is, "the whole of bloody Thamesmead can hear you!" More tissues.

PHOTOGRAPHS: YUI MOK/PA; HENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS; VICTORIA JONES/SHUTTERSTOCK

British Army road tests new ‘scare-them-to-death’ uniform

The week that was

Spotlight

UNITED STATES

Meta to pay \$18bn to end landmark lawsuit

Meta agreed to significant changes to its Instagram and Facebook apps in a settlement that ended a landmark lawsuit on Wednesday. Dozens of US states had accused the tech giant of addicting and harming children with dangerous products.

The agreement curtails a major trial in California and will require the social media company to pay up to \$18bn (£13.2bn). Meta agreed to establish safeguards for teenage users, including daily usage limits and blocks on night-time use nationwide in the US.

This is the first time in the US that Meta has been forced to change key features of the experience of everyday users.

The jury trial began with opening statements last week. As part of the settlement, the company denies wrongdoing.

IRAN

Bill aims to criminalise foreign media contact

Tehran has taken the first step towards criminalising contact with foreign media, in a move human rights groups have said attempts to “sever the entire Iranian society from the rest of the world”.

For journalists, researchers and even ordinary citizens, the proposed law being discussed by lawmakers could make speaking to international audiences and groups a potential criminal act.

Bahar Ghandehari, director of advocacy at the Center for Human Rights in Iran, said the new law risked turning Iran into an “isolated black hole”.

"It is not simply an attack on journalists and citizen journalists; it is an attempt to sever the entire Iranian society from the rest of the world by criminalising the free flow of information itself," she said.

PAKISTAN

At least 14 newborns die in maternity ward fire

At least 14 newborn babies died in a fire that broke out in the maternity ward at one of Pakistan's most prominent state hospitals.

The blaze began in the early hours of Wednesday and engulfed the ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, the biggest state hospital in Islamabad.

A statement from the hospital confirmed that 14 newborn babies in the intensive care unit died in the fire.

Dr Aneeza Jalil, a hospital spokesperson, told the Dawn newspaper that 15 babies were on the ward at the time and that one baby was saved by a doctor.

Investigators said the fire was started by a faulty air conditioning unit, which exploded inside the nursery where newborn infants were sleeping.

COLOMBIA

Colombia's newly elected far-right president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has announced a crackdown on immigrants, ordering authorities to detain and deport people who are in the country irregularly or have committed crimes.

President announces immigration crackdown

The millionaire former lawyer made the announcement last Sunday as the country continued to grapple with the aftermath of a 7.4-magnitude earthquake on 10 August that killed more than 300 people and destroyed more than 30,000 homes.

De la Espriella told a cabinet meeting last Sunday in Barranquilla, the Caribbean city that has in effect been turned into an alternative capital, that the first joint operations involving the police and the migration authority should begin “this very week”.

HAITI

At least 47 killed in gang attack near capital

At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed men attacked a once peaceful community near Haiti's capital last weekend, the UN has said.

A gang leader has threatened to kill the hostages if authorities kill any gang members as they try to secure Kenscoff, nestled in the hills above Port-au-Prince.

Last Sunday's attack pierced the belief that security in the Caribbean country was improving. Romain Le Cour, the head of Haiti observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said: “This is a major political and security test.”

In a video posted on social media, the gang leader warned Haiti's national police director, Vladimir Paraison, not to use drones to repel gangs in the area.

The number of work experience placements being offered by Sainsbury's as part of a government drive to tackle youth unemployment. Around one in eight young people in the UK are not in work, education or training

10k

HEALTH

Shingles vaccine linked to reduced heart risks

The current shingles vaccine appears to significantly lower the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to scientists who say it could help prevent thousands of deaths each year.

The research, based on records of 70,000 people in the US, found that those who had received Shingrix had a 12% lower risk of a cardiovascular diagnosis in the following three and a half years. If confirmed, this benefit would be comparable to taking a daily blood pressure-lowering medication, the scientists said.

Dr Maxime Taquet, a clinical lecturer at the University of Oxford, who led the study, said: "If confirmed in clinical trials, vaccinating older adults against shingles could prevent hundreds of thousands of coronary heart diseases, strokes and cases of heart failure worldwide."

The increase in revenues for Danish toymaker Lego in the first six months of 2026, driven by the football World Cup, Formula One and the hit film KPop Demon Hunters as well as its flower-based and Star Wars kits

GUINEA

Landslide at waste mound kills 30 people

A landslide at a huge waste dump in Guinea's capital has killed 30 people, the government said last Sunday, after heavy rains prompted it to collapse, engulfing nearby tents and shacks.

The incident occurred less than a week after the government announced plans to close the site and relocate the waste because of the threat it posed, especially during the rainy season, which causes landslides and fatal flash floods each year in crowded, underdeveloped cities across parts of west Africa.

The landslide took place in the Gbessia commune of Conakry, according to a government statement.

Witnesses said the landslide was large enough to bury an apartment building along with more precarious dwellings.

UNITED KINGDOM

Britons to be told to prepare for emergencies

UK citizens will be told to stock up on tinned food and take steps to ensure they are prepared for national emergencies as part of a new government campaign to improve the nation's resilience.

The new campaign from the Cabinet Office will set out ways people can prepare for extreme weather events and potential attacks from hostile states, including stocking up on bottled water, sources said.

The aim will be to ensure most households have basic supplies and knowledge about how to cope in a crisis, in order to free up immediate government resources for the most vulnerable.

Planning for a number of disasters, from cyber-attacks to extreme heat and flooding, has increased in recent months after a number of incidents in the UK and across the world.

FRANCE

Campaigners call for ban on marmot hunting

Animal rights campaigners are gearing up for protests and petitions aimed at persuading the French government to ban the hunting of Alpine marmots.

Open season on the rodents, members of the squirrel and groundhog family, begins in September, a few weeks before they go into hibernation.

Although the marmot is not a threatened species in France, its numbers are reportedly declining as a result of the climate crisis. Campaigners say they are opposed to them being hunted for fun.

Pauline di Nicolantonio, the president of the Association for Justice for Savoie Animals, which has launched protests against marmot hunting for the last two years, said: “The marmot is extremely popular and symbolic in the Savoie and elsewhere in the Alps.”

AUSTRALIA

10

Sydney muddles up Munich in medal error

Runners finishing the Sydney Marathon tomorrow will receive a medal showing the landmarks they have just sped past - plus one they definitely didn't.

In an Instagram post on the official Sydney Marathon account earlier this month, revealing the design of the participation medal, runners were told they would “find the story of the course” in the medals’ details.

One of the “landmarks” on the medal is the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, rather than Allianz Stadium in Sydney (which the marathon route passes).

“A little too much international flavour has found its way on to the back of the finisher’s medal,” a TCS Sydney Marathon spokesperson said. “We’re not going to run from it; it was an unfortunate error.”

Issue of the week Donald Trump's trade war with Canada

The number of people enlisted to pull the 360-tonne keep of a Japanese castle a little more than two metres closer to its original resting place as part of ongoing renovations

Jen Gerson, the Guardian

Canadians are exceedingly angry. The prime minister we saw take the stage in the wake of the collapse in trade negotiations with the US was a Mark Carney practically vibrating with fury. How are we supposed to respond when our large and once-admired neighbour to the south repeatedly threatens to make us the “51st state”? Or when Trump posts gag photos of the whole of North America covered in a US flag - provocations we’re supposed to take “seriously but not literally”, as if that makes these threats more acceptable. What does one do when one’s closest “friend” and “ally” repeatedly threatens to disregard border treaties? Or when the US’s behaviour aligns perfectly with the president’s threat to use “economic force” to push us into becoming an American state? We don’t want to be an American state. And even if we did, we certainly wouldn’t want to be a state of whatever the US is choosing to become right now.

Andrew Coyne, the Globe and Mail

We are headed for heavy weather. It is highly unlikely that Canada will give in, no matter what punishment is meted out to us. And yet it is hard to see how the Trump administration could yield, either, precisely because of the admiring notice we have been getting elsewhere. In defying Mr Trump, we are setting an example for the rest of the world. Therefore it is likely he will try to make an example out of us. This is about much more than trade, in other words. Our fight is the civilized world's fight ... for reason and comity in the affairs of nations, against an administration whose worldview, and behaviour, is increasingly that of an aggressive dictatorship. Mr Trump, as [Mark Carney] has said, aims to “break us,” a phrase with historic echoes. He has to now, or others will follow our lead. If he succeeds, then the world will be governed by nothing but force in the end. But if we prevail, then “broad and sunlit uplands” must surely await.

Rex Huppke, USA Today

Heading into the midterms, Democrats can confidently and accurately state that Trump's tariff obsession has hurt American consumers. They can say the Iran war Trump started has made fuel prices outlandish and hurt American consumers. And they can say the trade war with Canada will cause additional pain. In an election that will clearly revolve around affordability, Trump keeps making the Republican Party's already losing hand worse. I love that for them, personally. Part of me hopes Trump next announces a sliding-scale tax on all American puppies and kittens, with the highest rates applying to those who are the most adorable. Let's see if we can push the president's approval ratings into single digits and vote every lackey Republican out of office.

The week in reviews

Spotlight

▲ Simon Abkarian as De Gaulle PHOTOGRAPH: MALGOSIA ABRAMOWSKA/ PATHÉ FILMS/TF1 FILMS PRODUCTION

Film De Gaulle: Résistance In cinemas now ★★★★☆

Maverick French hero's very British bromance

Perhaps because it is based on a biography by an Englishman - Julian Jackson's A Certain Idea of France - this very enjoyable and gallopingly eventful biopic, directed by Antonin Baudry, has an element of amused detachment. The first of two parts, it offers a good-humoured though naturally sympathetic perspective on France's great wartime hero, played with martyred and faintly preposterous hauteur by Simon Abkarian.

De Gaulle is the lofty exile in London, refusing to accept the dishonour of the Vichy government and its capitulation to the Nazis, symbolised by Marshal Philippe Pétain (Alain Libolt) and Adm François Darlan (Mathieu Kassovitz). For reasons that will become clear, De Gaulle's own story is mysteriously intertwined with that of a hotheaded young patriot, Fernand Bonnier de la Chapelle (Florian Lesieur), who is De Gaulle's biggest fan. A tiny touch of comedy is part of what makes this resemble an old-fashioned 60s war film, although it has evidently taken until 2026 for French cinema to

come to terms with its contentious national icon. No one here is cheeky enough to comment on the nominative determinism of a Gallic hero being called “De Gaulle”.

His great supporter after the fall of France in 1940 is Winston Churchill, played with great gusto and charm by Simon Russell Beale - incidentally, it is a relief to see a commercial movie role worthy of the man. I can't think of any other film portrayal of Churchill in which most of his dialogue is in French; was Churchill's French really as good as that? Churchill's attitude is exasperated, affectionate and occasionally furious, but he recognises in De Gaulle a kindred spirit: a romantic maverick and patriot. Beale gives his extended dialogue scenes with Abkarian, genially quaffing champagne, a touch of Shakespeare. I wonder if the second film will include the legendary moment when De Gaulle is asked who the three most important Europeans are, and promptly replies: "Dante, Goethe, Chateaubriand." When asked about Shakespeare, he shrugs: "European?"

The film also breathlessly gives us De Gaulle's arrival in the UK after France's collapse, where he is cunningly promoted by Churchill as the true keeper of the French flame to undermine Vichy. He is given staff, a house and permitted to make BBC broadcasts rallying the cause of French resistance, for all of which De Gaulle is hilariously ungrateful. He then assembles a ragtag group of expatriates as his cabinet. De Gaulle impassively accepts the horror of Churchill's ruthless bombing of the French fleet at the Algerian port of Mers-el-Kébir in 1940, killing nearly 1,300 French servicemen, to prevent this force falling into Nazi hands. The film suggests that De Gaulle,

with a ruthless realpolitik of his own, saw the importance of propitiating Churchill, while seeing Mers-el-Kébir as a judgment on Vichy cowardice.

Then we get the high comedy of De Gaulle's chaotic personal adventures in Africa, finding support for his Free French in Chad and Cameroon, which Churchill admires as audacious if absurd. But Africa is important. An Anglo-Hollywood movie might have seen Britain's turning point in the war as a matter of dramatising Montgomery's brilliance at El-Alamein. This French movie instead emphasises the heroism of an outnumbered Free French brigade in the desert at Bir Hakeim under Gen Marie-Pierre Koenig (Benoît Magimel); inspired by De Gaulle, they hold out against Rommel's superior forces, giving British forces a chance to retreat and regroup.

And so De Gaulle falls in and out of favour with the British, who are nervous that the comic opera of his political career in London will undermine the UK in the eyes of US president Franklin D Roosevelt (Campbell Scott). And the film shows us De Gaulle and Churchill's differing views of the American saviour. The film rattles along with De Gaulle's return to the inner circles of allied power after sensational events in Africa - and stops. The second film will presumably take the story on from there. But this one, entertainingly, is a kind of bromance or double-act with Churchill, a wartime duo heading for glory and then the long fadeout of post-imperial peacetime. Peter Bradshaw

Theatre As You Like It Shakespeare's Globe, London ★★★☆☆

Rococo romp brings out the Bard's cheek and charm

For a play that pivots around the liberating disguises inside Arden's bucolia, this production of the Bard's pastoral comedy begins the dress-up long before its characters enter the forest for their games on gender and identity.

Duke Frederick's court resembles that of Louis XVI's Versailles, with flamboyant gesticulations that seem to belong to Molière. It is Shakespeare, but it could be a French period romp. Costumes become plainer and more earthy in Arden. Is there a suggestion that these characters live their courtly lives in a constant state of disguise?

It is probably not as deep as that in Sean Holmes and Charlie Josephine's production, which seems to put great comic merriment above all else. The costumes appear an aesthetic decision, reflecting the pomp of a court. Rosalind (Lola Shalam) and Celia (Gracie Oddie-James) dispose of their enormous wigs and bustles in the glade, Rosalind replacing them with simple yokel garb as Ganymede, Celia still flouncing in Little Bo Peep costume as Aliena.

Many aspects of this production soar high, including the comedy, sublimely eked by almost every character. Touchstone (Jonnie Broadbent, bare-chested with lacy ruff) is a comic highlight; Jaques' (Katherine Pearce) "All the world's a stage" speech is quietly moving;

▼ Merriment above all else ... Gracie Oddie-James as Celia PHOTOGRAPH: MARC BRENNER

and Shalam is a commanding Rosalind, full of charm and cheek.

Class delineations are made deftly through costume and accent but with no sense of overstatement. So Orlando (played by Josephine) has an estuary accent that points to his lowly position among his brothers and lack of schooling, while Rosalind and Celia look and sound aristocratic.

The forest has a stripped-down nature, with whiteboard backdrops on to which trees are drawn, first bare-branched but slowly coloured in to bloom. Paul Wills' set design provides so much of Arden's magic, along with the folksy musical accompaniment to Shakespeare's many songs composed by Katie Richardson. The occasional winding in of the audience feels clever too, including a singalong.

And yet you never feel Rosalind and Celia's closeness; the two stand at opposite ends of the stage as Celia declares “thou and I am one” after Rosalind’s banishment by Duke Frederick (Colm Gormley), with a conspicuous sense of courtly performance that undercuts earnestness or intimacy. Later on, you do not feel Orlando’s infatuated flutters for Rosalind as he nails his poetry to the trees. Josephine plays him flatly, with little variety, although their performance certainly amuses. Thankfully, Shalam carries their romance, managing to be both arch and excitable in her passion.

And although the comedy entertains, it takes away the play's subversive edges, from the same-sex infatuation between Orlando and Ganymede to the alternative model for living that Duke Senior (also Gormley) encapsulates in exile, which seems a little lost among the fun.

The production occasionally seems unclear in its action - although what you lose in narrative clarity you gain in hearty comic frolics. Its achievement is ultimately this, along with its originality, which works a transformative kind of magic in itself, turning a familiar drama into something weirdly fresh.

Arifa Akbar Until 25 October

▲ Home truths, tart remarks and off-colour comments ... Jess Fuchs

Firecracking cattiness from a future comedy star

Comedy Jess Fuchs: Feral Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh ★★★★☆

“No hugging, no learning” was the writers’ rule on Seinfeld. Jess Fuchs decrees a similar stricture for Feral, in which she will learn nothing about herself whatsoever: “Really, I’m just here to talk shit.”

That might get proceedings off to an underwhelming start, save that the Aussie's cynical shtick is delivered with tremendous oomph: a bracing celebration of unsentimentality from an act who tells it straight.

It's one of those debuts that announces a fully formed standup, a cert to be in for the long haul. Cocooned in feathers, Fuchs is an effervescing chatterbox of a comic, firing off tart remarks, home truths and off-colour comments in every direction. Arrogant yet quick to laugh at herself, Fuchs is loved by the audience as she pursues a Bridgerton-inspired breast enlargement, expounds on “pretty privilege” and writhes in horror at the thought of dating a 45-year-old man (she’s 32). There’s a wickedly unexpected joke about the relative merits, when dating, of seeking consent versus reading the room.

If you can parse all this for anything serious, it would be Fuchs's relationship with her own body, memorably described to this descendant of Holocaust survivors as “the type to survive war and famine” - and about which, as about everything, our host is admirably plain-speaking. Less serious, but very likable, is Fuchs's “over-identifying with the ship” on a visit to the Titanic museum in County Cork - before a clifftop walk goes wrong in the show's final chapter.

Perhaps because it finds our host more vulnerable and less imperious, that closing set-piece isn't quite as distinctive as the firecracking cattiness that goes before. As for the Titanic as a metaphor for Fuchs's malfunctioning life - well, on this evidence, good luck to the iceberg who gets in her way. Brian Logan Until 30 August

Classical BBCSSO/Canellakis Usher Hall, Edinburgh ★★★★★

Strauss's Elektra outgores The Odyssey

Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey carries a content warning for “strong violence and intense mythological horror”, but even its goriest scenes do not match what Richard Strauss produced nearly 120 years earlier in Elektra, whose special effects are confined to the 111-piece orchestra. The heckelphones, basset horns and Wagner tubas Strauss adds to an already outsized band make staging Elektra unfeasible for all but the best-resourced companies. But the extraordinary colours he draws from the orchestra and the storytelling he entrusts to it make concert performances particularly rewarding.

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra played Strauss's most dissonant score with relish, responsive to Karina Canellakis's efficient, economical gestures. Brutal climaxes were suitably overwhelming, but equally striking was the refined string sound in occasional moments of repose. Clarity was exceptional, as whips crackled, flutes fluttered and trombones groaned.

All the roles were superbly sung, even the tiniest. Lea Shaw and Emma Morwood were outstanding among the maidservants who launch the action; Lee Bisset, a notable Brunnhilde, shone as their Overseer. Men often receive short

▶ Snarls and sneers ... Karen Cargill PHOTOGRAPH: ANDREW PERRY/EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

shrift in Strauss: here it's more than an hour before one is heard. But Günther Groissböck's resonant bass made Oreste's nobility obvious from the first bar, even if Elektra took longer to cotton on, and tenor John Daszak introduced a note of camp entirely in keeping with the text's contemptuous depiction of Aegisthus.

The evening was dominated, however, by outstanding performances in the three female roles at the heart of the psychodrama. Karen Cargill compellingly charted Klytämnestra's breakdown, snarling and sneering without ever compromising vocal beauty. Vida Miknevičiūtė produced the concert's most radiant singing in her touching portrayal of Chrysothemis, a woman who longs only for the normality of family life. In the notoriously demanding title role, Ingela Brimberg combined seemingly tireless vocal powers with attentiveness to every textual nuance.

Everything was as impressively acted as it was sung: devising mise-en-scene without directorial input, singers deployed the small playing space with imagination and eloquence, highlighting the story's horrors with a focus that even the most elaborate staging - or Hollywood movie - would struggle to match.

Michael Downes

TV documentary Rainbow Warrior Sky Documentaries/Now ★★★★☆

Spies sink eco warriors in gasp- inducing doc

When DS Terry Batchelor received the call informing him of the whereabouts of the French couple suspected of bombing the Rainbow Warrior, he was eating a pie. The suspects were in Auckland, he learned, preparing to return a campervan to a rental depot. Batchelor gathered his team and set off in hot pursuit. And the pie? "Actually," reflects the retiree, peering at us over his moustache, "I hadn't started the pie yet." A pause. "But I was about to."

There is a lot of this sort of thing in this retelling of the events surrounding the July 1985 sinking of the titular Greenpeace flagship. That is to say: granular recollections, delivered by elderly men with combative facial hair, seemingly irrelevant in isolation but riveting and oddly comforting when viewed as part of a startling and frequently unhinged whole.

When the rusting former fishing trawler known as the Rainbow Warrior chugged into Auckland's Marsden Wharf, it was met with whoops and banners of the “WE LOVE THE FUTURE OF OUR KIDS” variety. Its mission? To head to the south Pacific and monitor France’s imminent neutron warhead tests. Oh no vous don’t, replied the French government, busily preparing to put paid to the activists’ aims.

Enter Opération Satanique, a top-secret mission involving “the crème de la crème” of France’s

foreign intelligence agency, the DGSE. Chief among said operatives were Dominique Prieur and her colleague Maj Alain Mafart, who would pose as Swiss honeymooners in a campervan.

Significantly less fun is the bombing itself, which resulted not just in the destruction of the Rainbow Warrior but the death of photographer Fernando Pereira. Similarly shameful is the litany of lies and denials that followed, with the French government attempting to reduce murder and international terrorism to the level of scuttlebutt and paranoia. It's gasp-inducing stuff, even if the documentary is at pains to keep the mood fizzy. Sarah Dempster

TV review The Airport Chaplain Netflix ★★★★☆

Gallant do-gooder tackles terminal emergencies

In case you were wondering, yes, airport chaplains really do exist. I doubt the lives of real people in the profession are as frenetic as those of this show's protagonist, Tobias Wallace (Hugo Weaving), whose existence is a testament to that old saying: "Not all heroes wear capes." Sometimes, they wear hi-vis vests.

Created by Elise McCredie and Jude Troy, and directed with jittery flair by Bonnie Moir and Tig Terera, this moreish eight-part series wastes no time establishing Tobias as a gallant do-gooder. He is a problem-solver, finding out-of-the-box solutions to all kinds of prickly situations, from locating lost baggage to transporting dead bodies. And sometimes, God forbid, he even provides spiritual counsel, such as helping a grieving son to deal with his father's death. But most of all, Tobias is a spectacular busybody, inserting himself into virtually every problem in the airport.

Trouble arises when Tobias's new boss arrives: terminal manager Mira (Shabana Azeez), who has not drunk the pastoral care Kool-Aid. During their first meeting, Mira isn't impressed when Tobias describes his role as “providing emotional, spiritual and practical support for passengers”. Nor is she thrilled when he knocks back her suggestion to file a daily work report, before abruptly leaving the meeting citing a “spiritual emergency”.

The stage is set for a good ol' fashioned war between management and an employee who views himself as absolutely integral to the viability of the organisation. And as much as viewers may instinctively side with Tobias, most of us will see some merit in Mira's scepticism, which gives her increasing desire to show him the door - a solid narrative foothold.

The episodes are pressure-packed, making the show thoroughly bingeable. Tobias is, of course, the glue binding the show together: Weaving - one of the giants of Australian screen and stage - exudes a great combination of gravitas and relatability. His presence has dynamism, but without any heightened quality that suggests you would never encounter such a person in real life. If my luggage ever disappears, I want Tobias Wallace on the case. Luke Buckmaster

Business

'Winter panic': EU gas stores fall to lowest level in 13 years

Jillian Ambrose

Europe is on course to enter the cooler months with gas stores at their lowest level in 13 years, which has triggered “winter panic” among energy traders, experts have warned.

The EU's gas stocks were $63\%$ full in the last week of August, well below the $80\%$ average for late August in recent years and among the lowest ever recorded for this time of year.

At the current rate of gas storage injections, the EU is likely to enter the winter with gas stocks about a fifth below the five-year average, and at their lowest since 2013, said Greg Molnár, a gas analyst and professor.

“Low storage levels are naturally increasing the risk of heightened winter price volatility,” he said, which could be made worse by “cold spells or slow wind patterns” increasing gas usage over the winter.

The UK may be particularly exposed to market volatility because it is one of Europe's biggest gas consumers but has some of the lowest domestic gas storage capacity.

Typically, the UK relies on imports of gas via pipeline from Europe or tankers from the US and the Middle East. Chris O'Shea, chief executive of the British Gas owner, Centrica, said this week the UK had “almost no gas in storage” for the coming winter.

The EU's gas stores have struggled to reach a watered-down target of $80\%$ full by the start of winter, since the US-Israel war on Iran triggered severe disruption to exports of oil and gas from the Gulf region.

A cold end to last winter, and higher-than-usual gas power generation during Europe's heatwaves this summer, have also contributed to the bloc's depleted gas stores. In a typical year, owners of storage facilities fill them up during the summer when both demand and prices are lower.

Europe's gas market prices have "stayed relatively calm" this summer amid hopes that the strait of Hormuz would be reopened and winter stocks could be rebuilt. However, "no one expects it to happen any time soon", said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at Nordic banking group SEB. "As a result, the European natural gas market has run into a bit of a winter panic over the past week."

Although Europe is not expected to experience physical gas shortages this winter, traders expect higher prices. Benchmark gas price has climbed to three-year highs above €68 (£58) per megawatt-hour (MWh) in recent weeks, more than double the price at the start of the year.

EU gas storage is projected to remain well below its 12-year average % increase on average dual-fuel bill

Source: Gas Infrastructure Europe

Prices have risen sharply amid mounting expectation that EU market traders will need to compete with Asian buyers for cargoes of liquefied natural gas as temperatures cool. Without the return of Middle East gas exports, Europe's benchmark price "would likely need to move above €100/MWh" to draw enough shipments of gas to meet winter demand, Goldman Sachs analysts said.

Gas supply concerns are particularly acute in western Europe, where storage levels are well below those in Italy and Poland, which have managed to top up their stores to 80% full.

In Germany, which has Europe's largest gas storage capacity, facilities are about half-full, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe, while those in Belgium and the Netherlands, which link directly to the UK gas market via gas pipelines, stand at $51\%$ and $45\%$ .

UK reliance on global gas imports is expected to deepen as declining gas production from its North Sea sector accelerates, and Norwegian output begins to fall from 2030.

The government is considering plans to provide direct financial support to safeguard domestic gas infrastructure, after an official consultation found that homes and businesses risked running out of gas within the next decade, despite growing clean energy sources.

This may include offering financial support to owners of gas storage facilities and pipeline operators to make it economically viable to upgrade and maintain them in the decades ahead.

The UK energy regulator, Ofgem, said this week that typical gas and electricity bills would rise by 4% from October under its quarterly cap.

Long road from Brexit North-east's recovery rides on Nissan survival

Wall Street anticipates rate rise after Fed chair's speech

Gaya Gupta Heather Stewart

Financial markets increased their expectations of a September rise in US interest rates yesterday after Kevin Warsh, the chair of the Federal Reserve, said if inflation remained high, the Fed still had “work to do”.

In his first big speech in the role, Warsh said persistent high inflation had become “more concerning” and it was “the Fed’s job to deliver stable prices”. He declined to set out the possible future path of interest rates, but his speech was taken by markets as a signal that rates may rise in the coming months - a move that may put him at odds with Donald Trump, who has aggressively called for rates to be cut.

Wall Street had put a 35% probability on a rate rise next month before Warsh spoke, but that had risen above 59% by yesterday afternoon.

The Fed chief painted a relatively upbeat view of the economy that contrasted with some recent data, saying: "Both Main Street and Wall Street have been resilient."

The Fed's annual symposium in Wyoming, where Warsh spoke, has typically served as a platform for Fed chairs to offer clarity on the central bank's general direction. For example, the former Fed chair Jerome Powell foreshadowed rate cuts at his keynote address last year.

◀ Kevin Warsh, the chair of the Federal Reserve, said persistent high inflation had become more concerning

But Warsh yesterday insisted the days of such “forward guidance” were over. “I believe that the practice has overstayed its welcome,” he said.

At the central bank's last board meeting in July, three out of 12 voting members wanted to raise rates by a quarter of a percentage point - the first time in a decade so many members had shared dissent over a policy position. But a majority voted to hold rates - which currently sit at a range of $3.5\%$ to $3.75\%$ - steady.

Warsh has had to strike a delicate balance between managing an economy shaken by higher oil prices brought on by the war in Iran and not provoking the White House.

After hitting a three-year high of 4.2% in May, US inflation cooled to 3.4% in July - 1 percentage point higher than last year.

trains, which are also to be built in the north-east.

Jasper Jolly

In a factory in Gateshead, engineers carefully wind metal wires around iron cores to go in electric motors. Here, workers produce a smaller “pancake motor”,

which generates higher torque than conventional versions for supercars or construction equipment.

These workers form part of north-east England's automotive industry, which has experienced a long line of political disruptions, from Margaret Thatcher's efforts to attract international investment, through Brexit and now Andy Burnham's reindustrialisation strategy.

Across the Gateshead factory, which is owned by Turntide, more people are preparing tools to assemble 2.5-tonne prototype battery packs for Hitachi's hybrid

The factory is one example of the ripples that have spread out from the centre of the area's automotive industry, the Sunderland car factory 15 minutes down the road owned by Japan's Nissan.

Turntide's business would not be here without its bigger automotive neighbour. Hyperdrive, one of the businesses combined into US-owned Turntide, secured its first batteries from a factory supplying Nissan next door. The smaller company shows why governments court big manufacturers: they bring stable jobs and can also initiate growth in the local economy.

Yet the situation is not so positive across the local industry. Four decades after opening in 1986, Nissan's underutilised Sunderland plant is hoping to build cars for China's Chery. The deal, which is still not confirmed, came at just

FTSE 100 +31.72

All share +16.28

10824.26

5842.37

Dow Indl -14.07

Nikkei 225 +273.58

53555.37

SOURCE: ICE www.ice.com/data

66405.56

£/€ 1.1681 £/\$ 1.3575

+0.0018

-0.0008

the right time for Sunderland's workers, with the plant operating at barely half its capacity and facing a series of Brexit threats to its export-led model.

The Nissan factory opened as the keystone of Thatcher's investment drive. In Sunderland those efforts are mostly seen as a success: the first Bluebird from the plant takes pride of place in the city's museum. The factory produced 507,000 cars in 2016, just shy of the 510,000 made in 2012, and it was seen as the carmaker's most efficient plant internationally.

Andy Palmer, who was Nissan's global chief operating officer before leaving to lead Aston Martin in 2014, said the plant was “the shining star globally for Nissan in the manufacturing world”.

The list of challenges faced by the global car industry over the past decade is long, with the pandemic and subsequent supply chain chaos, increased protectionism and the rise of Chinese competitors - all while finding cash to invest heavily in electric technology. But Sunderland's automotive industry in particular became a symbol of a difficulty specific to Britain's companies: Brexit.

The vote triggered a decade of political turmoil in Britain and huge uncertainty for carmakers over whether the Conservative government would pursue a “no deal” exit that would have led to the overnight imposition of tariffs on the UK’s largest export market. Nissan was eventually granted £61m in secret state aid to invest in new models, followed by another £101m in late 2022.

The no deal outcome - seen as a catastrophe by most exporters - was averted, but car exporters still have to cope with twin Brexit threats this year. The first is from EU rules of origin that say electric cars made in Britain must contain batteries made in the UK or EU to avoid paying tariffs, and vice versa.

Workers on the Nissan production line in Sunderland; right, view of the vast plant, which today operates at only half its capacity. Above, a production line in China for Chery, with which the plant seeks a deal PHOTOGRAPHS: CHRISTOPHER THOMOND/ THE GUARDIAN; ALAMY; VCG/GETTY

Nissan sources batteries from the next-door gigafactory run by Chinese-owned AESC, but the rules also require crucial cathode materials inside the cells to be sourced from Europe. That may prove too hard, so the automotive industry in the UK and EU is pushing for the latter to extend the rules of origin deadline for a second time. But some industry insiders do not expect an extension until as late as December, as the EU uses it for leverage in negotiations.

The second threat is from the EU's separate Industrial Accelerator Act, which will limit public procurement and subsidies to cars “made in EU” in an effort to protect carmakers from China. Factories in Britain will be locked out under the current draft. Nissan, which declined a request for an

▲ A worker at the Turntide factory in Gateshead producing an axial flux motor, below, AKA a pancake motor

interview, has privately warned the government that Sunderland's future is at risk.

"It's not a slam dunk that Nissan will survive," Palmer said. "If made in Europe excludes the UK then I think it's existential for Sunderland. Sunderland will die."

The big carmakers in Britain are also lobbying hard on another issue the government is considering: watering down electric vehicle targets, known as the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate. The existing rules mean battery cars must make up 80% of sales from high-volume manufacturers, but Burnham's government this month announced the new target could be as low as 50%.

David Bailey, a professor of business economics at the University of Birmingham, said: "Brexit keeps bringing up these uncertainties. The world is changing, and the EU responds to that, and that affects the UK."

Nissan was an electric pioneer and has invested heavily to build its new electric Leaf and Juke crossover SUV models. Yet the company will welcome lower targets after reportedly shelving development of an electric Qashqai, wary of lower than expected demand for battery cars around the world.

It has also set its sights on selling new petrol cars beyond 2035, when they are due to be banned. Some analysts believe carmakers trying to delay the shift to electric are signing their own death warrants by ceding the market to Chinese competitors.

A Nissan spokesperson said it was “committed to a fully electric future” and that the mandate “must align with real-life consumer EV demand to ensure a gradual transition to full zero-emission vehicle sales while supporting the competitiveness of UK automotive manufacturing”.

Nissan is undergoing a painful restructuring process worldwide, with the chief executive, Ivan Espinosa, closing seven factories and cutting 20,000 jobs.

If confirmed, Nissan will build cars for Chery, a part-state-owned Chinese carmaker that also makes the Omoda and Jaecoo brands. Nissan would still own the plant and employ the workers and would be able to use its spare capacity - it only managed 273,000 cars in 2025.

Some experts think there is little chance of Chery confirming the deal if the Brexit issues are not resolved. Yet the Unite union is pleased, arguing it would keep volumes up, thus preserving jobs.

For Turntide, the north-east of England still offers what it needs to try to grow its business. David Orgill, Turntide's vice-president of global operations, said: "Why not here? Why not in the north of England? The supply chain is fantastic up here."

Turntide's US parent company, backed by Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BMW and Amazon, combined three UK businesses with the aim of expanding sales. It is expecting surging demand for its pancake motors (which are known as axial flux motors because of the different arrangement of their internal magnets). Based on talks with carmakers and construction equipment companies, it wants to expand production to 12,000 motors a year by 2028.

“We’re expecting to grow significantly in the next 18 months,” Orgill said. “We’re actually able to pull back a lot of the capability and manufacturing back into the UK.”

The survival and success of the Nissan plant is seen as politically crucial in the north-east and at Westminster, which partly explains why the government is indeed preparing to weaken the EV mandate further.

Even if the Chery deal is confirmed, the north-east's automotive industry faces a long road to get back to its heyday when Nissan was producing half a million cars. Yet it has got through tricky situations before.

“I admire the plant for surviving,” said Prof Colin Herron, an automotive expert at Newcastle University. “The resilience of the people at that factory is incredible. Now they’re entering a new phase.”

Business

Changing channel Will the TV festival survive its move south?

Robyn Vinter

The summer sojourn to Edinburgh has been a highlight of TV executives' calendars for half a century, allowing them an

annual trip to the UK's most spectacular city during the world's biggest arts festival.

So there was sadness when it was announced that this year's 50th Edinburgh TV festival would be the last to be held in the Scottish capital.

High costs prompting concerns about accessibility - accommodation in the city in August is the most expensive in Europe - led the TV Foundation, the charity that runs the annual industry shindig, to consider a new venue last year.

Campbell Glennie, its chief executive, said the decision

was about “exploring how we can reduce costs for delegates and make the festival open to more people”. However, critics pointed out that while holding the conference alongside the Edinburgh fringe and international festivals made it so expensive, the chance to see world-class theatre, arts and comedy was a huge part of the draw.

Off the record, some TV figures blamed the Scottish government for the failure to keep the event in Scotland. Glasgow had initially been on the table, requiring only a 40-minute train ride west, but Holyrood ministers threw their weight behind a campaign to keep the event in the capital.

It was ultimately Manchester that had the winning proposition, backed by Andy Burnham, then mayor of Greater Manchester, who promised the necessary “infrastructure, talent, ambition and creativity” to host the festival from next year.

At Edinburgh's valedictory gathering, many delegates did not hide their disappointment.

One Scottish television producer said it reflected a problem in the industry where production companies south of the border have brought London-based workers to film in Scotland and failed to hire local talent. “It’s a fucking joke,” they added.

The TV Foundation said relocating would “radically reduce the costs” for attenders. The charity makes no profit from running the festival and instead invests the funds in programmes to improve training and widen access, with several sessions this year to tackle the class gap in the industry.

The scriptwriter James Graham used the festival's keynote 2024 MacTaggart lecture to lament how inaccessible the industry was for working-class people.

A subsequent TV Foundation report found nearly a quarter of TV executives are privately educated.

▲ The actor Gary Oldman, who received a global icon award at this year's Edinburgh TV festival PHOTOGRAPH: ANTHONY DEVLIN/GETTY IMAGES

There is also enormous financial pressure in the industry. Traditional UK broadcasters are struggling to compete for audiences and advertising against deep-pocketed US-based streaming titans, such as Netflix and Amazon.

As British commissioners slash their TV production budgets, freelancers are bearing the brunt, making it harder to fund networking events like the TV festival. A full-price ticket cost more than £1,500, though there were bursaries and lower rates for freelancers, Scottish delegates and those under 30.

Adeel Amini, a freelance executive producer who founded

MEN DIDST LOB BEERS AND RIOT IN A TWISTED SHOW OF "C

Coming soon: The Bayeux Tapestry, 2026 edition

Didn't manage to get tickets to see the Bayeux tapestry when it arrives in the UK next month? Don't worry, cartoonist Edith Pritchett has you covered. Look out for her exclusive poster, capturing the many battles of our times in her very modern version, from tech overlords to toxic trolls.

Only inside the Guardian's Saturday magazine on Saturday 5th September the campaign group The TV Mindset to support casual workers in the sector, said: “The price of the ticket is already ridiculous.” He praised the TV Foundation but said the conference itself highlighted how “two-tier the industry is”, with a divide between those who pay their own way and executives whose companies pick up the tab.

Daran “Jonno” Johnson, the head writer on this year’s SNL UK, spoke on a TV festival panel yesterday morning. It was between performances of his successful nightly fringe standup run.

He said the benefit of the two festivals being in the same city was that “so many industry people are suddenly in town” meant it was helpful “to have that pipeline between fringe comedy and telly”.

Performers were concerned that their shows - many of which cost tens, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds to put on - might no longer have the same chance of being seen by commissioners.

However, the fringe was so integral to many TV executives' diaries that they would still be here if the schedules clashed, reassured Alex Cartlidge, co-director of Country Mile Productions. “The reason you’re coming to Edinburgh, if you’re a TV producer, is for the fringe … if TV companies have the choice next year between going to Manchester or coming here, 99% of people will come here.”

There is hope for those who do not want to see the link between the fringe and television severed. On Thursday evening, a new initiative was launched for 2027, funded in part by the Scottish government. David Smith, director of Screen Scotland, said: “It will be inclusive of TV, but it won’t be a TV festival.”

Asda chief hails return to growth as 'huge milestone'

Sarah Butler

Asda has heralded its first trading growth in more than two years as the supermarket's boss said it was attracting more shoppers with lower prices and an improved online service.

Allan Leighton, the executive chair of the UK's third-largest grocer, said a 0.2% rise in sales at established stores, excluding fuel, in the seven weeks to 18 August was “a huge milestone” that was “psychologically important for the business”. In the preceding three months, sales had fallen 2.3%.

"Our price position is strong, we are now getting more customers in the business and we have got some momentum online and that's been the biggest drag," Leighton said. The last time Asda's sales rose was in the first three months of 2024.

He said Asda's performance had been aided by more stability in its IT systems after a traumatic and expensive shift from the technology of its former owner, Walmart. In 2020 the billionaire Issa brothers and the private equity firm TDR Capital bought

0.2%

Rise in sales growth at established Asda stores, excluding fuel, in the seven weeks preceding 18 August

Asda in a £6.8bn takeover. TDR now controls the business.

Since the buyout, Asda has been struggling with falling sales and profits as well as a huge debt pile, while paying out close to £1bn to revamp its IT systems. Leighton returned to help turn around the business for the second time in his career in November 2024 after a 20-year absence.

Despite inflation on groceries in the UK, Asda's sales had been falling as the problems with its technology meant it struggled to keep shelves stocked, while it also faced heavy competition from the cut-price chains Aldi and Lidl as well as from bigger rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Aldi is now less than one percentage point behind Asda in market share and continues to grow at a faster pace, threatening to steal its rival's spot as the UK's third-largest chain.

Leighton has said it was not inevitable that Aldi would leapfrog Asda, as it is fighting back with measures including a deal with the online specialist Ocado to provide technology to improve its website and delivery systems from next year.

"There is some momentum in the business and it is upwards and that is important," Leighton said. He had "never felt not confident" and Asda could be revamped as "the business is too good not to be turned around".

He said growth had been led by food, sales of which were up 0.7% at established stores for the seven-week period. Sales of clothing and other non-food products fell as, Leighton said, the wider market was tough, and the late August bank holiday had delayed shoppers' spending on back to school items.

Inflation on food is appearing in some areas of produce as the hot dry summer hit crops, but Leighton said Asda was managing stocks and pricing of petrol well.

US judge rules Pentagon broke law by blacklisting Anthropic

Nick Robins-Early

A US federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration broke the law when it designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk this year, finding that the government had unlawfully targeted the AI firm for refusing to comply with defence department demands.

Judge Rita Lin's ruling on Thursday barred the federal agencies named in the lawsuit from enforcing Donald Trump's order to stop using Anthropic's tools and overturned the defence secretary Pete Hegseth's designation of the company as a “supply chain risk”. The status, usually reserved for foreign firms, would have blocked government agencies from doing business with Anthropic.

The case emerged from a feud in which Anthropic refused to allow the government to use its Claude AI model for autonomous lethal weapons or domestic mass surveillance.

Lin put a temporary pause on the government's punitive measures in March. Thursday's ruling makes that suspension permanent, although the government may appeal.

Own the daily grind

The UK's number one commercial property destination

Money

Bank scams 'I've got £80k in my account. Here's the pin number'

Y our phone rings and it's someone from your bank saying your account has been compromised by scammers. It

needs details so it can help protect your money. Before you know it, the bank agent is telling you to move your money, or hand over your debit card for safekeeping. Unfortunately, far from protecting you from fraudsters, the person on the other end of the line is a scammer.

These impersonation scams are rife and costly. Santander says more than £3m has been stolen from its customers so far this year, with an average loss of £6,000.

Meanwhile, figures from Lloyds bank show that fraudsters posing as representatives of trusted organisations such as the police, banks, HM Revenue and Customs and phone providers stole more from its customers in the year to the end of June than in the previous 12 months.

While the number of customers reporting a scam has fallen 3% this year, the average sum taken rose 10% to £3,516. A third of these reported scams involved someone posing as the police or a bank.

Here, an anonymous reader details how he turned the tables, plus we highlight some of the scam's latest incarnations.

A couple of Sundays ago at just past 11am my mobile rang. An automated message purported to be from Barclays bank, querying a payment to Argos for more than £1,000.

Argos for more than £1,000. Not only had I not made a payment to Argos recently, I don't actually bank with Barclays.

I am plagued with these kinds of calls. Usually, when possible, I make it clear to the scammers that I know their game. Usually, that call ends there and then.

But this time I realised there was a chance to string them along. It was just a question of how soon they realised I was bluffing. I assumed it would be a couple of minutes. In fact it was three hours.

I called the number shown on my phone and, pretending to be a confused, doddery old man - not that difficult for me - I expressed the expected alarm at the bogus payment.

The man who answered, who had more or less a received pronunciation accent, went through what I understand is the usual story: my credit card had been compromised, bankruptcy was on the horizon, remedial action essential. Someone from the investigations team would call me back, he said. Thirty minutes later someone calling himself “Adam” rang. From here on, in the number always came up as “No caller ID”.

Several times Adam ended the call, presumably to consult with his fellow crooks, and rang back later.

First, Adam went through several security-like questions. When did I last use my credit card? “Can’t remember,” I replied. What was the last transaction I made? “Dunno.” Did I use internet banking? “No”. Then came the big one: how much is in your current account? “Around £80,000,” I said. (If only.)

There wasn't a sharp intake of breath. I couldn't hear a licking of lips. But I could sense that Adam's vocal cords had tightened, and he was from now on more intense.

He explained it was a matter of the utmost urgency my credit card should be cancelled and a new one issued. Would I like to keep the same pin, he asked? I said “yes” and he asked for it. I’d already written down a made-up pin on a bit of paper, and gave it to him. I thought I could sense him trying hard to remain matter of fact.

He asked if I had my debit card and credit card with me. I said I couldn't find my credit card. Adam was stern, insisting I look for it. I couldn't be bothered to fabricate two false 16-digit numbers, and so

How not to fall victim 'If a text or call doesn't look or sound right, trust your instincts'

▲ It’s easy to be caught out by an unexpected call from ‘your bank’

Bank impersonation scams often begin with a phone call or text that claims to be from your bank.

It is texts that are largely favoured by scammers, says Elaine Ross, head of fraud analytics at Nationwide building society. It is easy to send many in one go, she says, and “a lot of people are more sceptical about people calling, than they are about getting a message”.

Because messages are sent out randomly, one could claim to be from a company you have no financial relationship with. But if it does include your bank's name, it is likely to stop you in your tracks.

Often the text says a payment has been set up from your account and asks you to take action if you don't recognise the transaction.

Recent messages seen by Guardian Money show criminals saying you have paid a specific person or business. “It will be high value, and a person the victim doesn’t know,” Ross says.

In some cases the message will give you a number to call; in others will ask you to reply “Y” if it was you and “N” if it wasn’t. “As soon as you press “N”, they will call back and say they are from Nationwide’s security team or the police. That puts people into a panic,” she says.

Once the scammer has you on the phone, they will usually attempt to persuade you to move cash or hand over your card details - or both - for your own protection.

Ross says that if you get a text or call, you should pause before you respond and, if in doubt, speak to

Santander Text Alert:

, a payment request of £829.32 at ALAN MOTORS on 2026-08-19 10:58:43 is currently on hold. If this was your transaction, reply Y and it will go ahead soon. If this was NOT you please call

straight away.

▲ A text will often cite a high value, and name a person or business

someone you know and trust.

Chris Ainsley, head of fraud risk management at Santander UK, says: "If something doesn't look or sound right, trust your instincts. Stop, check and contact your bank directly using a trusted number."

That could be on the back of your debit card, or in your bank or building society's app, or on a statement or letter.

Lots of financial companies have set up tools to help their customers avoid falling victim to scams. At Nationwide, for example, if you are speaking to someone claiming to be from the building society, you can check via its app if it is a genuine call: open and go to the “more” section, then tap “call checker”.

No genuine bank or building society will complain if you say you want to hang up and ring back.

If you try to transfer money, you should see security warnings about scams. Take these seriously, no matter what anyone on the phone tells you. Hilary Osborne

Energy cap How to save £173 a year by fixing a deal Page 50

Fantasy house hunt Homes with plenty of kerb appeal Page 51

ILLUSTRATION: SEAN O'BRIEN

I told him my wife must have it and she was out. He let this go.

I had already taken out one of my debit cards from my wallet, one issued by HSBC, jotted down the first eight digits, and made up eight more. To my surprise, and some alarm, Adam read out the first six digits correctly, saying the card was issued by HSBC. (How did he know I had an HSBC account?)

He didn't bother to explain why he needed the debit card, too - or why he needed the numbers - and, being in character I didn't ask, just went meekly along. I guess the implication was that both cards were compromised and so the investigations team needed to cancel that one as well.

I gave him the made-up number, thinking this would be the end of it. But within a minute he came back and said the number I'd given didn't seem to be a genuine one.

I assumed concerned bafflement and told him that all I could say was that I was reading out the number on the card in front of me. There was another pause, presumably while he consulted one of his scammer colleagues. To my surprise they decided to keep going.

As this was Sunday, as Adam pointed out, the banks were closed. So the only safe procedure was to send round a courier to pick up my debit card - right now. It couldn't wait until tomorrow. Was that OK with me? I told him it was fine.

He said I should put the card in an envelope and address it: HSBC Investigations Team, what he thought was my name, Ref HS844677.

He was most insistent on two things: he repeated several times that the courier must, on no account whatsoever, be able to see that a bank card was in the envelope, and that I must seal it extremely carefully.

He insisted three times that I read the address back to him. I pretended to be getting a bit fed up with all this but he explained, quite firmly, that banking security was at stake here and there was no room for error.

A new thought then occurred to him. Did I have a current bank statement, and could I find the most recent one? I noisily opened and shut a drawer. He asked for the balance. I had already written down a precise made-up amount. I told him £81,224.93.

Adam told me he'd ring back when he had booked the courier and got an ETA. He'd already asked me for my postcode and I'd given him one where I lived several years ago. Now he asked for my exact address and I gave him a house number that I knew was too high to exist in that street.

Fifteen minutes later he rang back, sounding a little flustered. A blue Prius was outside the address I'd given but it seemed to be a block of flats. "That's not right," I said, "I live in a house." Another hiatus, as he communicated with the courier. Could I see a blue Prius? he asked. I paused long enough to have looked out of an imaginary window and said "No, I can't see a blue car".

What can you see outside your house? he asked. "Nothing," I said. He rang off again.

Five minutes later he called back. Would I mind going out and trying to find the blue Prius? I explained that I had a bad leg and couldn't leave my house at all. But I would gladly open the front door and have a look. Then another call. The driver was absolutely adamant that the address was in a block of flats.

I'd kept this charade up for a lot longer than I'd expected and I was about to go out. "Oh dear," I said in my best whispery voice, "it looks like I've been wasting your time."

What? I switched into my own voice to deliver the - unprintable - coup de grace, and hang up.

Adam even had the cheek to ring back later. I didn't answer. I wish I had. I could have thanked him for the afternoon's entertainment Anonymous

First-time buyers Don't delay, bag the outgoing lifetime Isa now, say experts

A new Isa to help savers get a foot on the property ladder is due to launch in 2028, but there are many reasons not to wait. Rupert Jones reports

If you want to start saving towards your first home, don't wait until a new Isa just for first-time buyers goes on sale. That is the advice from experts after more details

emerged about a savings account the government plans to launch to help people get a foot on the property ladder.

The first-time buyer Isa is likely to replace the existing lifetime Isa in two years and is supposed to be simpler than the older account. However, it looks as if the financial benefits won't be as attractive as those offered by the current product, so there's no advantage in hanging around.

Why scrap the lifetime Isa? It offers a very good deal in the form of free cash, but it also has some downsides.

You must be 18 or over, and under 40, to open one, and you can pay in up to £4,000 a year until you turn 50. The money in the account can be saved in cash or invested. It can then be used to help buy a first home, or withdrawn after age 60.

The government adds a 25% bonus to your savings, paid monthly, up to a maximum of £1,000 a year. Someone who “maxes out” the account from age 18 to 50 could pocket £32,000 in free cash, which, in turn, will be increased by interest or investment returns, thus further boosting their savings pot.

But the property you buy must cost £450,000 or less - a cap that has stayed the same since 2017, while house prices have risen.

Savers who withdraw their money to spend on a property costing more than the price cap face a 25% charge for an “unauthorised withdrawal”. This is designed to recover the government bonus, but it also grabs some of the saver’s original investment.

Many experts say this would be easy to fix by simply increasing the price cap and reducing the penalty.

Instead, the government has decided to ditch the lifetime Isa for new savers, saying there is evidence it “is not working well for many”, and create a new account. It is thought this will not go on sale until 2028 at the earliest.

Until then, it will still be possible to open a lifetime Isa, and to carry on saving in line with the existing rules “indefinitely,” the Treasury says.

Should I wait?

“For those starting to plan the next stage of their life and save towards a first home, there is little reason to delay if they are in a position to start saving now,” says Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at investment platform AJ Bell.

“Taking advantage of a lifetime Isa could allow them to benefit from the existing government bonus - and investment growth on it - while they wait for further details of the new product.”

There are other reasons why those in the industry are suggesting you don't wait. The first-time

buyer Isa appears to be more user-friendly than the lifetime Isa: it will have no upper age limit and no withdrawal charges.

However, savers could end up worse-off than those who use a lifetime Isa. With the new account, the government bonus will not be paid at the end of each month but as a lump sum at the point when the individual is buying their first home. So you will be missing out on any potential interest, or investment growth that the bonus might have attracted.

And the bonus will be based on what you have paid in (minus any withdrawals) rather than what your fund ends up being worth - it will not take into account any of the savings interest, or investment growth that you will have enjoyed.

“For a saver putting away £333 a month over 10 years at a return of 6%, receiving the bonus at the end, rather than monthly, costs them more than £3,600 in lost growth. That’s assuming a 25% government bonus,” says Brian Byrnes, the director of personal finance at the wealth management platform Moneybox.

However, we don't yet know whether the new account will also offer a $25\%$ government bonus, or if the annual contribution limit will also be £4,000.

We also don't know if the £450,000 property price cap will be increased on either Isa.

Can I move to the new Isa? If you already have a lifetime Isa, or open one, you won't be able to transfer it to the new Isa. This is to prevent account holders earning two lots of bonus government cash.

You will be able to take out a first-time buyer Isa as well, although you will only be able to save into one type in any single tax year.

Someone holding both accounts will be able to use the money saved in both towards the same home purchase.

Transferring from a normal stocks and shares Isa, into a cash first-time buyer Isa, will be banned. Transfers from a normal cash Isa into a cash first-time buyer Isa will be permitted, as would transfers from a stocks and shares Isa to a stocks and shares first-time buyer Isa. However, if you do this, as opposed to taking out a lifetime Isa, you will miss out on the 25% government bonus in the meantime.

When trying to get on the property ladder both timing and counting the pennies matter. Best to act now rather than wait PHOTOGRAPH: REBEKAH DOWNES/PA

Energy Get a fix to save up to £173 a year on bills

Rupert Jones

With higher energy bills looming, and warnings of worse to come, households

could save up to £173 a year by switching to a fixed deal.

Millions in Great Britain face the highest energy charges in three years after it was announced that the government's price cap will rise again in October. This will be the second increase in three months.

However, moving to a fixed tariff would help avoid the increases, and another widely predicted for January. These tariffs offer a set standing charge and unit costs, often for one or two years.

Gas and electricity prices will rise by 4% from 1 October under the new cap, after climbing 13% at the start of July. This will take the rate for 22 million households on default tariffs to the equivalent of £1,723 a year, based on typical gas and electricity usage, and will kick in just as many people will probably be turning the heating back on.

However, even the energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, has gone into Martin Lewis mode, extolling the money-saving benefits offered by a fix.

“Savings are available by choosing a fixed tariff, which are available at £100 or more below the October price cap,” it says.

About 11m homes (35% of the total) are already on one and so will not be affected by the rise announced this week. They will be protected from price increases until their current deal ends.

Price comparison websites say many households could save decent sums by switching to one of the cheapest fixes on the market.

Doing a quick check, using one of these sites, will show you what is available based on your personal usage. At the time of writing there are plenty of fixed deals that beat

The amount that gas and electricity prices will rise from 1 October after climbing 13% at the start of July

£1,550

Cost of a year's typical usage after switching to cheapest fix from Fuse Energy, £113 below current price cap ▼ Experts predict energy price rises of about 9% in January PHOTOGRAPH: DANNY LAWSON /PA

the new October figure, “offering households certainty over what they’ll pay through the coldest months, regardless of what happens to wholesale prices”, says Uswitch.com.

The cheapest is from Fuse Energy at £1,550 a year for a typical-usage home - this is £173 below the October cap figure, and £113 below the current cap. It is available in various forms: there is one that lasts for 14 months - Fuse Energy August 2026 Fixed (14m) V1 - being offered by Uswitch and Confused.com, as well as Fuse Energy itself.

Meanwhile, MoneySuperMarket offers a version fixed for 18 months, called Fuse Energy August 2026 Fixed (18m) V10.

There are several other fixes available from suppliers including Co-op Energy, Octopus Energy, E.ON Next and Ecotricity, that offer typical savings (versus the October price cap) of more than £100 a year. Some are exclusive to one or more comparison sites but, in many cases, you can get them direct from the supplier.

For those who haven't already done so, the advice to consider switching to a fixed tariff has been lent extra weight by the prediction that the pain is only going to get worse.

According to analysts at Cornwall Insight, bills are forecast to rise by a further 9% in January, just when temperatures may be at their lowest.

If that happens, the typical household bill will climb by £149 to about £1,872 a year. However, the January 2027 figure will not be confirmed until November, and a lot could happen between now and then.

Before you switch, check how long remains on your current

contract and whether there are any exit fees, says Gareth Kloet at Go. Compare.

October's cap would have been even higher if the government had not announced a temporary VAT cut on domestic electricity. This will reduce the tax from $5\%$ to zero between 1 October this year and 31 March 2027, resulting in a £45-a-year saving for a typical household (this has been reflected in the new cap). The cut will benefit those now on fixed tariffs, as well as those whose bills are pegged to the price cap - the discount will be automatically applied to accounts by suppliers.

You may want to check if you qualify for help, says Sarah Coles at investment platform AJ Bell. Initiatives include the warm home discount scheme, which reopens in October and is a one-off £150 discount off your electricity bill.

Consumer champion Anna Tims

O2 insists that I meet my abusive partner in person

My partner packed up and disappeared with his children while I was out with friends. I was left having to foot all our bills, including rent, which has made me financially stressed.

We had a family plan with O2 which meant family phones were all registered to my account. When my partner left, he stopped paying his share of the monthly phone bill, so I set about trying to remove his, and his children's, phones from the account. O2 explained he would need to join a conference call with me and O2 to agree the transfer of the numbers in question.

Getting my ex to engage with this involved support from a mutual friend; then he claimed he could not join the conference calls. O2 had only one suggestion: that he and I meet in person for the call.

My ex is an emotionally aggressive and manipulative man. He does not know where I now live, and I want to keep it that way, so I met him in a busy park, and we spent an hour on the phone together with O2. His children's numbers successfully transferred. His number did not. O2 said it would keep working on it and ended the call.

Two weeks on, nothing has happened. O2 insists I either make another joint call with my ex, or pay his outstanding bills and cancel his phone plan.

I've explained about my financial situation and concerns about meeting up with him.

I discovered an O2 form allowing customers to flag up difficult family situations and filled it out but was told I did not qualify. I have now been sent a £164 early termination fee for the children's numbers that were removed from the plan.

My ex is deliberately manipulating this situation. I am baffled that O2 does not have a better process for women during relationship breakdown as forced meet ups could be really risky in some cases.

Name and address withheld

▲ Trying to sort out an O2 account proved traumatic and risky

I felt rage when I read of your plight. You had, by then, spent four weeks trying to get O2 to understand the potential risks of meeting your ex and the financial hardship his departure caused. Its response that you meet up, or pay up, was almost certainly in breach of the regulatory duty of care to vulnerable customers telecoms companies are obliged to fulfil.

When I pointed this out, O2 managed, within hours, what it had failed to do in weeks, and called you. It admitted you had been led on a debilitating wild goose chase.

Instead of subjecting you to a painful encounter in a public park, it should have served a disconnection notice giving him seven days to transfer the numbers to a new account. It duly did after a push from its press office, and cancelled the £164 charge. It has

offered you £200 in compensation but you, understandably, feel this does not reflect the anguish and expense the blunders caused you.

O2 says: “We have a range of policies to protect and support customers who have been victims of domestic abuse, ensuring they can safely disconnect unwanted numbers without having to meet an ex-partner in person. This existing support was not accurately offered, and we apologise for the experience she had, and the time taken to resolve her issue.”

My autistic son is living in fear of bailiffs sent by Ovo

My autistic son has been bombarded for years by letters to his home from OVO Energy addressed to “The Occupier”, with demands for money and threats of debt collectors. He is supplied by Scottish Gas.

He was required to let an OVO agent into his flat to “prove” he didn’t have an OVO meter. Neither this, nor countless phone calls, has stopped the demands.

Call centre agents confirm that he doesn't have an account but seem powerless to update the system. He lives in fear that bailiffs will break his door down. LO, Edinburgh

OVO swiftly decided that the bombardment was triggered by address error on the national database. In short, it says, the gas and electricity meters supplying another property had been registered to your son's address. It corrected the address for the gas, but tells me another supplier owned the electricity meter and had “rejected multiple requests” by OVO to update the database.

In response to my queries, OVO agreed to suspend demands and issued a letter of deadlock to enable your son to complain to the Energy Ombudsman.

The letter, which enables access to the database, discovered that the electricity meter was correctly registered to a neighbouring address and supplied by OVO, but OVO had somehow got your son's address on its billing system. It was ordered to pay £150 compensation and the bills have now ceased.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions: http:// theguardian.com/letters-terms

Money

[1] 2017年，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）宣布将航空航天局与美国航空航天局联合成立，为航空航天局的成立。

In the Victorian quarter is Morpheth House, with a blue plaque commemorating a former resident, the stamp dealer Charles Whitfield King. This is not the most instantly noticeable thing about the front of the house. The grand facade has tall sash windows and there is detailing in a deep red. Mature trees soften the brick edges. Over three floors, it has seven bedrooms and three reception rooms, many with the original fireplaces, cornicing and ceiling roses. In the grounds are an old coach house and an octagonal garden hidden away. Jackson-Stops, 01473 218 218

◀Ipswich, Suffolk £950,000

Fantasy house hunt Homes with kerb appeal Compiled by Anna White

▶ Elie, Fife

£525,000

A short walk from the beach is a bright white three-bedroom terrace cottage with masonry picked out in vivid blue. It overlooks the bustling high street in this seaside town 42 miles from Edinburgh in the East Neuk of Fife. Through the front door is a sitting room to the left with a central fireplace and large leaded window. The dining room is on the right, and the kitchen is at the back with access to a private garden. Upstairs are three double bedrooms. There's sailing and water sports in the harbour. Savills, 0131 247 3738

◀York, North Yorkshire £1.15m

Alma Terrace is a mottled Victorian police station that had three holding cells and two dwellings for live-in officers. It has been transformed into a five-bedroom house with an office (rather than an officer) and a bar (rather than cell bars). On a corner in Fishergate, close to Rowntree Park, the handsome property has symmetrical domed windows and decorative chimneys. Kitchen units are stainless steel and there is underfloor heating running throughout the ground floor. There is a south-west facing courtyard garden. The Modern House, 020 3795 5920

▲ Clapham, London £850,000

Unlike so many properties in these parts, this two-up two-down terrace Victorian cottage has not been converted into flats. The front door opens into a hallway and then into a double reception room. The kitchen-diner is at the back where glass doors open on to the paved back garden. The current owners have planning permission for a full loft extension at the front and back. Marsh & Parsons, 020 7501 3666

▼ Radcliffe on Trent, Nottinghamshire £1m

On the popular Cropwell Road is Elm House, a six-bedroom, detached Victorian home. Through the timber-panelled front door is a traditional home with period features, albeit one that has been modernised, too. This small town is to the south-east of Nottingham, the other side of the water sports centre, Holme Pierrepont. Fine & Country, 0115 982 2824

61 Olympic venue with watering hole about to entertain billionaire (9)
64 It turns round and round and round! (5)

Puzzles

Guardian cryptic crossword bank holiday special by Maskarade

Sixteen clues consist of anagrams of thematic material, always presented in the same order.

Across

5/57 Red Sea coho (4; 6) 8/33 Clear arguments (9; 5)

14 Composer's catalogue suggested (5)

15 Merman provided discreet help, to some extent (5)

19 Ted, Vera and co., bemused, piled it on (9)

20 Stand up in shower (4)

22/10/55 Begorra! Verger won logo! (8; 6,6)

24/10/12 Maid googled ‘bee eater’ (4,4; 6,5)

26 Heart of philistine turned for one who denies all (8)

29 Bone's bad smell certain to return (7)

31 Reconsider, without working around critics (8)

32 Outstanding helper somehow became sloth (6)

36 My small book or two (3)

37 If thematic, name in full would appear twice pocketing Scandinavian currency (6)

38/1 Look at oval bin (6; 7)

39 Just over half the mixture is sprayed with tear gas (5)

41 Blackwood, bridge player, rather gaunt (5)

43 Nun and mariner live next to ship (6)

44 Priest met Old Vic's central characters (3)

46 Fixed time around rugged ridges (6)

47 Hotel was re-designed for David Letterman's programme (4,4)

48/33 Use place mats (2,5; 5)

51/16 Faith! Take Karl (3,5; 5)

53 Picking fruit and cereal grain and serving gin (8)

59 Park officer entered old yard with indoor fruit trees (8)

60 Figure one has only half a buck (4)

67 To start with, just explain our new grand Korean concept of an unspoken emotional bond (5)

68 Hymnodist from mid-Tyrone - a legend (5)

69 Audibly question the location of domestic store (9)

70 Some semester mainly (4)

71/58/37D July mess ceases - joy! (7; 5,5)

Down

3 Unconscious by a heavy blow, one not from around here (9)

4 Finished last in sprint - that's clear (5)

7 Dvorak's son-in-law at market place (3)

8 Went away with the French paper (4)

9 One blasphemes without adult responses (7)

11 Helping to remove beer from account (6)

13/42 Enriched pear (6; 6)

17 Old discourse, priest forgot to be cultivated (6)

21/63/2 Don Juan at sea in nets (8; 4,6)

23/6 Draw on bent wheel-chair (3,7; 1,1,8)

25 One's interrupting this compiler twice about Allegri composition (8)

28/34 Manchester kid's ID (4,5; 7)

30 Fictional detective depressed, carried by horse (7)

31 About to include Republican leader amid vernacular reference to his opponents (10)

35/56/18 Travel to West Crawley (8; 6,5)

40 Convertible used lane that's not yet open (8)

45/65 Tell BT - 'Help rajah' (3,3,4; 5) 49/27 Ninety dark sheep can (9; 9)

50 Instigate prison rising (4,2)

52 Engraver, stop on courtyard (7)

54/56/18 Rectory blast or two (3,3; 6,5)

62 State hair product for star (5) 66 Regular haunt that's in the garden (3)

Guardian mini crossword

For your daily mini crossword, download the Guardian app

Across

1 Maritime menace (4)

5 ‘Affectionate’ evening of character assassination (5)

7 Where you are (5)

8 Rocky debris (5)

9 Word used when referring to a ship (3)

Down

1 Precious mineral aggregates underground (4)

2 _ motel (5)

3 John Le __ (5)

4 Michaelmas daisy (5)

6 Not just any (3)

Solutions

Across

1 Agin (4)

5 ‘Clap along if you feel like a room without a __’ (Pharrell Williams lyric) (4)

6 Crosses - Prefect and Sierra? (5)

7 Munition provision (4)

8 Paul McCartney instrument (4)

Down

1 (Pleasant) scent (5)

2 Accepted standards of behaviour within a society (5)

3 Fusses (2-3)

4 Associates of ands and buts (3)

6 Descriptor of Paul McCartney (3)

Jumbo Cryptic

Mini

4 0 8 10 11 0 0 29 16

Train tracks

Puzzles

Solutions

ATLEGORIC Word wheel

4	1	3	2	4	2
3	2	4	1	5	1
3	1	4	5	3	1
4	1	4	5	3	1
2	3	2	1	4	5
4	1	5	3	2	3
4	1	5	3	2	3
3	2	4	1	5	1

Suguru

Codeword

Kakuro

Solution no 126 Quick cryptic

Kakuro

Fill the grid so that each block adds up to the total in the box above or to the left of it. You can only use the digits 1-9 and you must not use the same number twice in a block.

Crack the code to fill in the crossword grid. Each letter of the alphabet makes at least one appearance in the grid and is represented by the same number wherever it appears. A number of letters have been decoded to help with the identification of other letters and words in the grid.

Codeword

Suguru

Fill the grid so that each square in an outlined block contains a digit. A block of two squares contains the digits 1 and 2, a block of three squares contains the digits 1, 2 and 3, and so on. No same digit appears in neighbouring squares, not even diagonally.

Train tracks

Lay tracks to enable the train to travel from village A to village B. The numbers indicate how many sections of rail go in each row and column. There are only straight rails and curved rails. The track cannot cross itself.

Sandwich sudoku

Medium

Place the digits from 1-9 in each row, column and 3x3 block. The clues outside the grid show the sum of the numbers placed between the 1 and 9 in that row or column.

Puzzles

Looking for more? Download the Guardian app for more puzzles, including our new Premier League game, On the Ball, and our movie quiz, Film Reveal. Plus clues and answers to all our interactive crosswords and sudoku. Available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Quick crossword no 17,571

Across

1 Gentle flow (4) 3 Small hand-held telescope - The Amber ____(8) 9 Portable computers (7) 10 Dance - __No.5 (Lou Bega) (5) 11 Small, U-shaped bone in neck - oh, DIY! (anag) (5) 12 Large flatfish (6) 14 One who stirs up trouble (8-5) 17 Mark Carney became its PM in 2025 (6) 19 Life, fire or body (5) 22 House, lies or wash (5) 23 __bun - London football team (7) 24 Do or request something daring (4,4) 25 Harp-like instrument (4)

Down

1 US state - with ‘!’, a stage musical (8)

2 Youngest Marx brother (5)

4 Ripping children's party game? (4,3,6)

5 One who competes on computer, video etc (5)

6 Wrestling move (7)

7 Slovenly, lazy person (4)

8 Thingamy (6)

13 Person who has obtained a degree (8)

15 Queasy on the water (7)

16 Anything that attracts (6)

18 Bitter and sour - brace (anag) (5)

20 Analysis of (eg) purity of precious metals (5)

21 Stay afloat (4)

Guardian quick cryptic crossword No 126 set by Chandler

Across 1 A padre interfered with procession (6) 4 Some rush opposite retail outlet (4) 8 Disprove first signs of rubbish expressed by unpredictable Trump (5) 9 After hearing, went after pamphlet (5) 10 By the sound of it, manages abroad (8) 13 Pastry I'd designed for brief excursions (3,5) 16 Thing on which a pianist sits is too little in part (5) 17 Heads of new offices trading extra details of significance (5) 18 Feel sick consuming jellied food (4) 19 Greatly loves stuff kept by matador, essentially (6)

Down

1 Member of the clergy ordering aprons (6) 2 Initially, rummage under boxes in eager search for jewels (6) 3 Bet set lead arranged is loathsome (10) 5 Get better part of a shoe, we're told (4) 6 Feel sorry for chap I typically embraced (4) 7 Suffering difficulties, became less bent for an audience (10) 11 Sift trifle nervously (6) 12 To begin with, all seem inhibited discussing events solely in private comments (6) 14 Small offshore community engaged by tennis lessons (4) 15 Dirty chickens and others, reportedly (4)

TODAY'S TRICKS Clues begin or end with a definition of the answer. The rest is one of these: Anagram Anagram of answer and hint that there's an anagram 'Senator arranged crime (7)' gives TREASON Hidden word(s) Answer hidden in clue's words 'Some have altered meat (4)' gives VEAL Soundalike Something that sounds like answer 'Excited, Oscar's announced (4)' gives WILD Acrostic First letters of answer 'Initially get a good joke (3)' gives GAG

Chris Maslanka Solutions

1 Each iteration of the 4s reading from left to right is cube-rooted one more than the one before except the first which is cube-rooted once. Rewriting the expression as $(4(1/3))(4(1/9))(4(1/27))$ ... we have $4^{n}$ , where $n = 1/3 + 1/3^{2} + 1/3^{3} + 1/3^{4}$ .... = $(1/3)[1 + 1/3 + 1/3^{2} + 1/3^{3} + \ldots] = (1/3)[1/[1 - 1/3] = (1/3)/(2/3) = 1/2$ . Therefore $x = 4^{\frac{1}{2}} = \sqrt{4} = 2$ . Her

second method was even simpler: let the infinite product be x. Then $x^{3} = 4x$ , whence $x(x^{2} - 4) = 0$ ; this has 3 roots x = 0; x = -2; x = 2. We discard the first two (the value must be positive), leaving x = 2.

2 Here's one way to see it: bisect the stem vertically and move the two halves as shown here. This then completes the upper half of the square. So it takes up half the square. Point to Ponder: Does the chalice tessellate? Here we have done it by dissection and

translation. Can it be done by

dissection and hingeing alone? (A tough one for resilient fans of

calculus: What is the volume of the whole 3-D chalice if its radius is r? Will Pappus help?)
3 Gus's chances are $\frac{1}{4}$ . The odds are 3:1 in Bart's favour. [Chances of an odd product are $\frac{1}{2} \times \frac{1}{2} = \frac{1}{4}$ .]
4 In fact $\sqrt{(n + 1)} - \sqrt{(n)}$ , where n is a positive integer, decreases monotonically with increasing n. We can show this by rationalising the numerator (not the denominator for a change!). Here $\sqrt{101} - \sqrt{100} = 1 / (\sqrt{101} + \sqrt{100})$ and $\sqrt{100} - \sqrt{99} = 1 / (\sqrt{100} + \sqrt{99})$ . The

Word wheel

Find as many words as possible using the letters in the wheel. Each must use the central letter and at least two others. Letters may be used only once. You may not use plurals, foreign words or proper nouns. There is at least one nine-letter word. Target: Excellent-51. Very good-44. Good -36. Target -28.

Yesterday's Quick crossword

Want more? Get access to more than 4,000 puzzles at theguardian.com/crossword. To buy puzzle books, visit www.guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846.

first denominator exceeds the second as $\sqrt{101} > \sqrt{99}$ ; so the first fraction is less than the second; so $\sqrt{101} - \sqrt{100} < \sqrt{100} - \sqrt{99}$ .

Wordplay

Wordpool c); a); c)

E pluribus unum KALEIDOSCOPE Same Difference CRAYON, RAYON Dropouts ALLIANCE Missing Links a) simple/ton/weight b) flight/path/finder c) hat/red/flag d) Norse/sage/city e) family/tree/ house f) man/power/drill

Sun rises	0608
Sun sets	1953
Moon rises	2007
Moon sets	0732
Last Quarter	4 Sept

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather ©2026

Weather Saturday 29 August 2026

UK and Ireland Noon today

Sunny	Mist	Fog
Sunny intervals	Hazy
Mostly cloudy
Overcast/dull
Sunny showers
Sunny and heavy showers
Light showers
Rain	Sleet	Light snow
Snow showers
Heavy snow	Ice
Thundery rain
Thundery showers
Temperature, °C
Wind speed, mph	Windy

Forecast

Carbon count

Daily atmospheric CO $_{2}$ readings from Mauna Loa, Hawaii (ppm):

Latest
25 Aug 2026	427.03
Weekly average
16 Aug 2026	426.98
28 Aug 2025	425.60
28 Aug 2016	402.11
Pre-industrial base	280
Safe level	350
Source: NOAA-ESRL

Around the UK

Atlantic front

Cold front

Warm front

Occluded front

...... Trough

High tides

Aberdeen	0140	4.3m	1413	4.1m
Avonmouth	0754	12.5m	2011	12.8m
Barrow	--	--	1205	8.8m
Belfast	1137	3.2m	2338	3.5m
Cobh	0559	3.9m	1815	4.0m
Cromer	0653	5.1m	1932	4.8m
Dover	1138	6.6m	2354	6.5m
Dublin	--	--	1209	3.8m
Galway	0550	4.9m	1757	5.1m
Greenock	0049	3.4m	1307	3.1m
Harwich	0019	3.9m	1227	3.8m
Holyhead	1058	5.3m	2308	5.7m
Hull	0643	7.4m	1917	7.2m
Leith	0302	5.5m	1528	5.4m
Liverpool	1147	9.1m	2357	9.5m

© Crown Copyright and/or database rights. Reproduced by permission of the Keeper of Public Records and the UK Hydrographic Office

London Bridge	0226	6.8m	1442	6.9m
Lossiemouth	0012	4.1m	1246	3.9m
Milford Haven	0648	6.8m	1904	7.1m
Newquay	0538	6.7m	1754	7.0m
North Shields	0346	5.1m	1617	4.9m
Oban	0624	3.8m	1843	4.1m
Penzance	0511	5.3m	1728	5.6m
Plymouth	0628	5.2m	1839	5.4m
Portsmouth	--	--	1214	4.6m
Southport	1122	8.8m	2332	9.2m
Stornoway	0724	4.6m	1931	5.0m
Portland	0743	2.0m	1958	2.2m
Whitby	0422	5.6m	1652	5.4m
Wick	--	--	1208	3.3m
Workington	--	--	1209	8.0m

Sun & Moon

Lighting up

Belfast	2024 to 0628
Birm'ham	2002 to 0615
Brighton	1952 to 0611
Bristol	2004 to 0620
Carlisle	2011 to 0614
Cork	2028 to 0643
Dublin	2022 to 0631
Glasgow	2020 to 0618
Harlech	2012 to 0623
Inverness	2022 to 0613
London	1953 to 0609
M'chester	2006 to 0615
Newcastle	2007 to 0609
Norwich	1950 to 0602
Penzance	2013 to 0634

Weather tracker

After an “unprecedented” deluge in Chiba in mid-August, Japan has experienced further extreme rainfall in recent days. Moisture from the Sea of Japan brought relentless heavy rain to the prefectures of Ishikawa and Toyama on Thursday.

In Himi, Toyama, 361.5mm (14.2in) of rain fell in 24 hours, equivalent to half the average annual rainfall in London and Paris. Several rivers burst their banks, triggering flash floods and mudslides, felling trees and damaging buildings.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest-level rain warning for the two prefectures this week, as well as landslide warnings, leading to the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people. Models on Thursday indicated that a further 200mm of rain could fall just south of this region.

Two days earlier, Typhoon Saudel had passed through the prefectures of Kagoshima and Okinawa Island, south-west of the mainland, bringing winds of 100mph and extreme rainfall. In the Amami region, 230mm of rain fell in a day. The storm was forecast to move into south-east China by the end of the week. Brendan Wood and Faye Hulton MetDesk

Around the world

	Algiers	31
	Ams'dam	21
	Athens	31
	Auckland	15
	B Aires	16
	Bangkok	32
	Barcelona	29
	Basra	49
	Beijing	32
	Berlin	25
	Bermuda	31
	Brussels	21
	Budapest	29
	C'hagen	20
	Cairo	35
	Cape Town	18
	Chicago	27
	Corfu	33
	Dakar	30
	Dhaka	33
	Dublin	17
	Florence	32
	Gibraltar	26
	H Kong	32
	Harare	22
	Helsinki	20
	Istanbul	26
	Jo'burg	21
	K Lumpur	34
	K'mandu	28
	Kabul	33
	Kingston	34
	Kolkata	31
	L Angeles	35
	Lagos	28
	Lima	25

FROM THE PRODUCERS OF DARKEST HOUR

"A GRIPPING CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE"

FOX TV HOUSTON

"BRILLIANT"

EDITH BOWMAN ★★★★★ "RIVETING" HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

"A FRONT ROW SEAT TO HISTORY IN THE MAKING"

TIME OUT

SUNDAY INDEPENDENT

BAFTA WINNER ANDREW SCOTT

SAGA MAGAZINE

EMPIRE

ACADEMY AWARD® WINNER

BRENDAN FRASER

ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE

KERRY CONDON

ROLLING STONE UK

AND EMMY® AWARD WINNER

DAMIAN LEWIS

THE UNTOLD TRUE STORY OF D-DAY

PRESSURE A FILM BY ANTHONY MARAS

IN CINEMAS SEPTEMBER 9 BOOK TICKETS NOW*

'I DON'T WANT TO BE A BACKSEAT DRIVER'

Gordon Brown on Burnham, billionaires, and his vision for a better Britain INTERVIEW BY CHARLOTTE EDWARDES PAGE 8

51 LIFESTYLE

CUTTINGS

Q&A....3 Experience....4 Dining across the divide...5 Flashback....6

FEATURES

Once a prime minister ... Gordon Brown on how empathy can fix society's ills P8

'This is very weird' Jon Ronson, a man in a castle and 101 princesses P14

'You never stripped!' The showgirls still friends after 50 years P21

'I went round the bend' Stewart Lee on mid life P24

Mark Rylance and me Darren Raymond on the actor, prison and Tartuffe P27

My cultural awakening..31 Visual arts....32 Screen....34 What to do this week.....36

Books

The nudge How do booksellers persuade us to buy? P39

Nonfiction reviews.....42 Fiction reviews.....45 Elizabeth Jane Howard.48 The big idea.....49

Breakfast made easy By Yotam Ottolenghi P51

Blind date....56 This is how we do it....57 You be the judge....58 Ask Annalisa....59 Style & Body....60 Gardens....62 Tim Dowling....63

Travel Happy valley Secret Slovenia, Tuscan islands and Gdańsk P64

Puzzles....70

Sign up for our Inside Saturday newsletter

SATURDAY The Guardian Kings Place 90 York Way London N1 9GU

Byline illustrations: Delphine Lee

Smart shot The best pictures taken on phones Trace Meek

Summer Fun, 2024 Shot on iPhone 14 Pro

Trace Meek is proud of his Florida back yard. For the last 10 years, he and his wife, Lauren, have worked diligently on it. “It’s our happy place,” he says. “We live in Belleair Bluffs, and I’ve watched my son and daughter grow up playing under our giant oak trees, swinging on the tree swing, riding their bikes and scooters on the circular path, and swimming in our pool. It’s big, with a really deep end and three water fountains that shoot over the top. We like to have a last jump into

the pool before bed and, best of all, there are no iPads or TVs."

The family had friends visiting for 4 July celebrations when Meek took this photo. There were six adults, six children and two dogs present.

Re-enacting the shot would be almost impossible, he says, but “that’s the cool part. The angle of the dog, the hat and the cup, the tattoo on her foot, along with the vibrant colours of the raft - it all comes together. I love how the water creates shapes, too.”

Lauren's face being covered by her hat lends an air of mysteriousness that Meek also enjoys. "You can put yourself in her place and be immersed in a wonderful summertime memory; a moment when you were truly content." Grace Holliday

The author on the habit she can't control, the writer she's never read, and the true love of her life (it's not her husband)

Q&A Adele Parks

Interview: Rosanna Greenstreet

Born in North Yorkshire, Adele Parks, 57, studied English at the University of Leicester then worked in advertising. In 2000, she published her debut novel, Playing Away, and has since written a book every year. Her latest is Eyes on You. Her work has been translated into 31 languages and in 2022 she was awarded the MBE for services to literature. She is an ambassador for charities promoting literacy including the National Literacy Trust, which is collaborating with the Department for Education on the National Year of Reading 2026. Parks is married with a son, and lives in Surrey.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Speaking negatively to myself.

What is the trait you most deplore in others? Laziness.

What was your most embarrassing moment? When I concentrate, I put my thumb in my mouth. I once did it during a really important meeting when asked a question I didn't know the answer to. When I left the meeting my friend said: "What did you put your thumb in your mouth for?" I didn't know I'd done it.

Describe yourself in three words Enthusiastic, resilient, empathetic.

What would your superpower be? Teleportation - but with clothes. I don't want to turn up anywhere naked.

What makes you unhappy? Hopelessness - when people have stopped believing they can improve or a situation can improve.

If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose? My last cat, Lilac, to meet the new cats.

What would my superpower be? Teleportation – but with clothes. I don't want to turn up anywhere naked

Who would play you in the film of your life? Reese Witherspoon.

Who is your celebrity crush? Taylor Swift, because her lyrics are so thought-provoking.

Which book are you ashamed not to have read? I've never read any Salman Rushdie.

What was the last lie you told? When people tell me about their book ideas, I never say: “Look, don’t bother - it’s never going to get published.” I go: “Go for it - you never know.”

What is your guiltiest pleasure? Staying at home and playing Scrabble.

To whom would you like to say sorry, and why? When I was in my 20s, I had an uncle who took his own life. I would like a second chance to say: “Hang in there.” My parents were living abroad, and me and my sister were just too young to notice the flags.

What or who is the greatest love of your life? Jim [Parks's husband] will just have to deal with this, but words are the love of my life. I have Jim because of words, I have my life because of words.

What does love feel like? A mix - safety to be yourself, acceptance, a feeling of peace and reliance, but also challenge, whether that's intellectual or emotional.

If you could edit your past, what would you change? I would become fitter younger. Because I would have been hotter younger!

What single thing would improve the quality of your life? A sushi chef in my kitchen.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? How much my son loves me, particularly considering I've had a huge career.

What keeps you awake at night? Plots.

Would you rather have more sex, money or fame? I really like sex and I think it's so important because it's about connection. I'm going with sex.

Experience I brought a bear back to life

As told to Emmy Raynor

I've been a dentist for 40 years. I spend most of my time treating patients at my surgery in Chichester, West Sussex. When I studied to become a dentist in the 1980s, I didn't

think I'd be getting my hands anywhere near the teeth of any exotic animals.

Twenty years later, in 2000, that changed. A patient of mine, Alan Knight, the CEO of International Animal Rescue (IAR), showed me photographs of the inside of a bear's mouth. The bear was called Jojo and his teeth had been broken off by poachers. Some of the teeth were too rotten to be saved - if left untreated, Jojo would become more prone to infection and abscesses.

Alan told me Jojo wasn't the only bear in need of dental care. Poachers would kill mother bears and grab their cubs. When the cubs got older, the poachers would break their teeth using a hammer to make them look more docile. I knew I had to help.

That was how I ended up in India ready to perform dentistry on my first animal patient - a 14-year-old sloth bear named Anthony. He had a massive benign tumour on his gum that was preventing him from eating. He was 180kg, which is especially big for an Indian sloth bear, and already anaesthetised when I first saw him.

It was supposed to be a relatively straightforward operation - remove the tumour and any bad teeth. I was working alongside a veterinary dentist, Lisa Milella. We'd prepared for over a year - I felt ready. I started by removing the grapefruit-sized

tumour from Anthony's gum, then the tooth that had been underneath the lump. More than three hours into surgery, I was feeling more at ease - perhaps treating a bear wouldn't be so different from treating a human.

I was about to take out some of Anthony's other broken teeth when his pulse rate plummeted. Within minutes, the local vets monitoring him could no longer detect a pulse. His breathing stopped and he was pronounced dead.

It was meant to be a straightforward operation but his breathing stopped

'When he woke up I felt triumphant' Paul Cassar, photographed in Chichester

The anaesthesia had killed him. In those days, the local anaesthetists only had experience injecting anaesthesia, and had used darts to put Anthony to sleep. We did not know how long it would last, so it had to keep being topped up. If an animal is unwell, administering too much anaesthetic can be lethal.

The local vets walked out of the operating room, saying: “You’ve killed our bear.” I couldn’t process what had happened. I’m a dentist - I had never dealt with a patient dying mid-surgery before. Lisa brought me back to reality. She said: “We’re going to get him back. Get the emergency drug box! Get the crash kit!”

I started performing CPR on Anthony. We gave him adrenaline, and I pounded his chest. It was an excruciatingly long three minutes before he was able to breathe by himself again. He was still under anaesthetic. We knew he was alive, but not if he was well. We waited. When he woke up, I felt triumphant. He went on to live for another 10 years.

Since then, I've continued working with the IAR, performing dentistry on 200 bears, half a dozen tigers, a couple of lions, a few hyenas, and a handful of gorillas and orangutans. I've even been nicknamed "Bear Drills".

Operating on animals presents a unique set of challenges. For one, their teeth are much larger than a human's - and with big teeth come big tools. A file used for root-canal treatments on people is about a quarter of the size of those used on tigers.

Over the years, I've seen all sorts - a 300kg tiger with multiple facial abscesses, a bear we fitted with a gold crown and nicknamed Bling Bear, and a lion having a ketamine-induced fit during an extraction. I very nearly had to do some crowns on beluga whales that were used for submarine warfare by the Soviet Union, but they escaped from their holding pen before I flew out.

Anthony's resuscitation was a memorable introduction to animal dentistry. I travel to IAR sanctuaries to treat rescued animals every year. It's more stressful than my day job, but it's incredibly fulfilling. The local teams at every sanctuary monitor the animals after I leave, and always report positive changes in their behaviour. They have suffered so much, and I feel privileged to play a part in bringing them relief. Paul Cassar

Do you have an experience to share? Email experience@theguardian.com

Finley, 23 – says privatisation ruined a lot of utility companies, with profits taking priority over service

Gavin, 54 – believes the state could do a better job, but fears it would be hamstrung by unions

Dining across the divide Can breaking bread bridge political differences?

Interview: Erica Buist

Finley, 23, London

Occupation Planetary scientist Voting record Labour before the last election, where he voted Green, and will stick to Green “if Andy Burnham goes ahead with North Sea oil drilling” Amuse bouche During university, he worked on a project with Nasa on Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. He loved it so much he got a tattoo of Europa on his right shoulder

Gavin, 54, London

Occupation Retired software engineer Voting record Tory “out of habit and upbringing” until Brexit; ever since then, Lib Dem and sometimes Green Amuse bouche He and his wife went on holiday to Australia in 2003 and met the actor Rob Lowe at their hotel, but had never seen him in anything so didn’t recognise him. When they later asked for a photo, his “jokey condition” was that they watch The West Wing when they got home

For starters

Gavin We got on very well. I wouldn't normally go to a vegan restaurant, but my daughter is vegan and I've told her she should go there.

Finley It was extremely enjoyable - my nerves melted away quickly. The food was fantastic, and Gavin and I got along better than I expected. Gavin I started with roti with three sauces. Then I had chickpea curry with greens, and a beer. It was all very nice. Finley I started with amazing deep-fried dumplings. Then I had plant-based fish with coconut, lentils and braised tomatoes, and some pineapple and kimchi pholourie, which were almost like pakoras. Fantastic.

The big beef

Gavin I don't think the state should try to compete with the open market; the open market is always going to be cheaper, as they will always try to reduce costs.

Finley If you give power to the state to control, for example, utility companies, the service will be provided for the constituents' benefit, not the shareholders' benefit. Gavin We did talk about Thames Water. I think in the case of utilities, state-run companies actually could do a better job than the free market - but they will also be somewhat hamstrung by unions.

Finley We talked about how privatisation essentially ruined a lot of utility companies, because there was no motivation for the shareholders to

Want to dine across the divide? Scan here to apply

provide a good service. They just want profits, which is why the CEOs at water companies have been reporting record-high wages as the service worsens.

Sharing plate

Gavin I would be in favour of legalising drugs. The tax could provide another revenue stream for the government - plus, it takes away the incentive for crime. I think people should be allowed to do whatever they want as long as they don't hurt anyone else. Finley I think if we decriminalise drugs and treat addiction like a healthcare problem, the symptoms suffered by wider society will also be treated. Instead of spending millions on drug policing, spend it on rehabilitation and healthcare programmes that will target the issue in a more humane manner.

For afters

Gavin I don't find flags hung from lamp-posts intimidating - a lot of flags give a positive message, such as the Ukraine flag when the war started, LGBTQ flags - but context matters. During the World Cup, when I saw St George's flags, I'm annoyed that I had to stop and think: "Wait, what does that mean?" because the England flag has been purloined by the far right. Finley When you're putting flags in a public place where communities are diverse, it has the connotation of division. Gavin says he feels some pride about being English, but I don't. There seems to be something about Englishness that's violent and divisive. I don't really want to see the English flag wherever I go - even during the World Cup, knowing domestic abuse rates go up when England lose.

Takeaways

Gavin Finley gave me hope. I think part of the problem with politics is it pushes people into pigeonholes: left wing or right wing. And actually, if you have a proper conversation, you realise everyone wants broadly the same thing. Finley I think people from older generations need to be more optimistic. If we lean in to cynicism, nothing will get done. But Gavin was also really climate positive, and that was so refreshing to hear. I think this type of conversation should be had more often, and food is a fantastic way to facilitate that.

Gavin and Finley ate at Jam Delish in London N1; jamdelish.co.uk Want to meet someone from across the divide? Go to theguardian.com/different-views

Flashback

Comedian Iain Stirling: 'I was worried about doing the Love Island voiceover, but it opened doors I thought would close'

Interview: Harriet Gibbsone Main portrait: Pål Hansen Styling: Andie Redman

Born in Edinburgh in 1988, Iain Stirling is a comedian, actor and writer. He studied law at the University of Edinburgh while

starting his standup career. He won a children's Bafta for his work on CBBC alongside sidekick puppet Hacker T Dog and has narrated UK Love Island since 2015 and Love Island USA since 2022. He co-wrote and starred in the sitcom Buffering, and currently hosts true crime podcast Murder They Wrote with his wife Laura Whitmore with whom he has two children. Series two of Iain Stirling's Roast the Internet will return to Comedy Central on 7 September.

This must have been taken at the weekend as I'm wearing a Blink-182 T-shirt and baggy jeans. I wouldn't have been allowed to look like that during the week. I lived this double life in my teens: I wore an outfit like this at school once and was told I was a “sweatie” - an emo - and that I'd let the school down. I was on the football team and things were tribal back then. But on a Saturday, when I was back from violin practice, I could dress how I wanted. Under the bed is an empty bottle of Irn-Bru, and there's a remote control for the TV that I'd watch Pokémon on, all of which sums me up at this age.

The first part of my life was spent on an estate in Liberton, a suburb of Edinburgh, before we moved to a bungalow in a little cul-de-sac just outside the city. My family was small - just me, my parents and my sister, and very few relatives. My memories of living here were that it was quaint, safe, quiet and insular.

I was never the funniest person in my friendship circle, but I was obsessed with comedy. I started going to the fringe when I was 12. By the time I was 14, I formed a sketch group with a friend called Just So Ever Slightly. Influenced by Monty Python and Little Britain, there was often a three-minute blackout between sketches while we got into different outfits. Our jokes were fairly adolescent - I'd wear a wig and a dress and pretend to be a female weather reporter with inflatable boobs. It relied on a lot of innuendo - "Long, hard, cold fronts," etc

I'd watched so much live comedy that as soon as I began doing standup I felt I had a natural swing for it. I never told anyone at school what I was doing in my spare time, but they found out in the end. In my 20s, a few people from school came to see me and ruined it, probably on purpose. One of them found a drill in the venue and started threatening people in the audience with it. It was pretty mad, but it was how we were brought up - we were told to stay in our lane. People from where I was from weren't meant to perform shows at the fringe - we were the ones serving pints behind the bar.

It wasn't until law school that I felt I had permission to approach comedy with ambition. Susan Calman was a massive influence; she and her wife were lawyers. They took me under their wing - Susan would tell me which gigs to do, and her wife would tell me what law books to read. My degree was prestigious and it was the first time teachers filled me with confidence. At my school, if a kid said they wanted to be a footballer, the teacher would reply: “What about postman?” Containing us was the goal. University was a different environment. I wouldn't have thrown myself into standup if it wasn't for that experience.

I was doing a gig at the Comedy Store when someone from CBBC asked if I'd be interested in auditioning. My standup was not kid-friendly, and I'd never heard of standups doing children's TV, let alone presenting it, so I thought it was a wind-up. I didn't show up, went back to my hostel in Leicester Square and thought nothing of it. They got in touch again, and this time I paid attention. I remember being in the audition room and hearing that someone called “Chris Ramsey” [now co-host of podcast Shagged. Married. Annoyed] was meant to be up for the job, too, but hadn't shown up. So I got it. It was all very serendipitous.

I was working on a show about kids training dogs to do tricks when my voice got spotted for Love Island. The dogs gig was given to me by a producer friend who sold it to me as: “A day’s work, maximum, but I’ll say it’s four so we can go on the piss for a couple of days in London afterwards.” I said yes, not realising it would get sent to someone at ITV, who happened to be looking for a voiceover for a new reality series. Apparently, they wanted someone who wasn’t from the south. Back then, diversity was: “We can still hire a white guy, just not a posh one.”

I was initially reluctant to accept the job. Although I was skint, I was

AND SCOTLAND SCOTLAND

2026 Comedic uniqueness is harder to come by now. I wish I could borrow some of 13-year-old me's weirdness

also worried that if I did Love Island, I wouldn't get a Radio 4 series or interviewed by broadsheets. In fact, the opposite happened. Love Island became a cultural cornerstone and opened doors I thought would close. The culture was changing in comedy too - whereas traditionally you'd have to earn your stripes on the circuit and then get to go on a panel show, comedians were starting to get more visible through non-traditional routes.

The narration I did with my writing partner Mark [Busk-Cowley], who is also Scottish, met with some resistance at first. Jokes such as “This date is awful, so if you want, Ice Road Truckers is on Channel 5 at the minute” didn’t get a great response from the people up top. Eventually, they came round to our sense of humour, and now they let us do what we like. I still get my voice recognised more than my face. If I don’t speak, generally I can still go under the radar.

I was aware of Laura for years before I met her. In 2012, Rob Beckett got a presenting gig on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! NOW! and I thought: "What a lucky bastard. Not only has he got this cool job, but he's presenting with this really hot girl." We then met a few times, through being part of the ITV family, and I was struck by her incredible personality and energy. She is amazing at standing by what she believes in. By comparison, I am such a people pleaser. As a comedian, and as someone who did not fit in as a kid, I'll often do whatever it takes to be liked. Meanwhile, Laura has this ability to be liked but also never compromise who she is. Has she inspired me? I definitely am more willing to speak my mind on political or socio-economic matters, subjects I might have shied away from in the past. But I still spend too much time worrying about how I might inconvenience someone in some way.

While 13-year-old me was preoccupied with the stresses of belonging, he had a huge creative imagination. I’ve been doing this job for such a long time, and I’ve learned most of the tricks of the trade, so comedic uniqueness is harder to come by now. I wish I could go back to that blank slate and borrow some of his weirdness. But he’d be over the moon if he knew what was about to happen to him. And fucking delighted with the car I drive.

MY ADVICE WOULD BE NOT TO TAKE MY ADVICE'

Sixteen years after leaving power, Gordon Brown is still shaping politics (even if he doesn't want to interfere with the new occupant of No 10). He talks to Charlotte Edwardes about how to tame the global chaos, keeping fit in his 70s - and why he won't pay £90 for a Scotland football shirt

Portraits: Margaret Mitchell

IT'S A MONDAY IN AUGUST AND AS ENGLAND burns in dystopian heat, Gordon Brown and I are in his office at the top of his house in North Queensferry, overlooking the moody waters of the Firth of Forth. It's hard to recall the top of my own sauna-like house in London as we stand here in the cool, wearing wool suits and necessary socks, my coat slung over the back of a chair. "I was watching Raith Rovers - the local football team - on Saturday," Brown says, "and it was really cold. There was a wind blowing in from the sea." He asks if I've heard the famous joke - "Scotland's only got two seasons: July and winter"- then chuckles. It's one of his favourites. (I'll hear him tell it three times today.)

That's not to say Fife has been untouched by the multiple heatwaves. They had a few sunny days. One hit 24C - “a shock”, Brown says, July temperatures typically being 15-17C. He stood in his kitchen and considered the modest patch of grass at the back of the house. “I never imagined being out in the garden in the summer. I never imagined it because it’s either raining or too cold.” Once out, he found himself battling a “very dangerous” nest of wasps. One family member was stung, then there was the rigmarole of specialists in thick gloves and protective suits undertaking its removal. By the time that was done, the sun had gone in.

Climate is something we will discuss today, it being something of a wasps' nest. Also: Donald Trump, Europe, Andy Burnham and the Labour party. The former prime minister (2007-2010) and longest-serving chancellor of the exchequer in modern history (1997-2007) will touch on Iraq, the financial crisis and Scottish independence. He will give his diagnosis of the current state of global politics, the focus of his new book, The Future Starts With Us.

What's telling is how much people still want to hear his views - arguably far more than any of the six broken PMs since (tickets for his forthcoming book events in Bath and Edinburgh sold out in minutes). Many feel we didn't know how lucky we were with Brown and his old-school sense of duty. At the time we saw him as a brooding toad, a hangdog, grizzled pessimist, instead of prizing his gratitude and prudence. His father's booming refrain was "Be thankful for what you have; you can cope with a lot less!" so perhaps it wasn't surprising Brown did not cash in when he left No 10. Did not take a fat job in banking, a knighthood, or even the prime ministerial pension to which he's entitled.

He’s aware that, as a political heavyweight, his views on Labour still count and that he has a reputation for micromanagement, so initially he’s careful when I ask about Burnham. “I don’t want to be a backseat driver,” he says, settling into a tub chair next to a wall of books (political biographies, political philosophy, a first edition Keynes). But can he help himself? No, he cannot. A second later he’s saying he “hopes” Burnham will heed a report he did for Keir Starmer recommending abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with an elected chamber “representative of all the regions and nations of the country, which fits in with Andy’s idea that the regions and the nations are going to have a bigger voice”.

He reminds me the Lords is an unelected chamber of about 800, “the second largest legislature in the world after China”. It’s packed to the Pugin rafters with lobbyists. The problem will be persuading them to vote to cut their own throats. “But something’s got to change.”

Brown calls Burnham “Andy”. He has known him a long time. Burnham’s first cabinet job was under Brown as chief secretary to the Treasury (later, he was health secretary in Brown’s government). Brown’s official role under Burnham is as an adviser overseeing the G20, which Britain hosts next year. He was brought in to do it by Starmer (remember the photo op of him going in to No 10 with Harriet Harman?), along with an overhaul of defence spending. Brown doesn’t deny that Burnham sought his advice before appointing Brown’s friend and former parliamentary private secretary John Healey as chancellor, but says, “My advice would’ve been not to take my advice.” (It’s the same line he used when journalists asked if he'd been advising Rachel Reeves.)

Not that he doesn't have plenty of advice to give: "Look, the British economy was growing about 2.5% a year when I was chancellor, and now it's growing about 1% a year. So I do believe, as I said to Andy, that the focus on Britain as an innovation nation is an important part of the solution to this growth deficit."

Someone brings me a tea and Brown a glass of still water. He hasn't had caffeine since he overdid it during the financial crisis in 2008, and recently gave up sparkling for “reasons of health”. (No joke, his rider for book events is tap water. An adviser adds, “And maybe a banana.”)

SINCE LEAVING OFFICE, Brown has popped his head above the parapet on specific issues: Brexit, antisemitism, universal credit. He is gravely concerned about the far right, more popular in Europe now than before fascists seized power in the 1930s. The number of truly liberal democracies has dropped to its lowest level in three decades - 29, he writes in his book. “Some fear we are approaching a moment comparable to the run-up to the second world war.”

Part of the issue is that the postwar rules-based order no longer exists. We have moved from a “unipolar” to

'I ALWAYS SAID I'M SCOTTISH THROUGH AND THROUGH. BUT WE DID THIS DNA TEST AND BEFORE 1700 WE'RE FROM SWEDEN!'

a “multipolar” world in which leaders promote a sort of zero fucks nationalism - America First, Italy First, Russia First. “Putin feels he can ignore the rule of law with impunity,” Brown says. “Netanyahu feels the same. In my book, I’ve got quotes from each explicitly saying it’s all about power now. If you’ve got the power, you use it. It doesn’t matter what the morality of what you’re doing is. I’ve got Trump saying, ‘I decide what my morality is. I don’t take moral lectures from anybody.’”

This posturing is behind Putin and Netanyahu's indiscriminate bloody slaughters in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon, behind America's devastating attacks on Iran ("hospitals and schools should never be subject to bombing in any war"). But also, Brown says, "America was not able to stop the invasion of Ukraine, even though they knew about it in advance. And the Americans are not telling the Israelis actually to respect the idea that Palestine should have sovereignty. When I was prime minister and Israel invaded Gaza in 2009, the Americans told them to get out and they left."

Brown met Netanyahu a few times when the Israeli leader was finance minister and he was chancellor. "He's changed dramatically," Brown says, then corrects himself, because "he's always been obsessed with Iran. For 20 years it's been the country that he wanted to neutralise or destabilise. So I'm not surprised that he persuaded Trump to [bomb]."

But were the seeds of these violations not sown with the Iraq war, which he supported with Tony Blair in 2003? "To some extent, the interventions in the years from 2000. You can go back to the Vietnam war, to be honest."

He has long admitted he made a “mistake” with Iraq. He felt “misled” when he learned, through a document he saw after he left government, that the US knew Saddam

Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction in 2002. Had he known, would he have resigned? “Yes. I would not have been able to support the government.”

Blair now sits on Trump's Board of Peace. While it's promoted as an alternative peacekeeping agency, Brown sees it as essentially a corporate exercise. Its founding document, Brown argues, is closer “to an international property developer under the guise of making peace”. I begin a question and he interrupts: “I know what you’re going to ask.” What? “About Tony Blair. I don’t want to talk about Tony Blair.”

In his book, Brown writes that the US “may” have a new president in 2028. Why “may” and not “will”, given the two-term limit? Does he believe there won’t be an election? “No, Trump’s never been against elections. He’s just against results he doesn’t like.” What might this mean for the UK-US relationship? “The thing about that is, no matter what you think of any individual, you’ve got to try and make it work. Keir Starmer, to his credit, tried. Andy Burnham will try. Nobody’s saying they are going to be soulmates. You want to make it work without the abandonment of any principle.”

Brown's suggestion for dealing with the spiralling global chaos is to get back to a rules-based world ASAP, with an “updated” commitment to “the rule of law, democratic accountability, respect for human rights, freedom of assembly, international cooperation, humanitarian aid, environmental stewardship. People are angry,” he continues. “Rightly so, because things they took for granted have somehow been undermined.”

But he skates over the role played by social media in the darkening of the political discourse, except to say it's a “shouting match without an umpire”. Tech bros are the pied pipers of our children’s attention, I say. He points to a local Facebook group, Love Kirkcaldy! which, to him, exemplifies the positive way people come together online. He stresses – and this is a big theme of his book – one answer to tackling issues in national politics and international geopolitics lies at home. We need to refocus on our local communities: “Stronger communities will give us a stronger resistance to extremism.”

The book is dedicated to the people of Kirkcaldy, where Brown is an active force. We visit the Cottage Family Centre, a charity of which he is patron that helps under-16s and their families. During Covid I visited one of the charity's two sites. A volunteer said that, on hearing about two children who were sleeping on the floor, Brown had gone home and dismantled his sons' bunkbed, returning to present it to her along with sheets. (She also said he attempted to make the beds, but bodged this so comprehensively that his protection team had to take over.)

Then there's the local multibank charity he set up: warehouses that take donations of goods from 90 companies, including Amazon, then redistribute them to the poor. I ask if he feels conflicted, given Amazon is a notoriously appalling employer with no unions. It's the only time he's a little gruff with me. "My first priority is to see if we can alleviate poverty. If Amazon is prepared to help, we will work with Amazon. If other companies are prepared to help, we will work with them. Poverty has been really severe here." He says they've probably turned over £250m worth of goods to people who really need them. "So for a small charity just starting off ..."

There's also his work as a UN special envoy for global education. He tells me about going to see Gianni Infantino, the controversial president of Fifa, four years ago at the organisation's HQ in Zurich with proposals of how to raise a billion dollars for global education through donations. "And you know the boardroom table is gold. There is a lot of conspicuous consumption on display.

"My only worry is we are not talking enough about my book," Brown says when we are back in his protection team's Range Rover. We are talking about the book, I stress. In fact, trying to get the interview back on track when Brown talks about the book is like wrestling a ball off Lionel Messi when he has the goal in sight.

Brown builds the book's central argument on the idea of empathy (and there’s a certain irony in that Blair famously accused Brown of lacking emotional intelligence). “Empathy is a term that comes from Adam Smith, from The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” he says. “Smith called it sympathy, but now you’d call it empathy, which is to put yourself in other people’s shoes.” Smith recognises that loyalties to family are strongest, but “unlike JD Vance in his spat with the Pope, Smith would have said, ‘It is possible to have loyalties and feel sympathy towards people in difficult situations in any part of the world.’”

He points out of the window towards the church where his father, the Rev John Brown, was minister. There are more churches in Kirkcaldy than you can shake a stick at. "There was a disruption," Brown says, "so churches broke away from each other. My father was one of the dissenters." Gordon and his two brothers, John and Andrew, grew up in the draughty old manse. There was no central heating until they were teenagers. "It was quite cold." How cold? "You got used to it."

His mother, Jessie, had a huge influence on him, too, he says. “She always asked whether I really wanted to do the things I was doing. She made you question what you were doing.” The porridge-every-morning Calvinist upbringing was “quite strict”. He pauses. “She was quite appalled one day. She said, ‘I’ve heard a terrible story about you. I’ve heard you sometimes swear.’” (The only exclamation I hear him use is a forceful “gee whizz”).

When the Beatles came to Kirkcaldy, the Brown boys “didn’t get to go”. Because the Fab Four encouraged loose morals? “We were told we were too young. People in my class were going, but I wasn’t.” He laughs deeply. “Luckily, I have met Paul McCartney since.” He tells me the Beatles had links with the town because John

Lennon had “an aunt or someone” who lived here.

Kirkcaldy was where Brown's prodigious intelligence was first recognised. He excelled in everything. Academically, he was fast-tracked to the University of Edinburgh at the age of 16. He was the Kirkcaldy boys' tennis champion, a sprinter, an excellent rugby flanker. It was while playing rugby that he sustained a detached retina, an injury so serious he spent three months lying in a hospital bed, eyes bandaged, unable to move. He lost the sight in his left eye, and nearly in his right eye, too. The disability stopped him doing the thing he really wanted to do - sport - and he was forced to rethink his ambitions. "I think that's what made me want to do something more active in the community."

On the back seat of the car are the copious notes Brown makes while people talk to him, large letters in black felt tip, stuffed in a transparent folder. Biographers say he was an introverted child. Still now, there's a voice in his head before he stands to give a speech, saying, "Am I really wanting to do this?" But another says, "Yes, you really have to." "I don't get up in the morning wanting to be on the radio or television or in front of a crowd. You do things out of obligation."

When he was young, hierarchy expected deference, he says. The students of his generation protested, pushing “for greater individual freedom”. Photos of Brown show a serious student with long hair in a severe side-parting (unlike his beer-drinking contemporaries, he is wearing a tie). He admits he may have been more leftwing then than in his New Labour days. “But what happened in a way was that the balance between individual freedom and social obligation, between self-expression and your sense of being part of a community, got out of sync. So we threw out the baby with the bathwater. We threw out this idea that we're a part of a society. And I think that's the reason why commercialisation, consumerism, the amassing of wealth, inequality has become so prevalent. Because we've lost that sense of social obligation to each other, this sense that we're part of one community."

While we're on the subject of protest (and empathy), I ask about Labour's treatment of peaceful Palestine Action protesters, thrown into police vans for holding placards in support of activists who raided an Israeli drone manufacturer based in the UK. “I think you'll find most people in the Labour party did not intend this to be the outcome,” he says. “And I have always defended the freedom to assemble and protest peacefully.”

We pass a disused linoleum factory, and he points it out for me, as an important part of the industrial history of the town. “They lost out to fitted carpets,” he explains.

Being with Brown is like being with a particularly feverish member of the Scottish tourist board. Did I know there's an exhibition of Scottish colourists in Perth (even he "hadn't realised how many there were")? Did I know the current one-mile world record holder is a Scot called Josh Kerr? Did I hear Scottish football fans were feted in Boston during the World Cup because they were so well behaved (though "obviously they drank the place dry")? Do I know about famous Fife emigres, such as Andrew Carnegie? Don't get him started on the Scottish Enlightenment philosophers. Did I know that three tenets of the US Declaration of Independence come from Scotland? Did I know Barack Obama has Scottish ancestry?

But he’s also self-deprecating, saying that when he fought the Scottish Nationalist party in the 2014 independence referendum, “I always had this line: ‘I’m Scottish through and through.’ But we did this DNA test and before 1700 we’re actually from Sweden!”

Bearing in mind his ardour for Scotland and the rise of English nationalism, does he now feel that swooping in on the side of no was a mistake? “That’s not in the book,” he says. Pressed, he recognises that the present status quo is not satisfactory and probably half the country want independence. At the same time, he says, “Scotland’s got to find a way of living in cooperation with other countries, and independence would not be the right way forward. We’re geographically, economically, socially, culturally linked to the rest of the United Kingdom, whether it’s Wales, England or parts of Ireland.”

Surely, that “part” of Ireland is geographically linked with the other part of Ireland, so, by this reasoning should Ireland be united? “Yes. Well, of course, in the long term, Ireland will be united.” Wait, what? Brown, who was heavily involved in the peace talks that followed the Good Friday agreement in 1998, has always been pro-union. He says that a united Ireland will be “a long process where people have got to come together and find a way of agreeing. Basically, that is the issue: whether people can actually agree.”

THE CLIMATE DEBATE IS RAGING, we are frying in record temperatures, phones are squawking with government wildfire warnings. There's fierce criticism of Burnham for his support of drilling in the North Sea. I know Brown supports this, too, justifying it on the grounds it creates jobs in Scotland - but surely, we need to do something now? "The debate, Charlotte, seems to be divided between those who support North Sea development and those who support renewables. But I don't think that's the conflict."

Like Burnham, he argues that the same skills and infrastructure used for the development of the North Sea for oil and gas can also be used for the future development of renewables. “So the future of the North Sea is not that it dies when oil and gas run out but moves in a transitional way to hydrogen, wind and carbon capture. Thousands of jobs still can be based on the North Sea, but they will gradually move through to being jobs based on renewables.” Many might feel

What's on TV? Take your pick with a TV Licence

Nothing brings us together like great TV.

An exciting line-up of live TV and BBC iPlayer content is here – from high-stakes drama to sporting action. And a TV Licence lets you enjoy every minute together with family and friends. It covers you for all live TV. This includes live TV on pay TV services like Sky and streaming services like Amazon Prime Video. As well as everything on BBC iPlayer. On any device.

this is quintessential New Labour triangulation that fails to recognise the urgency of the moment. A touch of après moi, le deluge?

Brown has written a lot about what he got right and what he got wrong in government. (Does this self-reflection help him? “No.”) “One of my faults was I wasn’t as good at communicating as I should have been,” he says now. He knows it would be worse in the world of social media, that no politician would “survive” without cringey TikToks and Reels. Would he have coped? “I don’t know how good I would have been. It depends on your willingness to open yourself up to different things. But Andy would be the first to tell you that it’s not just your ability to communicate; you’ve got to have the right policies.”

Unwittingly, he became a TikTok star while in the queue to the Scotland game at the World Cup (he'd promised his younger son they'd go if Scotland qualified). There he was, smiling among the fans in tartan tam o'shanters, incongruous in a smart blue shirt.

Was he the only fan not in a Scotland jersey? “No, no!” he scoffs. “Not everybody can afford £100 for a jersey, as I told my son. A hundred pounds! Actually, they were charging £90, I think. I wasn’t in a kilt, either, but I was wearing a blue shirt and Scotland plays in blue.” Does he have a kilt? “No, no! The last time I wore a kilt, I was eight or 10.” His parents forced him into one for church on Sundays. “I didn’t like it.”

Football is Brown's great love, his “best relaxation” in No 10 and still now it’s how he unwinds – on the edge of an armchair in his sitting room, shouting and pumping his fist at a screen the size of a wall, the green reflection perhaps visible to passing ships.

He saw Scotland in the World Cups of 1982 and 1990, too. In 1998, as the newly appointed chancellor after the New Labour landslide of 97, he watched them play Brazil in Paris, standing behind the Duke of Edinburgh, who was furious when the unofficial national anthem, Flower of Scotland, was played, spitting with incredulity, “What is that?” Brown says. “He thought it was going to be God Save the Queen and was very annoyed. It was really funny.” (Later, I ask his adviser if Brown is a republican and she tells me firmly I am not to ask.)

"The book ..." he urges. Yes! The book. To write it he rose at 5am, ascending to this office and bashing at his keyboard for four hours straight. He has breakfast, scrambled egg and tomato, or smoked salmon and toast (you can tell when his wife, Sarah, is not at home because the kitchen looks like something out of The Young Ones), then “gets on” with the day job.

Brown married late, at 49 - his single status was once used against him as a candidate for high office - to Sarah's 36. Their first child, a daughter called Jennifer, was born prematurely in 2001 and died in Brown's arms at 10 days old. He has said he didn't want to go back into politics after her death, that he wanted to “stay away”.

“For the first few months, I couldn’t really smile or anything. I couldn’t listen to music. It was a very difficult period. But you do decide that something good has got to come out of a tragedy, and that’s what we – Sarah in particular – tried to do.” They founded the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory, to better understand premature births. Sarah also runs the charity Theirworld; among other places, they helped schoolgirls in Afghanistan and organised “pop-up” Sure Start centres in Gaza. Brown has said he cannot bear to think of children suffering, that the needless deaths of children all over the world makes him angry.

In the past, he worried that his two sons, John, 22, and Fraser, 20, found him “old”. That he’d done them a “disservice” with the age gap. Today he’s feeling spry. At the house, Sarah comes in to say hi with a small dog struggling with excitement in her arms. He’s said that she was a great sounding board on women’s issues and equality. (Does he have a theory of why there still hasn’t been a female leader of Labour? “Timing.”)

The boys don't remember much of Downing Street. Brown has joked about how they'd occasionally burst into meetings (memorably, one with the US general David Petraeus and Northern Ireland first minister Ian Paisley, at whom one son shouted, “Teach me how to march!”). All were affected by the pernicious savaging by the Murdoch press, who he says printed “complete lies” and used “black arts” to snoop bank accounts and medical records. “I don’t think people understand just how much damage the Murdoch press did,” Brown says, “how much they tried to control British political life for years. They were operating hand in glove with the Conservative party attempting to control British politics - for commercial gain, as well as for political influence. They were only stopped by exposure.” Examples he gives include the Remembrance service where he bowed his head in prayer and the Sun claimed he’d fallen asleep.

“It’s difficult to understand how they can talk about a free press when they actually wanted a press that dictated events regardless of truth,” he says. In 2024,

As prime minister, with then health secretary Andy Burnham, in March 2010 (below, far left); with his family after his resignation two months later (far left); with then PM Keir Starmer on his return to Downing Street in May this year (left). Below: with Starmer and Tony Blair in September 2022, when Charles was proclaimed the new king

with new information, Brown made a submission to the Metropolitan police. Have they formally opened an investigation? “I’ll have to come back to you on that.”

Brown speaks in swathes of sentences with multiple clauses, and reads multiple books at a time. Currently, one on the Cambridge spies, which he thinks should be made into a film - “It really makes you very worried about the damage spies can do.” Another, Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope, is a “reinterpretation” of the civil rights movement. Another is a history of the 1960s by David Kynaston. Plus he just finished Lyse Doucet’s The Finest Hotel in Kabul. To each review, he brings an unfiltered enthusiasm. What will he take on his summer holidays? “Ha! If I could get a summer holiday.”

He listens to podcasts and participates in philosophical discussion. His jokes are highbrow and niche. There's one about 1960s Labour party entryism, another about Austrian economists, and one about 1970s rock bands I didn't understand. I notice he has a slightly seesawing walk as we return from the charity, but remarkable stamina given we haven't had lunch (he demolished a Tunnock's teacake, scrunching the foil into his pocket).

How does he keep going at this pace at 75? “You’ve got to try harder to stay fit.” How? “Lots of walking, a bit of treadmill, a bit of these machines.” Machines? He admits Sarah bought a Pilates reformer years ago which “maybe” he uses, too. How often? “Four days a week.” Are there any aspects of ageing that he’s found hard? Memory fade, creaky joints? “You don’t want to go grey,” he says, “and I’m sorry I have. I always had very dark hair. But that’s life.”

When he smiles, it's like the sun bursting through cloud, so I ask about his famed temper. He says he doesn't recognise the characterisation. "Look, we all get angry. We all respond to certain situations in a way that sometimes you would prefer not to. But I don't see myself as someone who regularly loses their temper."

Perhaps the formidable Brown, once known for his fierce glare, basso profondo and intolerance of the ridiculous, has mellowed? “Look, I’m still working as hard as I did 20 years ago. I don’t think I’ve let up.”

The Future Starts With Us by Gordon Brown is published by Simon & Schuster on 1 September at £25. To order a copy for £21.25, go the guardianbookshop.com. He will appear at a Guardian Live event on 10 September at 7pm; for tickets to the live stream, go to theguardian.live

THE MAN IN THE CASTLE

When Jon Ronson's son Joel texted in the middle of the night from a party at a fortress in Connecticut, the writer was alarmed. It set him on a quest to understand just what was happening behind the drawbridge. What did the troubling fantasies of its millionaire owner reveal about modern-day masculinity?

Any kitchen, any time

A Quooker boiling water tap can be installed in your existing kitchen in under two hours*

The finishing touch for a perfect kitchen

The easiest kitchen upgrade you'll ever make.

Enjoy instant 100°C boiling, chilled, and sparkling water – all from one tap. It's fast to fit, simple to use, and impossible to live without.

Time-saving. Energy-efficient. Safe.

Quooker transforms everyday kitchen tasks while it can help you save time, reduce waste, and help to improve safety.

See it in action – from your own home.

Book a free live virtual demonstration with our expert team. They'll walk you through the features and answer any questions, one-to-one.

Scan the QR code for more details and your nearest stockist or visit quooker.co.uk

“ I can’t rate my Quooker enough. It’s the best thing I’ve bought in my opinion. It saves so much time and looks amazing in my kitchen. I’d definitely recommend Quooker.

100°C BOILING, CHILLED AND SPARKLING WATER

The tap that does it all

Experience Centre

*Installation time may vary depending on kitchen setup.

I AWOKE ONE MORNING in the summer of 2023 to discover that, while I'd slept, my son Joel had been texting my wife and me a series of unnerving messages about a perilous situation he had found himself in, in Connecticut.

From what I could tell, as I frantically tried to piece together the night's events, one of Joel's friends had been invited to a party being held by a stranger she'd met that week on Tinder. So Joel and two others went along for the ride. But when they arrived, they found the man's home so bizarre that Joel did something he'd never done before - he sent me the coordinates of his location and a photograph, just in case. The photograph was of a vast medieval castle with a drawbridge, gargoyles and many - I couldn't shake the sense that there were too many - spires, towers and turrets, reaching like skeletal fingers to the looming clouds above.

“I honestly have no clue what is going on,” read Joel’s second text. “This is very weird.” Then: “You drive down a road in the middle of a forest and then there’s this gate and it’s just a huge, massive castle.”

IT WAS A FEW DAYS LATER and Joel and his friends were sitting in my office, recounting for me the disquieting events that had occurred that night. It began with an invitation to one of Joel's female friends: "Castle party Saturday! 3:00pm to whenever. Dress code: Formal. Tell your friends. 18+ to come, 21+ to drink."

It was a three-hour drive from New York City to the pleasant town of Woodstock, Connecticut (160 miles from the more famous Woodstock, New York, offestival fame). Then their GPS took them out of town, on to a winding forest road, and finally to a set of imposing iron gates. They stared at the menacing castle that loomed beyond, urgently discussed turning around, but then the gates swung open and they found themselves entering.

Standing on the drawbridge were a man, a woman and a large black dog. The man was the castle's owner, Chris Mark. He was in his early 60s.

“He had sharp blue eyes,” Joel’s friend Delaney said, “but glazed over.”

“And he had a cut above one of his eyes,” said Joel.

The dog was called Cerberus, named after the multi-headed hound that guards the gates of Hades. The woman was blond and much younger.

Mark beckoned them inside. They crossed the drawbridge and entered the grand banqueting hall to discover ... there was no party. The room was completely empty, all except for a small number of equally bewildered young people standing around awkwardly.

“I’m sorry, but where’s the party?” someone asked.

“Oh no,” Mark replied. “I’ve invited you here for a different reason.” The room fell silent.

“Which is?” someone asked.

“I’d like you all to take part in my reality show,” Mark replied.

“What’s the name of your reality show?” Joel asked. “101 Princesses,” he replied.

“What’s the core concept?” Joel asked.

“I’m the lord,” Mark replied. “I’m looking for my queen and I’ve got 101 princesses to choose from.” He turned to Joel’s female friends. “Are you ready to get into your princess costumes? Come downstairs to my costume room.”

Which they did.

I found this part of their story especially melancholy, that these young people were prepared to follow him to the bowels of his castle to dress as princesses.

Mark's costume room was located near his hot tub grotto room, which doubled as his botanical gardens. Whirlpool baths nestled among subterranean plants illuminated by purple lamps. In the next room was his pole-dancing nightclub. There were mannequins and, one of Joel's female friends said, "a whole collection of extravagant princess attire, racks of medieval gowns and a glass display case of tiaras. He told me to choose a dress and pick a tiara to match." Mark seemed far more interested in the young women than in Joel and his male friend Cement, but he gave them tuxedos to change into all the same.

After the women re-emerged, wearing princess outfits and tiaras, a videographer appeared. They were assured that while 101 Princesses hadn't yet been set up with a network, it would end up on Netflix. Then filming began. Mark walked in and a woman who apparently lived at the castle curtseyed and said: "Yes, my lord?"

Yet Mark seemed increasingly on edge, irritated that Joel and his friends were observing rather than participating in 101 Princesses. (It isn't entirely clear what participating would have entailed. But they were told it was “a collaborative project” and the makers would be open to ideas. Joel later surmised that along with dance skits and other castle-themed vignettes, the princesses would have been encouraged to make out with each other on camera, while Joel and Cement would have appeared in scenes in which they were rejected by the princesses in favour of Mark.)

Finally, seemingly exasperated by their lack of interest, Mark sent his videographer to inform them that: "Chris wants everyone to leave. Everyone has to leave now." And that was the end of their story. I stood up to thank them for telling it to me, then I let out a scream.

IN TERMS OF THEM FINDING themselves in unsettling situations with older men, Joel and his friends were, I have to admit, somewhat out of the frying pan and into the fire. Six days earlier, I had been in surgery, having a foot of my colon removed due to diverticulitis. I was still in pain, which was causing me to let out sudden, unexpected shrieks.

I'd been recuperating partly by sitting on park benches, staring out at nothing, trying to think up ideas for stories. But after about 10 minutes, I'd invariably find myself overwhelmed by a dreadful thought: I'm just a man sitting on a bench. It's a terrible feeling, that sense of purposelessness, which is why I spent the following days not sensibly convalescing but instead learning whatever I could about Mark and his castle.

The castle, although you'd never know it from the photographs, is newly built. Construction began in 2003 and was completed in 2010. Mark's money was inherited. His great-grandfather Clayton had been a gilded age steel tycoon - the owner of the Clayton Mark & Company.

Back during construction, when rumours were circulating around Woodstock that a wealthy scion was building an ostentatious castle on the edge of town, journalists managed to unearth fragments of strange stories about the place. Like how it had been claimed during Mark's 2010 divorce hearing that one of the couple's pet camels had starved to death due to neglect. Mark blamed his estranged wife; she blamed him - but given that camels can last for several months without food, that sounded like a lot of neglect.

Sixteen days after my surgery, I drove three hours

'PRINCESSING ONLY WORKS IF THE GIRLS LOVE GIRLS. WE GO OUT AND FIND THEM'

to Mark's castle. Each time my car hit a bump it tore at the still-raw scar, causing me to yell out. Still, I had no regrets. I was embarking on a story, one that had crashed into my life unannounced. It's always nerve-racking to be driving into the unknown - and this journey did feel like it might be dangerous - but the sense of purpose I get from following strange stories like this is more powerful than any painkiller.

Mark was waiting for me on his drawbridge. He knew I was coming. I’d texted him to say I was a nonfiction writer and that “my son and his friends were invited to take part in 101 Princesses, and they told me about the extraordinary world you’ve created for yourself at the castle. I’d love to come and write about it.”

"OK," he'd replied.

He beckoned me inside. I passed an Egyptian sarcophagus and a suit of armour, its helmet tilted forlornly towards the ground. Perhaps because of my proximity to these privately owned relics of war and death, I found myself brooding over my surgery; how while under anaesthetic I must have resembled, for a moment at least, a medieval drawing of a heretic being tortured, intestines spilling out - a drawing that wouldn't have looked out of place inside this remarkable but disquieting castle.

Guarding this great fortress had clearly gone to Cerberus's head, because he repeatedly lurched at me and bit my foot - too hard to be considered playful, not hard enough to be deemed an assault.

“Hey, pal,” I said tentatively. And, “Hey, buddy.” Finally, I tried to engage Mark. “Your dog does like biting my foot,” I said.

“For some reason it’s not a negative thing,” he replied. “It means he likes you or something.”

“Oh, OK,” I said.

"How do you convince people to visit the castle and take part in 101 Princesses?" I asked him.

“I go on dating apps,” he replied, “and I make some kind of relationship. Then I have them come here and I adapt them to this lifestyle.”

I asked how he “adapts them”, and he explained that some of them have never had sex with other women so he has to coax them into trying it: “I always thought it would be amazing if I had living here six, eight girls, but the only way it works is if the girls love girls. That’s how the princessing works.”

"Princessing?" I thought.

“We go out and find more girls,” Mark continued, “because they’re looking for themselves. And I just benefit from it.”

So it was fortunate, he said, that once he brings them round to the idea of sex with other women, “they actually really like it”.

I noticed several young women padding silently around in the darkness. Some looked away when they saw me glancing in their direction; others eyed me with suspicion.

I continued to pepper him with questions about his life inside the castle. Eventually, it evidently dawned on him that he was saying unwise things to a journalist, because he suddenly stood up, walked to a kitchen drawer and retrieved a document from a pile of identical documents. It was a non-disclosure agreement.

“I need you to sign,” he said.

“I don’t feel comfortable signing an NDA,” I said.

He looked sharply at me. But he relented. He put the paperwork back in the drawer. But the atmosphere had changed, and soon afterwards I thanked him for allowing me to visit and left.

I had many questions. For instance: who comes up with a word like “princessing”? Also, why was he trying to control me with an NDA? Moreover, why did he have a whole pile of NDAs? Who else was he asking to sign them, and why?

Several weeks later, I was driving Joel from upstate New York to Manhattan when Mark began sending me a series of texts - 42 of them during the three-hour journey. I asked Joel to read them out to me. He picked up my phone, his eyes darting, and read out an increasingly disturbing sample.

“I’m meeting with my lawyers tonight,” he read. “I’ll spend whatever it takes to protect my family. I’m having the largest international investigation company learn everything about you. I want to get to know you really well.”

I flinched. The car swerved.

There were more pings. This time, as Joel looked at the texts, I saw his eyes widen in shock.

"What?" I asked.

“I’m going to be sending you some of my friends that were in prison for killing somebody,” Joel read. “Maybe you could help them write something good so they can turn their lives around ... One of my good friends who got out of prison is on his way to New York today ... Do not ever mention anything negative about the castle because this guy will get really upset. He thinks I’m like a god, and you don’t want to see him angry. He just got out of jail like a week ago and has been in there for, like, 15 years ... To be honest, I’m even a little bit afraid of some of these people ... Carlos and Brandon are on their way to New York right now.”

Joel fell silent. "Meet them," he said.

"You want me to meet Carlos and Brandon?" I said.

“Yes,” he said. “But take security with you. Take five security guards.”

“I’m not going to take five security guards to meet Carlos and Brandon,” I said. “You want me to escalate this to gang warfare?”

Joel looked frustrated by my reluctance to hit back harder, but the truth was those last texts had brightened my mood. Libel courts surely don't respond well to plaintiffs threatening journalists with visits from murderers - especially not when the threats were read out to the journalist by his own son, who was arguably emotionally harmed by them.

“Yes,” I thought. “This is good.”

Mark's volley of texts continued. I was surprised by how uninhibited they were. He was saying the worst things he could think of: “Everything is a mirror. You destroy someone and someone destroys you.” But he’d intersperse these ominous messages with positive character references from friends and colleagues: “I am Shaolin kung fu grandmaster Tyrone Bullock. Chris Mark is an amazing and remarkable person with such a wonderful heart.”

To be honest, I felt the threats were rendering the character references somewhat redundant, but on rereading the messages I was pleased to notice him dialling back the eeriness regarding Carlos and Brandon, even offering to cover my costs.

"If you take my murder friends out," he texted, "I'll Venmo you the money."

The next day, I received an email out of the blue:

Hi Jon, I am a friend and advisor to Chris Mark and handle a number of business matters for him. Somehow, somewhat, you really got under his skin and it's driving him crazy ... I'd love for some feedback so I can get a sense of what is happening. Thanks, Charles Cady

Eleven days later, I sat on Cady's terrace, overlooking his woodland and stream, five miles from Mark's castle. He was in his late 60s, and with his kindly demeanour he reminded me of a favourite grandfather from a Frank Capra film.

“Chris and I were doing 15, 20 phone calls and texts a day about you,” he told me.

“Oh God,” I said. “He says he has two murderers on his staff?”

Cady chuckled.

“I assume those people don’t exist,” I said.

“They do exist,” he said.

But he assured me Mark was “completely harmless”, and that he only had ex-convicts on his staff to give them a second chance in life.

But I must have hit a nerve, because at the end of our two-hour conversation, Cady glanced out over his quiet, rolling land and suddenly said: "If I suspected in the least there was something creepy going on, I'd drop it like a hot potato. I have no desire to see a police car pull into the yard. I don't have any room for that in my world."

Before Joel and his friends were kicked out that night, they’d swapped numbers with two other young women who’d arrived under similar pretences. Now, I was on the phone to one of them. I’ll call her Ari. She filled me in on what had happened next - how they’d all piled into Mark’s Rolls-Royce to go clubbing in Boston, and how Mark kept “asking if we’d be down to film a shower scene or a hot tub scene with a bunch of women. At that point we figured maybe this wasn’t actually a Netflix show.”

“By the way,” I asked her, “did he ever happen to mention Hugh Hefner to you?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “He said how much he loved Playboy, and that 101 Princesses was based on the whole Playboy situation. He said Hugh Hefner was one of his idols.”

It struck me that Mark was trying to be Hugh Hefner during surely the worst period in human history to be Hugh Hefner. Unless you're the creme de la creme of manosphere influencers, you can't lord it over princesses in your castle like it's the 1970s any more.

And so, despite there being nothing immediately relatable about his story, being a tale about the complexities of luring women to your castle in the post-#MeToo age, I could see a resonance. It was a story about men out of time, men failing to adjust to a world that was moving away from them. The world had changed shape and all kinds of men were discovering there were things they'd once done that they couldn't do any more.

Mark's situation was, of course, bizarre and extreme. He had the resources to construct a fantasy bubble within which he could pretend his lifestyle wasn't dated and weird and damaging, but aspirational. However, I was picturing less empowered and more sympathetic men than him - men who used to derive structure and meaning from, say, office or factory life, and were now struggling to adjust to a society that had reorganised itself without them in such a central position.

Some were instead scratching a living as YouTubers, “personal brands”, content creators with no job protections, while others were withdrawing, folding in on themselves. There’s data to prove it. By 2022, one in six US men aged between 25 and 54 wasn’t working. But within that statistic was a more startling one: two-thirds of those men weren’t even looking for jobs. That’s 6.7 million US men, and countless more around the world, who’ve just … bowed out.

I was aghast. Why had those men opted out of society? What havoc was that purposelessness wreaking on their inner lives, and on the lives of their loved ones - partners, parents, children? And given that some of them would inevitably grow sick of a life in the shadows - of a life of male nothingness - what might happen next?

WHILE MANY TRADITIONALLY male sectors, such as factory work, are dying, I've noticed one role for men that's flourishing: actors who can play doofuses in television ads. Modern TV commercials, certainly, are an orgy of male buffoonery, of men who can't do anything right and have to be constantly bailed out by their exasperated wives. I've watched men falling off lawnmowers, driving off cliffs (1st for Women insurance), accidentally abandoning their babies on restaurant conveyor belts (Philadelphia cream cheese) and being terrible at sex (Domino's pizza).

“Hey, honey,” says the man in the Domino’s ad, “the Domino’s lady just said we’ve got 30 minutes. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

His partner looks at him. “What are we going to do with the other 28 minutes?” she says.

I wondered about the actors who play the doofuses. Are there particular go-to men who invariably snag the parts? I messaged the veteran casting director Zita Zutic Konak, and she emailed back: “Hi Jon, meet Ed - a wonderful actor who we’ve cast in these types of roles previously.”

Ed has played a man in a Specsavers ad who misses his plane because everything goes wrong at the airport due to his own ineptitude and the general frustrations of modernity. He can't scan his boarding pass. The barcode won't work. He refuses to give up his water at security so he guzzles it down, drenching his Hawaiian shirt. He loses his hand luggage on the moving walkway. He can't find the gate. The ad ends with his wife, who's already through security, looking long-suffering and irritated.

“I did one for Scholl insoles where I had to gallop like a horse,” Ed said. “I’m a regular guy walking to work, but then I put on these really comfortable insoles and I start galloping like a horse down the street. I had to look quite doofusy for that.”

“Fifty years ago,” I said, “there was the Marlboro man being stoical and masculine on a horse, whereas nowadays you have to be the horse.”

“Yeah,” said Ed. He thought about it. “But when you look at those old ads, do you relate to those men on any level?”

“You’re right,” I said. “I don’t relate to the Marlboro Man at all. I relate far more to the man who can’t make it through the airport.”

As the old structures collapse – across both office and factory life – men who feel cut adrift have had no shortage of advice about how to re-anchor themselves. Some men’s health influencers advocate stoicism, while others encourage the opposite: vulnerability, that “once we finally reveal what’s under our ‘manly masks’ we can start to live authentically”.

Then there's all those doofus men blundering around the culture. Clearly, all this reimagining of what it means to be “male” has been disorienting or irritating for some men, leaving them feeling tossed around in a sea of conflicting ideologies about what being a man actually means. Perhaps that’s in part why yet another male archetype has emerged - the Manosphere Man.

Take influencer and virulent antisemite Dan Bilzerian, whose 28.7 million Instagram followers get to watch him sit on thrones next to lions, walk through forests with assault rifles, and dine on private yachts with near-naked women and, in his pre-incarceration days, with Andrew Tate.

“I had sex nine times in one day. I was so proud of myself,” he told Joe Rogan in 2016, sounding a lot like Mark. And “I couldn’t fuck all the girls if I had five dicks … I’m not bragging.”

“I salute you, sir,” Rogan said at one point. “You’re living a life that doesn’t even seem real.”

SEVERAL MONTHS HAD PASSED since I'd been in contact with Mark. Finally, though, my curiosity got the better of me and I texted him: "How are things at the castle?" "Everything at the castle's good," he replied. He was working on new reality show proposals. He sent me

Chris Mark (below) in his castle (left) in Connecticut, which he named Chris Mark Castle, and with two of his pet camels, which used to live on the grounds (previous page)

one. It was called Queen to Fraud, and, per its synopsis, it would document Mark's “battle for justice against Anya and Sasha [not their real names], two women who manipulated his wealth and engaged in deception on a massive scale. Tagline: She was supposed to be the queen. But she became the queen of fraud.”

Both Anya and Sasha had, at one time or another, lived at the castle. Mark had already told me about Anya – how she’d reported him to the police for trying to throw her into his moat, “but they looked at my surveillance videos and saw she was lying”.

I didn't know Sasha, but the Queen to Fraud pitch document outlined his complaints against her - how he'd showered her with “endless luxuries”, but then she was disloyal to him in Bangkok. Episode three, “Betrayal in Thailand”, would recreate “the shocking moment Sasha disappears to buy drugs, leaving Christopher stranded and sick”. But by episode 10, “The Maximum Sentence”, he'd get his restitution. He'd collaborate “with law enforcement to ensure the harshest penalties” for the women's treacheries.

I suppose that answered my question about how things were going - evidently, not well. In the short time I'd known Mark he'd gone from developing a reality show where he'd meet and woo his queen to one where he'd have her imprisoned - a similar arc, it struck me, as Henry VIII's.

He sent me ChatGPT's assessment of Queen to Fraud. It called it “the most compelling entertainment project ever created”.

“AI likes you a lot!” I texted him.

“That’s who I talk to most of my time,” he replied.

We continued to correspond and I met him in Fort Lauderdale, in the lobby of a beachfront hotel called Ocean Manor. He was in Florida, he said, because he was planning to build another castle and was scouting for locations. There, he outlined for me another new plan - to construct in his Connecticut castle's grounds an orphanage called Ark of Light.

“Is Charles helping you out with this?” I asked. Mark shook his head. “I don’t know what happened to him,” he replied, looking genuinely baffled. “We talked almost every day up until a few weeks ago.”

Cady - Mark's friend, spokesman and business adviser for 20 years - was suddenly no longer returning his calls? It had always been Cady's job to handle Mark's permit applications, on occasions when Mark had, for instance, tried to turn the castle into a bed and breakfast or a wedding venue. Now that the responsibility had presumably fallen to Mark, was he concerned that the town of Woodstock might not grant him a zone variance for a campus of orphaned prodigies? He shrugged it off. "They'd look bad if they go against me," he said.

This was Markfalling for ChatGPT'ssycophancy again. The chatbot had assured him that should Woodstock choose to “fight a billionaire humanitarian trying to help people, headlines would be brutal: Town of Woodstock opposes billionaire’s plan to feed millions.”

Mark's devotion to ChatGPT was far from uncommon by this point. Millions were falling for its obsequiousness. It felt like a ripple from the downfall of the old structures. People fall apart, people become directionless, and the tech companies swoop in with new ways to monetise our feeling of purposelessness - our desire to be of use - by telling us we aren't worthless. Far from it. We're creating “the most compelling entertainment project ever”.

A breakup can be good news for a journalist, and so, after I left Florida, I messaged Cady to let him know I'd just interviewed Mark again.

“Lucky you, spending quality time with Chris,” he replied. There was a distinct and, I thought, intriguing change in his tone. We arranged to meet. I arrived at the restaurant early. Cady was already there, looking grave, tapping his fingers on the table. I sat down. We ordered lunch. And then Cady told me the news.

Mark, he'd learned, was under investigation for a number of alleged sex-related crimes. It was at a federal level, with several agencies involved, including the Department of Homeland Security.

“My head exploded after I met with the feds,” Cady said. “I am angry and upset. And I started thinking, ‘Oh my God, what was I involved in as an unsuspecting individual?’ I feel incredibly, incredibly naive.”

At this time of writing, August 2026, the investigation into Mark is ongoing. Of course, an investigation is not evidence of criminal wrongdoing - and he has not been charged in the US. Maybe he never will be. I don't know where Mark is. I've heard he's abroad, perhaps in south-east Asia. Maybe he's anxious about returning to the US due to the police investigation, and the publication of my book, which tells the stories of many unravelling men, including him. But after I left Cady that day, I dug and dug and I finally feel I've learned the truth of what was really going on inside his castle.

I think that, like many men, Mark was trying to create a fantasy life within which he didn't have to live or interact with other people except on his own terms. It's a growing phenomenon - men responding to the collapse of the old structures, and a shift in power, by becoming like separatists, succumbing to uninhibited behaviour, trying to create false utopias where they can behave however they want. But it feels like the experiment is failing. As Mark is presumably learning, sometimes when you push boundaries, reality bites back ●

When approached by the Guardian for comment on this article, Chris Mark said that Jon Ronson had “presented me and events involving me in a profoundly misleading manner”. In relation to 101 Princesses, Mark denied deliberately deceiving people into coming to the castle, adding that “the gathering related to a proposed creative project … that also had a genuine charitable purpose”. He added: “I strongly dispute any characterisation suggesting that I groomed, conditioned or manipulated women into sexual activity.” He denied that the text messages referencing Carlos and Brandon in any way constituted a genuine threat: “I did not intend to instruct anyone to physically harm Jon Ronson.” In reference to the allegation from his 2010 divorce hearing about mistreatment of a pet camel, he said: “I dispute any implication that I intentionally starved or neglected an animal.”

The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unravelling Men by Jon Ronson is published by Viking (£20). To buy a copy for £17, go to guardianbookshop.com.

Until now, has there ever been the ‘perfect’ cordless vacuum?

Well, here at Halo, we believe we’ve designed it – and we’re not alone. Below, you can see a small selection of what the media are saying about the award-winning Halo Capsule and our most powerful cordless vacuum yet – the Capsule XR.

Outstanding performance

The 32V Halo Capsule delivers the performance of a full-size corded vacuum, has a 60-minute runtime $^{1}$ , and a whopping 2-litre dirt capacity – more than any other cordless on the market and astonishingly, it weighs just 2.6kg. This is due to a completely unique carbon fibre body – a material usually used in aviation and motorsport, but now for the first time, in a vacuum – British engineering at its best.

So what's the clever bit?

The secret is Halo's unique Capsule design, is that it directs dirt into a dirt pouch and away from the mechanics, while advanced HEPA allergy filtration captures $99.97\%$ of particles, including dust and pollen, to ensure clean air.

Cleaner emptying

Bagless vacuum's can be a real hassle – difficult to empty, dirty and messy. Halo's Capsule traps debris in a hygienic dust pouch, and with a whopping 2-litre capacity you empty less and it's clean when you do**, so, there's no dust clouds, no trapped dirt and no clogged filters – just fantastic performance at a great price.

Great on all floor types

3 different power settings mean you are in control, whatever the floor type. Halo moves seamlessly between carpets and hard-floors and the powered brush bar can be turned on or off according to floor covering. Rubberised wheels offer greater surface protection. Fully re-charged in just 3 hours.

Pet hair

The Halo Capsule is perfect at picking up stubborn pet hair, due to its power and large capacity. Our dust pouches trap the hair, smells and nastiness you experience with some other vacuums. The brush bar is fully removable for quick and easy cleaning.

Converts to a handheld

The Capsule converts to a handheld and comes with a versatile set of tools, for cleaning up high, down low or in-between – perfect for upholstery, stairs and even the car. All our models come with a free one-year supply of dust pouches.

OVER 50% OFF The Halo Great Value Bundle

Capsule Vacuum, Wall Dock, Crevice Tool, Upholstery & Dusting ComboTool, Power Floor Tool & Flex Hose, 2 Year Warranty & Fast FREE Delivery PLUS 1 year's worth of dust pouches

RRP £537.94 Save over £300 Nowjust£199

Halo in the news...

"The Halo is nothing short of fantastic at cleaning."

"This vacuum scored 100% in all our tests."

The Telegraph

Evening Standard

INDEPENDENT

10/10 Best Robust Cordless Vacuum.

"A dazzling new cordless contender to the market."

"We were blown away by how well it picks up from different floor types."

Get a FREE Hard Floor Roller, worth £59.99 Quote offer code GM86D3

To order, call now on 0800 915 3667

or scan QR code. Quote GM86D3 when ordering by phone or online.

Learn more at halocapsule.com

THE GREATEST SHOWGIRLS

They were the dancers, singers and comedy stooges whose lives first crossed paths on the variety show circuit. Now 50 years later, they're still friends. Kate Lloyd meets the 'Golden Girls of Eastbourne' to hear about bum-pinching chimps, wardrobe malfunctions and topping the bill over the Beatles. Portraits: David Pickens

‘We’re there for each other’: (from left) Jenny Lawrenson, Vicki Goodwin, Beryl Plummer, Jacquie Toye and Jan Lynton

I HEAR THE GOLDEN GIRLS of Eastbourne before I see them - hooting laughter leaking out of a house in the East Sussex seaside town. Inside, I find five energetic women in their 80s and 90s, sitting in a knick-knack-filled living room and talking over one another like teenagers.

“None of us stripped, did we?”

“Oh nooo. We didn’t have rotating tassels!”

Friends for more than half a century, the women met in rehearsals and aftershow parties while working as dancers, singers and comedy stooges in the 1960s and 70s. Their careers took them from cruise ships and panto to British seaside theatres, where they performed in sequin dresses, high-cut leotards and huge feather headdresses, sharing bills with the biggest stars of the day.

Over the decades, Eastbourne became one of the places where they made their names. In later life, they have gathered here again - this time not for work, but for friendship. It was this sisterhood that caught the eye of photographer David Pickens. A retired circus performer, he was once part of a double act with one of the group's sons. "I was hearing stories of his mother and her friends and how they were locally known affectionately as the Golden Girls and I thought, that would make a great story," he says. "They've got amazing life stories, amazing camaraderie. What I really admired was the fact they were all women in a very male-dominated world, and then all those men have gone now, and they're the last people standing."

He decided to photograph them at the town's Royal Hippodrome - a Victorian theatre where all the women performed when they were younger.

“It’s a beautiful theatre,” says former dancer and dance teacher Jenny Lawrenson, 83. Petite, with the voice of Mary Poppins and the impeccable posture of a lifelong ballet dancer, she says she remembers it better for another reason - its tilted stage: "You're dancing uphill!"

"I've got something to tell you from the Hippodrome," says Beryl Plummer, a gentle 90-year-old with lilac hair, red-framed glasses and a passion for cat-inspired crockery. My host today, she ferries out cups of tea and homemade rock cakes as we chat. She and her late husband Tommy were a smash-hit double act: he played the xylophone and the drums while she tap-danced alongside him. They were a mainstay of variety shows - multi-act performances that could span magicians to musicians, animal acts to a man known for balancing a cartwheel on his head.

“I was coming to the end of the act dancing, and I had on a halterneck, which dropped down.” She leans forward. “I had nothing underneath. The press were in

JACQUIE TOYE "This is the Cambridge Theatre in the West End. I'm playing Velma in the first UK production of Chicago. Every night there was a buzz. I also worked with Morecambe and Wise in pantomime at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, playing a boy. There was suddenly a lot of laughter. Eric had poured a big back of crisps down the back of my jacket then slapped me on the back. I couldn't get the crisps out!"

JAN LYNTON "This is me at Birmingham Hippodrome. I was playing the Genie of the Ring with ventriloquist Keith Harris. It was a production that had been at the London Palladium. When you did a summer season or panto, the cast became like a new family. And as you were going to different places, you'd meet up with people you'd worked with before."

that night." She chuckles. "The newspaper cutting said: '... and she never missed a beat'."

“You told me you never stripped!” someone shouts. The Plummers were so popular they once topped a bill ahead of the Beatles. “They were just normal boys, but you could not hear anything they sang because of all the screaming,” says Plummer.

Another time, they were booked to support Cliff Richard, but the show was called off early after performers including comedian and singer Des O'Connor were pelted with eggs and potatoes. "An announcement was made to say: 'Give the acts a chance!'"

Plummer isn't the only one with stories like these. Everyone here today worked with some of the biggest names of the time.

“I was a dancer at Butlin’s, where I met my husband. We started a double act, Tommy Wallis and Beryl. It was a hit from the start. This was taken during the summer season at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea in 1969. Variety shows often had strange acts. There was a chap who used to have a cartwheel on his head, and somebody had an act with chimps, that used to pinch the girls’ bottoms.”

Goodwin. Jacquie Toye, an 83-year-old former comedy stooge for Ken Dodd - and committed heckler this afternoon - had a West End career that included playing Velma Kelly in the UK's first production of Chicago. But rather than show off about their greatest hits, the former showgirls prefer to laugh about all the things that went wrong.

Goodwin remembers being found by Bruce Forsyth after breaking her arm. “I fell down a flight of stairs outside his dressing room.” Toye recalls tripping over a plug while rushing for a curtain call, turning off the electricity in a theatre. “I had to apologise to everyone!”

Vicki Goodwin, 85, was a dancer and singer who appeared in shows including Dad's Army, and performed with her second husband, comedian Ken

“I worked in a club in Cairo,” says Jan Lynton, 82, a former showgirl, whose performances took her from Japan to Egypt. Her chin-length bob is as sharp as her punchlines. “We did the number with big feathers on our heads, shimmying back and forth. The girl opposite me shimmied back and went into a candle. When she came up, her feathers were on fire. She didn't know." Her friends gasp. "Somebody threw a jug of water over her!"

The women say that a shared sense of humour has helped them to bond over the years. Back in the day it was how they’d deal with the less glamorous side of show business. The digs for performers were often ropey. They talk about rooms in Glasgow with black mould and places in London with no hot water. Lawrenson remembers doing a season in Cardiff with her dance partner, Robert Marlowe, and looking for accommodation. “The landlord took us into the bathroom and there was a chipped, brown rusty bath. And he said: ‘And do you know, [comedian] Gladys Morgan had a bath here!’ My God!”

Being a young woman in the industry came with its own challenges: bottoms being pinched, stagehands getting their mates backstage to ogle, producers dangling dubious invitations. “You just took it in your stride,” says Lynton. “An agent chased me around a table once. He was horrible.”

JENNY LAWRENSON "These photos were taken to promote my dancing act with Robert Marlowe. We performed on the first Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth cruises going to New York. There was huge first class accommodation, then cabin class was smaller, and then tourist had a very low ceiling. I heard one dancing act lost her wig when it got caught on the sprinkler. She left it up there."

VICKI GOODWIN
"I was 16 when I came back from the hairdresser blond, and my mother said: 'My God, you'd better not let your father see that.' And I've been blond ever since. I reckon I knew I wanted to perform from when I was 12. There were queues for auditions - 400 people for one part. When seasons would finish, we all went out and got jobs. We were never out of work."

The groups' lives diverged eventually. Lawrenson was only in the business for five years before leaving to settle down with her husband. She moved from Bournemouth to East Sussex in 2005 after his death, and after the loss of one of her twin daughters, too. Plummer and her husband kept threatening to retire, but never quite did it until 2016, settling in Eastbourne. Lynton became a choreographer, only retiring in 2022, while Goodwin moved to Spain and then Llandudno with Ken, until his death from Alzheimer's in 2012.

“We’ve all been through the mill one way or another,” says Toye. “We’ve all had tragedy in our lives.” She lost her husband. Sisterhood becomes of utmost importance in your later years, they all agree.

“I rely on all my lovely friends here, and if I need them, they will come to me,” says Plummer. “Oh no we won’t!” heckles Toye. Still, when Plummer had a serious operation in 2019, Toye took her to hospital and brought her home several weeks later, decorating her house with welcome home balloons. She also stayed with Lynton when she experienced a period of memory loss.

"The group is inclined to drop things for you if you need it," says Lynton. "We're there for each other, and even if you're not there physically, you can talk on the phone." Goodwin calls Lynton most nights, and Plummer every evening.

“It’s nothing really, after this length of time,” she says. Then she jokes: “I like to know she’s not lying on the floor in the kitchen.”

But the Golden Girls are not just a support network. They have approached retirement with the same vim they brought to their careers. Their days are filled with lunches, showbiz-themed talks at local hotels and whatever else they can find to keep busy. Toye has a hospital radio show. Lawrenson runs an exercise class. Tomorrow, they're going to a "gentleman friend's" tower-block flat to watch an airshow. "He calls it Ladies' Day at the tower," I'm told as they all howl.

Lynton says she doesn't feel her age. “I have to be honest - and we all feel the same - I sometimes say of others: ‘There was this old person.’ And I think: ‘No, I’m old.’ But they just seem a lot older, because of their mentality.” She recently bought some coasters that say “Growing old disgracefully”, she tells me. It’s how she intends to see out her later years. “Age is a number,” she says.

"What's the secret to that attitude?"

“Gin and tonic,” says Toye. And the laughter starts again ●

'I WAS Miserable FOR A LOT OF THIS CENTURY'

Stewart Lee in Abney Park cemetery, Stoke Newington, London

Since emerging in the 90s, Stewart Lee has set out to turn comedy into an art form, culminating in his latest standup creation: a werewolf with toxic masculinity issues. But has it come at a personal cost? He talks to Zoe Williams about divorce, the legacy of his adoption - and wanting more women at his shows

Portrait: Sophia Spring

TEWART LEE IS SOMEWHAT fretfully tidying his kitchen. Nothing is exactly where he left it two months ago to go on tour. Plus, he says, “I’ve come back with a load of records that need to be alphabetised, and that’s really stressing me out.” His house is miles from minimalist - posters everywhere, for spaghetti westerns, avant-garde Welsh harpists, the Fall (who he said in an interview

in 2005 were the love of his life) - but if anything was an inch out of place, he'd notice. He puts things away with theatrical flourish, like a guy doing an impression of a guy who needs things just-so, for the comic effect of how absolutely impossible that guy would be, but at the same time, it's funny because it's true.

In the show he's been away for, Stewart Lee vs the Man-Wulf, he - a 58-year-old lefty - enters into breakneck dialectic with toxic masculinity in werewolf form (age unknown). "Things have got worse in the 18 months I've been doing it," he says. "I need to really amp the werewolf up. He would be much more explicitly racist and homophobic and transphobic now. But you don't want people to be really upset in the room." It feels quite a 2026 dilemma, being unable to even satirise the right without causing the distress it lives for.

Then he went with his girlfriend to a treehouse in Scotland he found on Airbnb, but was surprised to find it was an “actual treehouse - to get out of it, you went down a slide”. He gestures vaguely at himself, as if to ask, “Can you imagine me going down a slide?”, although the answer - looking at his skater-boy aesthetic, record-label T-shirt, shorts - is, in fact, yes. “It was quite good. You couldn’t really cook there. It had a bed.”

He was there to join his half-sisters, who “had instructions to put their father’s ashes - I didn’t know him, really - in a river in the west of Scotland where he used to go fishing”, he says, “and they invited me. The actual village was the location base of The Wicker Man. So I went and looked at its feet, which are still in the cliff.”

What, the Wicker Man's feet are still in the cliff? I ask, since it seems impossible. The film came out in 1973 - those feet are the same age as I am (53) and made of wicker.

"Yeah. You'd have to know what you were looking for."

His other project is Pea Green Boat, a book based on the show he devised in 2001, which became a pared-down radio version of itself in 2004, and has come back to life a quarter of a century later thanks to some surreal and engrossing illustrations by David Waywell. It's a retelling of The Owl and the Pussy-cat by Edward Lear in which - spoiler alert - the mince that the owl eats at the end is actually the deceased cat, rotting in a bag. To introduce it, if such a simple thing were possible, Lee has written a candid essay about the state he was in when he first wrote it.

One minute he was on the brink of screenwriting success, and the next his toilet had broken down and he was shitting in plastic bags that he left in bins in Finsbury Park, north London, the next morning. Can all that possibly be true? “In fact,” he says, gesticulating emphatically, “it was about 500 yards that way when I lived above the shop on [Stoke Newington] Church Street, where I had to shit in the bags. It’s funny – after my divorce, I’ve ended up living so close to where I lived in the 90s. But I’m in the whole house rather than one bit of it. So I’m one of life’s winners. Look at all these posters I can put up. It’s great.” He and the comedian Bridget Christie married in 2006, separated in 2021. They have two children, Daisy and Luke, 15 and 19, and appear to be the platonic ideal of amicable divorcees. For a while he dated the comedian Rosie Holt, who he co-wrote a show with, but he is now seeing somebody else.

The introductory essay concludes with a thought Lee absolutely must mean, because it's poignant enough that it would choke him if he didn't. “Never really having thought Pea Green Boat had meaning as such, it's obvious to me as an older man what it's about. We drift through life. We impose our hopes and desires on others, hopes and desires of which they are often unaware, or care not to reciprocate, or cannot reciprocate in the way we would wish. And then we die. Alone. But the journey to that ultimate destination can be beautiful, full of weird sights and strange creatures. And we should not wish it to be any other way.”

But what slings and arrows of the past 25 years taught him that?

HE DESCRIBES HIS “road to Damascus moment at 16”, when he saw a comedian supporting the Fall: “Before that, I thought you had to be a confident performer. I thought you had to run around like Ben Elton. Ted Chippington was silent and still to the point of having almost no presence whatsoever. A quarter of the audience would be in tears, and everyone else was really annoyed.” Lee was an immediate success in the 90s, on TV in a double act with Richard Herring, out-deadpanning each other; but the purer distillation of Stewart Lee-ness was Comedy Vehicle, which ran for four seasons on the BBC, from 2009 until 2016: half-hour routines in front of a live audience, televised. Chris Morris script-edited and Armando Iannucci was an executive producer, and it was a high-water mark for the sheer art of comedy; incredible rigour and intellect and coherence, applied to the most ludic, surreal constructs. Later, he became the guy you read about politics (well, Brexit) if you wanted to keep yourself sane, and in his most recent tour, he is a guy nearing 60 whose intricate, absurdist satire has been out-absurded by the world around him, cracking open a new truthfulness that is both serious and incredibly funny.

When Lee, less than a year out of university, in February 1990, won the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year, the judge (the comedy editor of City Limits, a huge tastemaker job back then) said, “That was great, mate. We need acts like you to get rid of all these Oxbridge wankers like David Baddiel,” Lee remembers now. “But I did go there” - he studied English literature at St Edmund Hall, Oxford - “and all the things I was supposed to get, Saturday Night Live, a paid gig at The Comedy Store, just disappeared.” In the 70s, if you were posh you might be the next Monty Python, “so you’d get a hearing. Whereas what we had was the misplaced arrogance and undeserved confidence that comes with having gone to a top university, but those doors were being gatekept. By people that wanted to be more fair, right?”

But what class is he, because he doesn't read posh? He was adopted at the age of two, having spent his early life in foster care: “I know that I’m from the exact centre of society because the way that religious charities engineered adoption in those days was they were trying to place you in an entirely neutral environment.” His adoptive mum left school at 14, worked as a medical secretary, went to night school after she divorced his dad when he was four, worked her way up to being a GP practice manager. His dad was a rep for a cardboard company, seemingly remote and curmudge only. “One of the few conversations I ever had with him was when he said an English degree was a colossal waste of time. I thought, ‘Well, actually, someone needs to know about Beowulf.’” Lee’s son is now studying English at uni; but he feels it’s becoming a luxury degree: “He’s relatively privileged. His parents have got two houses, and he can live in either one of them.” (Though this is not the typical take on being the child of divorced parents.)

Lee's route to Oxford came via a part-scholarship to Solihull, a private school, with the shortfall made up by “a masonic charity that provided educational help for orphans, waifs and strays. And I technically was an orphan, waif and stray, because I spent the first two years of my life in care.”

He didn't give much thought to his origin story until he was about to become a dad himself, in 2006. "When Bridget was pregnant, I'm such a man, I thought, Oh, it's quite hard work, isn't it? I expect, if you had a baby, you would want to know what happened to it. Not even for me, but I thought I should find my mother just to tell her that I was all right. It opened a bit of a can of worms, really. But I'm in touch for 15 years or so now with my two half-sisters - my father's children - and they've been great, I'm really glad I met them."

Not the half-sisters you've just been away with?

“Yeah, they invited me to come.”

So those were your birth father's ashes?

"Yeah. It's interesting, when you've got nothing to go on, things seem hugely significant. Maybe that's why I like The Wicker Man, because that's where I'm from. My birth mother's family can trace their roots back to leaving the village of Clonakilty in the west of Ireland during the famine. It's famous for black puddings, which I really, really like." The thinking around adoption has changed immeasurably since the 1968 Adoption Act. "Now, people view that as a very problematic start in life. Everyone in care for two years has post-traumatic stress disorder and we're all drunk." He's still quite insistent that he was unscathed. When he was young, he read a "brilliant" book, Mister Fairweather and His Family, written as a tool to help adoptive children understand their origins. "It was about a bloke, and he was bored, so he got a cat. He was still bored, so he gets a dog, and he's still bored, so he gets a wife. He's still bored. And then they go, 'Well, let's get a baby'. That book is considered an absolute disaster now because it's not child-centric. The baby isn't supposed to be a pet for the parents. Anyway, I looked it up on Amazon, everyone was slagging it off, 'This book ruined my life. I wanted to kill myself.' And then there was one really good review of it. I thought, 'That's what I think. It's a really nice little book with really nice pictures.' And I'd written that review myself, 20 years ago, and forgotten."

Yet at the same time, what he describes is not an unscathed person. “Lots of comedians go, ‘We all do this, don’t we? Why do we all do this?’ Michael McIntyre, love him or hate him, is the king of that. Whereas what I do, I go, ‘Why do you do this? Why don’t you do what I do? Because I’m right.’ I think that’s partly through not being genetically connected to the world. It means you view it as other. I also think you view it as other if you’re a little bit on the spectrum, but that’s a hole that I’m not prepared to go down. Even though people have said I should.”

Lee's 90s looked like living the dream - t double act with Herring, a TV series (Fist of Fun) - "but we were in a weird loop, the only way we could afford to do live work was if we were doing telly or radio. The last tour we did as a double act in 98 lost money, and the TV series didn't get recommissioned, so it was just over, really." He'd had mixed feelings about telly, anyway: "We were becoming much more like light entertainment, under pressure from the BBC, which wasn't something I wanted to do." But standup was his life, and his experience with a big comedy machine - where you'd always end up in debt no matter how big your crowds were, because comedy is always loss making - sounds as if it still stings. "We were only ripped off in the way that people in the music business are," he says. But people in the music industry are ripped off royally.

So by 2000, he was miserable. He’d stopped standup, about which he had a zealous perfectionism – “I’d gone to university, and I thought it was an incredible privilege. And I felt that I should ultimately try to do something with standup that was like a writer or someone creating a body of work” – and he was scratching a living reviewing music for Q magazine. Then he started working on Jerry Springer: The Opera.

A few things have been lost about that musical and the controversy that followed: mainly how successful it was. It won a huge number of awards - Evening Standard, Critics' Circle, Laurence Olivier, Theatregoers' Choice - and musicals, when they fly, are career-defining. When the Christian right came after it, for blasphemy, it seemed almost like a curiosity - yes, there was a lot of profanity, it featured Jesus in a nappy, had zero respect for the crucifixion or any other sacred moments, but these were jokes-within-jokes, the butt of them never felt like Christianity at all. Legal actions brought against the BBC, for filming it, were given short shrift by the justice system. But, ultimately, the musical was brought down. Activists put pressure on local councils to pull it from theatres, a tour became impossible. For years, Lee was as likely to be approached in the street by someone wanting to know "Why didn't you do it about Muslims?", as by an obsessive fan. "Those people are still in play now," Lee says. "Stephen Green, who was the self-styled reverend that led the campaign against it, was recently put up by the fake grassroots organisation Restore Trust to be on the board of the National Trust."

It was an inflection point in Lee's career, just not in the way he'd have planned. "After that, I thought, right, things can get banned. You can be stopped from bits of food on his clothes. Loads of people didn't know who he was, either, which made it even funnier - this long routine about a man nobody had heard of, with suet on himself. I remember one of those rightwing papers said the whole point of the routine was that the foods were working class. So I despised the working class. But, actually, I was thinking about things that were quite oleaginous: Angel Delight, pork pie jelly. It never would have occurred to me that it was a class warfare statement." Brexit reradicalised him, and out of that came his Observer column, which was and remains a completely unparalleled display of what comic polemic can do (he now writes a column for The Nerve, an online magazine funded by Carole Cadwalladr and others. "What I learned from that was that you couldn't afford to leave room for doubt about what you meant, because if you did, bad faith actors on the right would take legal action. You can't be funny in the same way. You have to make sure that the sentence is bulletproof."

Lee in his show Stewart Lee vs the Man-Wulf (left), and (right) with Richard Thomas (on left) and Stephen Daldry after winning an Olivier for Jerry Springer: The Opera, 2004

He now looks at the comics and personas his children “would call ‘edgelords’”, at Jeremy Clarkson, “suddenly going, ‘Oh, everything’s died in my farm. I spent a quarter of a century saying climate change was not worth worrying about, and only snowflakes cared about it.’ Dave Chappelle has started saying, ‘When I was taking the piss out of trans people, I didn’t mean for you to restrict their rights and kill them.’” Doing gigs in Colchester, he went to Wivenhoe, “the hippy town of Essex”, which now has a Reform council. “A councillor had said to a woman I know there, a lesbian, ‘Oh, withdrawing funding for Pride is coming from head out of it. Someone online said that I attracted an insular cadre of pseudo-intellectual, prematurely bald middle-aged men. I thought, ‘Yeah, that’ll do.’ I wish more women would come, though. I think it’s sort of perceived as something women wouldn’t like.”

I think women think it's going to be laced with references that they don't get, I offer. Then there's a bit of a pause.

“I do joke about that,” he says eventually. “When I say, ‘You can’t come if you haven’t read this book’, that is supposed to be a joke.” Then he says, out of nowhere: “I think I was miserable for a lot of this century. It’s not really anyone’s fault.” He says it so matter-of-factly I have to double check.

What, this century now?

“Yes, the whole of the 21st century, until a few years ago. I like my kids, my kids are good fun.”

Returning to Pea Green Boat, he says: “The Owl and the Pussy-cat seems to be about a pair of characters of indeterminate gender, going to a place where normal laws are suspended, where a cat can marry an owl. I think it’s about the tragedy of Lear’s own life [he could never live openly as a gay man]. When I read it now, having lived a life, it’s also a little bit about me. I don’t really seem equipped to do certain sorts of things in life.”

What kind of things?

“That owl doesn’t know how to deal with another person and ends up eating their decomposing corpse out of a bag. There’s something in that about a failure to relate to people.”

You don't really think you can't relate to a person?

'THE IDEA OF LEAVING A LEGACY IS ENTIRELY SPURIOUS BECAUSE THERE'S OBVIOUSLY NO FUTURE FOR HUMANITY'

saying things. So it's quite important that the things you say are worth saying. I didn't become Mark Thomas or Lenny Bruce overnight. I did just start to think, there should be something important in this."

Even at his most political, Lee's routines are never agitprop, being too surreal, resisting interpretation, not colouring within the lines; but for years, since Comedy Vehicle, when he takes an issue head-on, it's been magisterial. His immigration monologue ("Bloody Indians, coming over here, inventing us a national cuisine ... bloody French, coming over here, doubting transubstantiation ..." - "That's become my parrot sketch." He traces its origins to being in the car, listening to then-Ukip politician Paul Nuttall "say a really stupid thing about Bulgarians, so I went home, listened to the programme on catch-up, transcribed it, and the whole thing was done in half an hour. Whereas some things take years." There's a bit that's resurfaced recently, since Rod Liddle died: "It was basically 20 minutes of me, trying to talk about him, but I keep getting distracted by office. We don’t feel like that. Don’t worry about it.’ But they’re still enacting the policies. And I expect, at the risk of committing the nuclear option, there were probably Nazi officials saying that to Jews in the 30s. ‘You’ve got to wear this badge, don’t worry about it, it’s coming from Berlin.’ All those people that played with that stuff – congratulations. The world’s on fire. Trump’s showing no sign of withdrawing from fossil fuels, there are councils where they’re literally enacting policies against LGBTQ+ people and removing references to climate change from council literature. So you’ve won, haven’t you? Is that what you wanted?”

WHEN STEWART LEE IS OUT and about now, "pretty much everyone that stops you" - he always says "you" when he means "me" - "is really nice. They say it's important to them, because they feel that no one talks about the things they're interested in. They say they've watched me for a long time, or that they were going to kill themselves and they laughed their way

"Why do you end up choosing the life you've got? I spend most of my life on the move on motorways. I know a lot of people had a bad time in lockdown, but when I couldn't do that any more, I found it really difficult."

So being on the road was an escape hatch from intimacy, and once you lost it, you found yourself unequal to the overall task?

“Well, yeah. Not up to the job.”

Mindful that he'll be 60 soonish (in just over 18 months), he wants everything he's done to be compiled into "some kind of physical media package, 13 DVDs with the same spine design, numbered". It sounds kind of modest, but important. "Partly why I went round the bend in the mid part of this century, between about 2005 and 2015, was because I wrote about 15 hours of standup in eight years. No one's ever done that. And now I think I'd like to at least show that I did that. Although the idea of leaving a legacy is entirely spurious because there's obviously no future for humanity."

Hang on, I say, you say you went round the bend between 2005 and 2015, and you went round the bend in Covid?

"Yeah, different. Worse."

So was there a period between 2015 and 2020 when you were the right side of the bend?

“No.” He smiles. It’s funny because it’s true ●

Pea Green Boat by Stewart Lee, illustrated by David Waywell, is published by Ebury on 3 September (£16.99). To buy a copy for £15.29, go to guardianbookshop.com.

CIII

ART A Korean rebel still painting at 91 PAGE 32

SCREEN Louis Garrel is a reluctant hunk PAGE 34

RE

BROTHERS IN ARMS

How a chance meeting with Mark Rylance changed playwright Darren Raymond's life - and started a two-decade friendship

A prison masterclass led by Mark Rylance helped set Darren Raymond on a new path. Now the head of a theatre company, Raymond has coaxed his friend back to the stage for a show he hopes can inspire young people to fall in love with performing - just like he did

ARREN RAYMOND doesn't remember having any significant interest in acting when he was growing up. And when he met Mark Rylance for the first time, on Christmas Eve 2004, he had never heard of the multi-award winning actor. These

days, things are very different: Raymond is the artistic director of Intermission Youth, the London-based arts charity and theatre, and is directing his friend Rylance in the lead role of Tartuffe (Remixed), Raymond's adaptation of the Molière play, which opens at London's Marylebone theatre this week.

It’s fair to say neither could have anticipated they’d still be in touch this long after their initial meeting. “Unlikely companions” is a tired cliche by this point, but that doesn’t make it any less true to say that on the surface, the two had very little in common. Raymond was a young twentysomething raised on an inner-city housing estate and serving a prison sentence at HMP Brixton. Meanwhile Rylance was twice his age, a successful professional actor, and artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe. Nevertheless that meeting, at a Shakespeare workshop in the prison, turned into a professional connection, which soon evolved into a solid friendship.

Rylance has been a supporter of Intermission, the charity Raymond set up 20 years ago - which helps to transform the lives of young people aged 11-30+ through theatre - since the very early days. Its flagship programme takes 80 trainees a year for a regular schedule of masterclasses, pastoral support and professional performances. In a 2008 interview on Radio 4, Raymond mentioned the positive impact of his and Rylance's Christmas Eve meeting and how it inspired his vision for Intermission. Rylance was listening, and was prompted to visit the theatre's headquarters at St Saviour's Church in Knightsbridge. "I was really knocked out by it, the production was everything I'd been looking for," Rylance says of the performance he saw. We're speaking today at Intermission's temporary base at Omnibus theatre in Clapham - the organisation has struggled to secure a suitable permanent home since being asked to leave the church in 2019.

Intermission's output is why Rylance thinks it holds such a critical place in the context of the industry. It offers free-of-charge, rigorous, professional-standard training that produces high-quality results. For many, particularly those from working-class backgrounds, such an opportunity would be otherwise unaffordable. Rylance firmly believes in giving back, but in the current climate his preference is to invest in grassroots arts initiatives over major institutions. For him, that feels more impactful. “I don’t support my drama school, I don’t support the Globe any more, or the RSC,” he says. “In terms of my debt to Shakespeare, my debt to all the great teachers I had as a young person, this is it for me – this will be it until the day I die.”

Raymond's own debt to Shakespeare started with that workshop he reluctantly attended while in prison. He was confused when his friend told him he'd signed them both up for drama classes, but saw it as an excuse to get more time out of their shared cell. On the day of the workshop about 20 prisoners were greeted by Dr Bruce Wall, co-founder of the London Shakespeare Workout - a charity that uses work by major cinematic, musical and choreographic writers and thinkers, along with Shakespeare, to promote confidence and relationship-building among its participants.

Words: JN Benjamin

Cover and portrait: Seamus Ryan

Casting his mind back to the first session with Wall, Raymond and his friend didn't know what to expect. "This guy's come in, like, 'Drama!', all flapping hands and flamboyant. I dunno how he got away with that because it's just him and there's 15 to 20 inmates in there. All serious inmates." The group was initially hesitant, but Wall's upbeat energy proved irresistible - the enthusiasm soon spread. Raymond remembers an exercise where participants were given a line of Shakespeare's text and had to respond using their own words. The group reacted to Raymond's contribution with a chorus of oohs and aahs. "When I look back, that was a really profound moment in my life because it was the first time I knew my words could have any kind of impact. When I left the session, Bruce said: 'Well done, I thought you were excellent.' I don't know if he said it to everybody - probably did. But it meant something to me."

Back in their cell, Raymond and his friend were energised by their first drama workshop experience. "Normally we'd be talking about how to get one back over the system, but that day we were talking about Shakespeare," he remembers. Wanting to replicate that feeling, he returned every week, eventually becoming an advocate for the group - encouraging others to get involved, petitioning the prison to keep the initiative going when it was under threat of closure, and even declining relocation to a lower category prison with fewer restrictions as well as privileges such as home visits, knowing that the move would mean he'd no longer be able to attend. Nobody had ever turned down a move to a “D-Cat” prison before, the governor told him, adding: “You must be really into this drama thing!”

Act of devotion Rylance and Blanche Williams in rehearsals for Tartuffe (Remixed)

Raymond's commitment earned him the opportunity to represent the prison in a poetry convention, where he first met Rob Gillion, an actor turned reverend who maintained an active interest in the life-changing power of the arts. “For some reason there was a lot of clergy present, I don’t know why. I remember [Gillion] showing a real interest in my story, but I didn’t think anything of it,” he says. He didn’t know it at the time, but that was the beginning of his artistic journey.

At one of the final Shakespeare sessions Raymond attended, he met Rylance, who was guest-facilitating the session along with his late wife Claire van Kampen. The group had been told Rylance was an acclaimed actor and the artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe - "nobody knew what the Globe was!", Raymond laughs. He describes his first impression as an anticlimax: "He's come in with his shorts and sandals, looking like some dishevelled guy off the road. None of us really paid any mind to his stature. Nobody knew any Shakespeare, and that was a good thing - it made the playing field more even."

Rylance remembers that first meeting well. “It was a small workshop, with just four young men,” he says. “Each had learned a soliloquy and I listened to them. There was a definite marriage of what’s mortal and immortal, because of the interweaving of their own language right next to Shakespeare. The Shakespeare stuff will live as long as humanity lasts on the planet, but the mortal lives of these young people brought alongside the immortal, is very thrilling and delightful to me. That’s what was happening with those four guys that day”.

The exercise was a revelation for the group. “We could talk to him very quickly” recalls Raymond, “and that was testament to how he came to us in the room. The way he spoke to us about Othello … it was riveting listening to these stories because he related it to us and the situation we were in and the lives we were living. At the end of it, he said: ‘Look, we don’t have to revere this work in the way people make you think you need to. Use whatever you want from it - take whatever you want and use it however you want.’ That’s what I do now. That’s what saved me.”

Some time after his release from HMP Brixton, Raymond received an out-of-the-blue call from Wall - an invitation to audition for London Shakespeare Workshop's national tour of Othello. "I really didn't know what it meant. I didn't know what an audition was really, I didn't know what a UK tour was. But I went, met him, done the audition - and then they cast me as Othello." Rehearsals took place at St Saviour's Church, where Gillion was the resident vicar.

The relationship between Raymond and Gillion would be transformative - “I was really inspired by Rob, he was a role model to me,” Raymond says. They stayed in touch following the end of the tour, and when Gillion later took a sabbatical to do some international travelling, he asked Raymond to move into the vicarage and keep an eye on the place while he was away. With hindsight, he realises they both knew the vicarage probably didn’t need anybody to look after it but rather

the “favour” was a calculated act of kindness in the knowledge that a young Raymond would have been too proud to accept the help he needed. In 2006 Gillion invited him to run Intermission theatre.

Staging full productions has always been part of Intermission's regular activity. Over the years Raymond has adapted 15 Shakespeare plays, each time weaving contemporary issues into the classical texts in order to demystify the language and make the pieces feel more relevant for a new generation of actors. The upcoming production of Tartuffe (Remixed), however, is the company's biggest production to date, and a rare instance of a cast that brings together Intermission graduates and actors who have taken other, sometimes more traditional routes into the industry.

Rylance wasn't sure if he'd return to do any more theatre. "This is the first time I'll be directed by Darren. First time back in the theatre since my wife has died, too." Van Kampen passed away in early 2025 after being diagnosed with cancer. "When you lose your wife of 35 years - I keep thinking of wonderful Joan Littlewood who, when she lost Jerry Raffles, stepped out of that theatre and never stepped in any theatre again. And that's a temptation - but it's like when you think you have a death wish but its not that you want to kill yourself - but you want to kill a certain way you've been living."

Returning to stage acting feels like part of a ritual of remembrance for his wife, who was also a passionate supporter of Intermission's work: "It was something we gave money to, something we supported. And so this feels like a natural path forward for me as I try to figure out a new story to my life. What's the story of my life without her?"

For Rylance, Intermission is part of the journey of his life, and he's not alone. When it comes to the organisation's impact, there have been many success stories that have come from the training programme. The actor Tosin Cole graduated from the very first Intermission cohort in 2009, and has since worked consistently across TV, film and theatre. His CV includes series regular roles in Hollyoaks, Doctor Who, and most recently as the lead in Supacell on Netflix. "I never really had aspirations to become an actor," he says. "It was just a cool thing to do on a Saturday." It was going to Intermission that helped him not only realise his talent but also supported him to develop the tools he needed to take advantage of the opportunities that came his way.

Asked what he thinks he would be doing if he wasn't an actor, Cole laughs heartily as he says “Boy!”, elongating the short syllable as he diverts his gaze. That's south London speak for let's not even go there. Does he think there are still challenges facing young people who want to pursue a career in acting? “For a start, we need a lot more different types of stories from different types of cultures. [As Black people] our history is rich and full of those stories, and we are capable of telling them.”

He’s also an advocate for more spaces like Intermission’s original venue to exist, lamenting the loss of the city’s youth clubs and adventure playgrounds. “That place was super special. It’s sad now when you’re in Knightsbridge and you walk past and see the place vacant.” The church has since been converted to a luxury home and was on the market for £35m last year. “Look at any artist or musician that’s come from an inner city and a lot of their skill and their success has come from resources being accessible. A lot of talent came out of the youth clubs where things were free.”

“But every success is relative, right?” says Raymond. While he’s keen to note the commercial success of Cole and others, he also wants to spotlight the young person “who came to me from a youth offending team and was no question on the road to prison, or death. Now they have a job and a family. They’re not acting or working in the industry, but that’s also success to me.” For Raymond, the definition of success isn’t limiting, it’s expansive. Tartuffe (Remixed) is at Marylebone theatre, London, Friday to 24 October.

HONEST PLAYLIST

Jennifer Herrema

The Black Bananas singer knows all the words to Rapper's Delight and relates to AC/DC, but which song reminds her of the postwoman stealing her cat?

'I didn't know what an audition was. And then they cast me as Othello' DARREN RAYMOND

The first song I fell in love with

Van Halen's Runnin' With the Devil. I was five or six and I went to visit my cousin Tommy who was much older. He was on a hockey team and we went to see them practise before the game and they had Runnin' With the Devil on really loud. I was like: "Wait, what's this?!"

The song I do at karaoke You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC. Me and Brian Johnson - my voice has that thing, you know?

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to I still remember the full 12-inch version of the Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight - I did it this morning! That's a record my dad got me. He loved dancing to it.

The best song to play at a party Let It Whip by Dazz Band. The way it starts, it sounds just like the way a party starts.

The song I can no longer listen to

Meet on the Ledge by Fairport Convention. Partly because of the tragedy of Sandy Denny. But also because I listened to it over and over at a really depressing time.

The song that changed my life

When I first heard Lou Reed's Satellite of Love on the radio it sounded so different and weird to me. It really imprinted on me.

The song that gets me up in the morning I listen to the Gap Band's Gotta Get Up when the roosters are crowing and it's really early in the morning. It's a song I can listen to without getting inside my head.

The first single I bought I had braces on my legs when I was a baby and then later I went with my dad to a shoe shop, Buster Brown, to buy some Mary Janes.

I loved those patent leather party shoes. Then my dad went and got me Mary Jane by Rick James. I didn't know what Mary Jane meant, but my dad did.

The best song to have sex to

I never put on music or anything like that. But if I was going to choose something that's got a chill vibe it would be Memory Motel by the Rolling Stones.

The song that makes me cry

Funkadelic's I Miss My Baby. My cat Callie was stolen by the post lady and I would listen to that song and cry and cry. She was suspended from the postal service. But I never got my cat back.

The song I want played at my funeral

Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I'm a big fan. The lyrics are gorgeous and it's appropriate. I don't think I'm going to die anytime soon. As told to Priya Elan

Black Bananas' new album, Bad Bunch, is out on Friday.

My cultural awakening 'The Bear helped rebuild my self-confidence at work'

Words: Molly Wilson Illustration: Martin O'Neill

Eight years ago, I was working as a waitress in a fine dining restaurant in the Cotswolds. The expertly crafted atmosphere had dim

mood lighting, ambient music and a farm-to-table menu. I hated it.

The other waiters could charm guests into purchasing expensive bottles, but I just gaped gormlessly when I struggled to recall the wine pairings. My brown leather brogues gave me blisters as I'd hobble to the kitchen to admit I'd forgotten an order in the middle of a busy dinner service. The chefs would shout and shake the ticket in my face.

A year into my job, while serving an influencer, I attempted to remove her plate of oysters, but my sweaty palms slipped as I lifted the dish and I accidentally sloshed the water into her lap. She yelped and jumped up. Guests turned and stared as I stood frozen, my face burning. I blurted out an apology and ran off, leaving another waiter to placate her while I sobbed in the kitchen. I knew then that it was time to give up.

When I went to university two years later, I hated restaurant work so much that I lived frugally on my student loan to avoid having to do the same again. On first dates, I insisted on drinks at the pub just so I wouldn't have to sit in another formal restaurant. Waitressing had made me feel hopeless and stupid, and I became apathetic towards all work. If every job would be as bad as

that one, the prospect of doing any work after university filled me with dread.

Years later, when I overheard my boyfriend watching The Bear, it awoke some kind of terrified, sleeper-agent response. He was watching the first series' acclaimed, mostly one-shot episode, Review, in which the kitchen descends into chaos over the course of 18 relentless minutes. The sound of kitchen doors slamming, frustrated screams and the constant whirring of a ticket machine all took me straight back to my worst days as a waitress.

I refused to watch the show at first, expecting to feel the same panic I'd experienced at my old restaurant. What's worse is that the protagonist, Carmy, played by Jeremy Allen White, bears a strange resemblance to my old

Looking back, my own restaurant experiences started to seem funny, not traumatic

head chef - he has the same white T-shirt, curly hair and stony-faced expression.

Eventually, however, I couldn't control my curiosity. It only took a couple of episodes before I began to appreciate the honest and comedic way The Bear presents those high-anxiety moments. Looking back, my experiences seemed funny, not as traumatic as they'd felt at the time. I even felt pride explaining restaurant terminology like “turns” and “covers” to my boyfriend.

However, it was the second series episode Forks that fully defrosted my feelings towards hospitality. In it, Richie, the vulgar and abrasive assistant manager, begrudgingly visits a high-end restaurant to learn how to be a maître-d'.

At first, Richie disparages the fact that he is delegated the menial task of polishing forks. Yet slowly putting effort into that small chore teaches him the importance of respecting the staff, guests, and himself. When finally given the chance to try his hand at waiting tables, he has an epiphany that serving others gives him satisfaction and purpose.

Looking back, I realised that my restaurant's standards were so high because every small flourish could make someone's day. To feel that same pride and purpose, I knew I needed to stop treating all work like a chore.

That image of Richie, suited up with renewed vigour, stayed with me after graduating, when I started working as a writer. Through rejection or long hours to meet deadlines, I still put in effort for whoever it could serve once published. And I’ve since enjoyed eating at my old restaurant and made a point of being extra kind to the waiter.

Far from making me feel panic all over again, The Bear actually helped me appreciate my time working in hospitality - and also changed my attitude towards work. I now feel grateful for enduring those mortifying moments. After all - the worst shifts became the best stories.

Did a cultural moment prompt you to make a major life change? Email us at cultural.awakening@theguardian.com

← Conjunction 20-118 2020

Since around 2010, Ha (pictured below) has increased his use of colour – especially reds and blues – in his work. "For me, the continuity of Conjunction lies not in repetition, but in continuing to experiment within a language that has kept opening up new possibilities," he says.

$\uparrow$ White Paper on Urban Planning No 5 1968 This work is from an early series executed between 1967 and 1969. "I remember how rapidly Seoul was changing at the time," Ha says. "The city was emerging from the devastation of war: new roads were being laid out, new buildings were rising, and the environment around us was becoming increasingly geometric and architectural. I wanted to bring something of that order and energy into my painting."

Reverse course

In South Korean artist Ha Chong-Hyun's trailblazing work, paint is pushed through the back of hemp to create spare, striking paintings. Abstraction is a form of rebellion, he says – and at 91 he has no intention of slowing down

In the early 1970s, the Korean artist Ha Chong-Hyun had a simple but novel idea: why not apply oil paint to the back of a surface rather than the front? Instead of canvas, he stretched

pieces of hemp, a coarse and loosely woven fabric, and pushed the thick oil paint through the holes in the cloth. For each work he used a single colour, in a neutral or muted tone such as white or brown. On the “front” side, he then moved the paint around with various handmade tools to create something akin to brushstrokes.

Ha, now 91, has remained dedicated to this technique, known as the “back-pressure method” (bae-ap-bub in Korean), ever since. He titles every piece Conjunction - because for him the work is essentially about the coming together of artist and material - along with numbers denoting the date of its creation. “The technique he developed ← Work 72-72(B) 1972 Before he developed the back-pressure method, Ha's work often incorporated common industrial materials such as barbed wire or metal springs. "The use of objects in these works is connected to the three-dimensional quality of his Conjunction paintings," says Lisson Gallery's Max Bossier.

↓ Conjunction 25-72 2025 Bossier points to a "meditative quality" of the intensely physical and repetitive back-pressure method. Meanwhile, the "hand tools" that Ha uses to manipulate the paint once it's been pushed through the hemp include palette knives, sticks and combs.

was really revolutionary. It hadn't been done before," says Max Bossier, director at Lisson Gallery in London, where a selection from this decades-spanning body of work, alongside several of Ha's earlier artistic experiments, will go on view next month.

Today, Ha is recognised as among the foremost Korean painters of his generation: part of an influential group of artists who came on to the scene in the 1970s and whose work was characterised by a spare simplicity of colour and material. In the 2000s, the movement was retrospectively named Dansaekhwa, which translates roughly as “monochrome painting”. By then, the artists - other important names include Lee Ufan and Park Seo-Bo - had begun to garner recognition outside their home country, a process that Bossier tells me has only accelerated over the past decade. (The Lisson show opens the day before Ha’s

← Conjunction 93-002 1993

"I have always believed that an artist should not simply see things as they appear, but should find another way of looking at and interpreting them," Ha says. "Painters normally apply paint to the front of a canvas; I began to ask myself, almost instinctively, what might happen if I approached it from the other side."

first ever North American museum retrospective, at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.)

At first glance, Ha's pared-back abstractions may seem to share significant overlap with the other examples of non-representational painting that proliferated around the globe in the second half of the 20th century. In particular, comparisons are often drawn to the work of US minimalists such as Robert Ryman, who famously restricted his palette to white and off-white paint. But there is a deep cultural specificity to Ha's approach that is fundamental to understanding his art.

Ha was born in Sancheong in Korea in 1935, during the Japanese occupation. He lived in Japan as a child for several years before returning to Korea after liberation in 1945. "On our journey home, we encountered a violent storm at sea

and I lost my grandmother and my young sibling," he recalls. "Amid all the upheaval, I continued to draw. I remember making a portrait of Yi Jun, the Korean independence activist, which my teacher displayed on the classroom wall." (We corresponded via email; Ha's children translated between Korean and English.)

In the turbulent decades that followed - the Korean war, postwar economic privation, a military dictatorship that didn't end until 1988 - Ha developed an artistic language that responded to and expressed its historical circumstances. Abstraction, for him and other artists, was at least partly a way to rebel against the figurative style favoured by the state. The use of hemp as a support for his paintings, meanwhile, began as a matter of necessity. “In the poverty that followed the Korean war, conventional art supplies were

difficult to obtain," Ha explains. "Among the materials around us were coarse sacks that had carried grain and other relief supplies from abroad."

For Ha, his commitment to working back-to-front “has never meant simply repeating the same thing”. Over time, he has introduced - or reintroduced - a number of different elements to his practice: holding a flame to the surface to singe the paint, using wooden slats instead of hemp as the support, incorporating brighter colours such as red and blue. “I still believe, as I have always told my students, that ‘a painter should never allow the paint on his palette to dry’,” he says. “As long as my health allows me to stand in the studio, I want to keep working. There are still things I have not made, and things I have yet to discover.” Works by Ha Chong-Hyun will be on display at the Lisson Gallery, London, 24 September to 7 November.

Tall, dork and handsome

Louis Garrel has long been French cinema's favourite tousle-haired Adonis, which makes his latest film role - as a schlubby, stay-at-home husband and dad - all the more surprising. 'I don't care if I look good,' he says

Words: Philip Oltermann

Even though I’ve been working in film for over 20 years, I still have this desire to look beautiful on screen,” says Louis Garrel, on a video call

from his bed inside a boat off the coast of Corsica. The French film star is lying on his stomach, occasionally kicking up his bare legs, ruffling his curls and running the nail of his thumb over his moustache. I think the person he sees on the laptop screen in front of him is me, but I am pretty certain he is flirting with his own reflection.

The attraction between the Paris-born 43-year-old and the camera tends to be reciprocal. Long of limb, tousled of hair and chiselled of nose, Garrel has spent a career on screen as French cinema's favourite Adonis - the man

film-makers turn to when they need an erotic wrecking ball to smash up bourgeois twosomes and turn them into quivering menages a trois.

His breakout role in 2003 was as a priapic student revolutionary who inserts himself in the sexual bond between his twin sister (Eva Green) and a visiting American student (Michael Pitt) in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers. Since then, he's been reliably effective as smouldering sexpots whose intense stare cuts across dancefloors - bewitching two friends in Canadian director Xavier Dolan's 2010 film Heartbeats, enticing Angelina Jolie into a fling in high-fashion drama Couture, or hawkishly pouncing on the poor Yves Saint Laurent in the 2014 biopic Saint Laurent, where he played Karl Lagerfeld's dandy companion Jacques de Bascher. "I fight against it because I know that good actors don't care about looking good," he excuses himself. "But I'm not such a good actor."

That is false modesty of the highest order. He hails from a dynasty of actor-film-makers that includes his mother Brigitte Sy, father (and ex-lover of Velvet Underground singer Nico) Philippe Garrel and grandfather Maurice Garrel, on whose advice he applied to and graduated from Paris's prestigious Conservatoire drama school. On screen, he has not just impersonated dreamboats but also Alfred Dreyfus, King Louis XIII, Robespierre and Jean-Luc Godard. And in his latest film, Garrel does something that only good actors can do: to play magnificently against type.

In the comedy Just an Illusion, he is Yves, a former executive at a kitchen appliance firm who has recently lost his job but can't bring himself to tell his family. Befitting the film's 80s suburban Paris setting, Garrel's hair here is bouffy rather than tousled, the moustache more Ron Burgundy than The Leopard-era Alain Delon. He wears a billowing beige trenchcoat that makes him look as befuddled as Monsieur Hulot, the comical everyman in the films of Jacques Tati.

In one scene, Yves is flicking through a magazine on the living room sofa while their apartment block's caretaker Monsieur Berger (Pierre Lottin) shows Yves' wife Sandrine

Uptown hunk (Above, left to right) Garrel with Eva Green in The Dreamers; in Saint Laurent; with Angelina Jolie in Couture; and (below) as deadbeat dad Yves in Just an Illusion.

(Camille Cottin, of Call My Agent fame) how to use her new desktop computer. As the mulleted Berger places his tattooed paw over Sandrine's hand to guide the cursor, she giggles in delight. "If you go like this, Sandrine, it jerks." "It jerks off all over the place," she coos back. Yves, startled by echoes of the frisson that has long vanished from his marriage, rushes to put out the sparks and shows Berger the door. If reducing France's go-to libertine to an anxiety-ridden gooseberry isn't a feat of acting, what is?

'The moments I appreciate as an actor now are when I hear people laughing at me'

"When I was very young, a director told me that on screen you have to be like a gorilla," Garrel says. "You have to be intense and fascinating to watch, but have absolutely no idea of yourself. When I'm playing a character like this one, I can do less, you know, modelling. I don't care if I look good, and most of the time you are better on screen when you don't care."

A hit upon its French release this spring, Just an Illusion is directed by film-making duo Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, who have been a major guarantee of box office success since Untouchable, about the relationship between a wealthy quadriplegic and his home helper. Like that predecessor, their new film's comedy is of the non-inflammatory kind, its emotional timbre unashamedly sentimental. But along the way, it processes some surprisingly big political themes, including Franco-German reconciliation, the 1870 Crémieux Decree that granted French citizenship to Algerian Jews, the rise of the Front National and the anti-racism concerts that were organised in response. There is also the question of how a frustrated stay-at-home husband copes with a spouse embarking on a career. When Sandrine passes her computing exam and gets an executive-level job, Yves sheds tears of joy with her.

“What strikes me when I watch modern movies these days is that everybody gets divorced or separated and couples never live together from the beginning to the end," says Garrel, who separated last year from his wife of eight years, the actor and model Laetitia Casta. "This movie portrays one man and one woman who stay together without separating, which would have been bourgeois in the 1970s but now feels very punk."

The protagonist of Just an Illusion is not Yves but his younger son, 12-year-old Vincent (Simon Boublil), who has fallen hopelessly in love with a girl in his class. Vincent has caring parents, but the film's central message is that at some point every generation has to tell the previous one to eff off, as well-meaning as they may be. I wonder how that message resonated with Garrel, given his profession is in keeping with family traditions? Has he ever told his parents to eff off? He answers in a way only

someone whose family tree is mapped out on IMDb can. “Of course I love Pasolini, of course I love Godard, of course I love Truffaut. But I want to get inspired by films that don’t show at the Cinémathèque Française. Like Lethal Weapon. That is one of my favourite movies, I don’t care.” OK, but has he ever told his parents to do one? “It’s a small rebellion, I know, but that’s maybe my way to say fuck off.”

Just an Illusion is the 62nd film Garrel has acted in and his first role that really interrogates fatherhood. In real life, he has a five-year-old son from his relationship to Casta, and an 18-year-old adopted daughter, Oumy Bruni Garrel, from a previous relationship with Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, sister of the former first lady of France, Carla Bruni. Oumy has starred in

some films, but Garrel seems sanguine about the fact that the acting dynasty that shares his name may come to an end with his children. “She [Oumy] is a very talented actor, she has a gift. But I recently asked her, do you really want to become an actress? And she told me no, no, no, I don’t want that. So next year she’s going to study anthropology, sociology and philosophy. I’m very proud of that.” Did he discourage her? “She doesn’t need discouraging, because she’s seen the kind of life that we have.”

Seeing yours elf through the eyes of your own children might make it harder to still be in love with yourself the way you were as a young man. But for an actor, it also makes it easier to not care, and act like a gorilla. Garrel seems to be developing a taste for it. Later this year, he will play the lead in It Will Happen Tonight, the new work by Nanni Moretti, one of Europe's great comic film-makers.

"I'm 43 years old, and the moments that I appreciate the most as an actor now are when I'm in a screening room and I hear people laughing at me," Garrel says. "It's terrible. But this is what I'm waiting for." Just an Illusion is out in UK and Irish cinemas on 11 September.

Out

Going out& Staying in

A cultural primer for the week ahead, whether you're on a guest list or on your sofa ...

Cinema

The Dog Stars Out now

Ridley Scott has got to be one of the most prolific octogenarians working today. The director's latest, a sci-fi drama based on the 2012 novel, stars Jacob Elordi (above) as a former pilot surviving the aftermath of a pandemic, with Margaret Qualley as a medic/love interest and Josh Brolin as a pugnacious former marine.

Colony

Welcome to a Korean zombie horror where the twist is that the undead share a hive mind, making them a formidable threat to the not-so-merry band of survivors hoping to pull through against the odds. Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho returns with more gore and action thrills.

One Night Only Out now

Will Gluck writes and directs a romcom starring zeitgeist-friendly actors Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro. It hit the headlines for not having any explicit sex in it despite its The Purge-meets-romance premise: premarital sex is illegal in the US, apart from on one no-holds-barred night each year.

I Want Your Sex Out now

Another new release with banging on the brain sees Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman playing, respectively, a provocative artist and the assistant with whom she enters into a BDSM relationship. Being a Gregg Araki film, this one is rather bolder, with the young man soon finding himself in over his head, so to speak. Catherine Bray

Gigs

Gesualdo Six and the Colin Currie Group

Royal Albert Hall, London, Wednesday Two British musical trailblazers join forces for this late-night Prom. The programme mixes centuries-old Christian choral works with Steve Reich's Tehillim to mark the composer's 90th birthday. Flora Willson

A\$AP Rocky

Sunday to 5 September, tour starts London

In the eight years since his last album, Testing, rapper A\$AP Rocky ventured into acting, designing and modelling, before releasing his fourth album, Don't Be Dumb, in January. He now brings that expertly curated shapeshifting record to UK arenas. Michael Cragg

Swansea international jazz festival Various venues, Thursday to 6 September

Swansea not only hosts the UK's longest-running weekly jazz club, but a prestigious weekender too. Guitar maestro Nicolas Meier splices Turkish music, flamenco, jazz and more (Thursday), while ever-cool vocalist Claire Martin duets with bass virtuoso Laurence Cottle (Friday). John Fordham

Forwards

The Downs, Bristol, Saturday & Sunday

The likes of Tems, Little Simz (below) and Amyl and the Sniffers headline this two-day festival in one of the UK's foremost music cities. MC

Art

Selected 16

Nottingham Contemporary, Wednesday

Touring art venues across the UK, this exhibition celebrates incredibly diverse new moving image work by early-career artists including Rhiana Bonterre, Rosanna Lee, Jack Guariento (work pictured above) and Viviana Almas.

Mike Nelson

Leeds Art Gallery, to Sunday It’s your last chance to see M62 (East, West) by the ever brilliant English conceptualist Mike Nelson, a minimal display of blown-out car tyres, collected from the verges of the M62 motorway that runs south of Leeds.

John Akomfrah Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, to Monday

Listening All Night to the Rain is a multichannel immersive video installation all about diasporic lives in the UK, dealing with ideas of racial injustice, the climate crisis and colonial history, all in Akomfrah's signature dramatic, cinematic style.

Richard Tuttle

Modern Art, London, Thursday to 3 October

This American minimalist once filled the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall with vast reams of yellow and red fabric, but this show gives viewers a chance to see him operating at a much smaller, but no less radically experimental, scale. Eddy Frankel

Want more?

Stage

Henry Paker Thursday to 30 May; tour starts Norwich Many comedians moonlight as artists, but few do both jobs at the same time. In Pencil Case, Paker - one-third of beloved podcast Three Bean Salad - combines standup with live drawing in what promises to be a gratifyingly clever and gently novel evening's entertainment. Rachel Aroesti

Ballet Nights Theatre Royal Glasgow, Wednesday & Thursday Husband-and-wife dancers Harris Bell and Sae Maeda take a break from their day jobs at the Royal Ballet to perform on tour with Ballet Nights. The gala-style show is a smorgasbord of dance from classical pas de deux to new contemporary pieces, compered by ex-Scottish Ballet dancer Jamiel Devernay-Laurence. Lyndsey Winship

Kimberly Akimbo Hampstead theatre, London, to 7 November This five-time Tony award-winning musical is about a 16-year-old girl who, due to a rare genetic condition, looks 74. It's all a bit barmy but heartfelt and truthful too. Starring the mighty Maria Friedman. Miriam Gillinson

Crucible, Sheffield, today to 19 September Ian McDiarmid returns to Sheffield to play Shakespeare's Lear - a king on the wane, surrounded by his scheming daughters, thoughtful fools, fears and frailties. Directed by Titas Halder. MG

Streaming

Chad Powers

Disney+, Thursday

Glen Powell will continue cementing his Hollywood leading man status next year, with starring roles in new Judd Apatow and JJ Abrams movies; in the meantime he's back with season two of this sweet comedy (above) about a disgraced college American football player trying to get back in the game.

Vigil

BBC One & iPlayer, Sunday, 9pm You may still think of Vigil as the sickeningly stressful Suranne Jones submarine drama, but these days the thriller takes place largely above ground; series three transports Jones's intrepid detective to an Arctic research station where a British special forces operative has been murdered.

The Gentlemen

Netflix, Thursday

Guy Ritchie's other gangster streamer series (the one that hasn't been generating a slew of headline-grabbing behind-the-scenes gossip) re-enters the fray, as aristocrat Eddie (Theo James) expands his drug dealing business into Italy. Hugh Bonneville and Maya Jama join the cast for series two.

Live from the Lycett Arms Channel 4, Friday, 10pm

Forget post-pub TV, how about actual pub TV? Channel 4's latest attempt to liven up their Friday night schedule comes courtesy of comedian Joe Lycett, who hosts this new series - part chatshow, part love letter to the great British boozer - from his own pop-up establishment in east London. RA

Games

Orbitals

Nintendo Switch 2, out Thursday

Local co-op games are rare, Nintendo Switch 2 exclusives even rarer. Orbitals (above) is both, with an art style and sci-fi story inspired by anime, and an asymmetrical approach to its puzzle-platforming reminiscent of the likes of It Takes Two. Thankfully for those of us with an original Switch, it's Gameshare compatible.

The Blood of Dawnwalker PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, out Thursday This dark fantasy RPG is set in an alternative 14th-century medieval Europe run by vampires. Player character Coen is a dawnwalker (human by day, vampire by night) whose choices affect how the story plays out as he races against time to save his family. Jordan Erica Webber

Albums

Interpol - This Mirror Weighs a Ton Out now

Seven albums in there was a sense that the New York doom-rockers (above) had lost their spark. There's very little evidence of that here, with the quintet's brand of atmospheric balladry and fizzing art-rock anthems infused with newfound energy.

Erykah Badu and the Alchemist -title TBC

Out now

At the time of writing the (temporary) title of this long-trailed collaboration between the mercurial soul icon and esteemed hip-hop producer Alan Maman is “Sorry, we don’t have an album title yet ...”. Such disorganisation, however, isn’t reflected in the gently hypnotic shuffle of lead single, Witch Doctor.

Alabama Shakes - I Must Be Dreaming Out now

As their 2018 hiatus extended it was assumed the rockers would stay on their own musical journeys. A one-off performance in late 2024 led to this, their eclectic third album, which takes on jazz (Garden) and heartfelt R&B excursions such as single Another Life.

Flowerovlove - Mini Skirt Warrior Out now

After a string of EPs showcasing her love for occasionally sour bubblegum pop, London singer-songwriter Joyce Cissé (below) finally releases her debut album. The country-tinged American Wedding channels Kacey Musgraves, while the bouncy In My Victoria's Secret is as sweet as candy floss. MC

Brain food

Recipe Club Podcast

Chef Dave Chang and writer Chris Ying host this charming culinary series (above), which analyses the perfect ways to recreate movie foods, from Pulp Fiction's burger obsession to the ratatouille from Ratatouille.

Ansel Adams: US National Archive Online

In 1941, photographer Ansel Adams was commissioned by the US National Park Service to create a vast mural. Although never completed, his fascinating reference images are now available to view on the National Archives webstie.

Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly Netflix, Tuesday

Following her chaotic breakdancing performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Rachael Gunn became a viral internet celebrity. This often sobering film recounts the massive fallout for Gunn and the breakdancing community who sought sporting legitimacy. Ammar Kalia

For cultural picks direct to your inbox, sign up to the Guide newsletter

FROM THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY THE GLOVES ARE OFF THE CLAWS ARE OUT

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER BELLA MACKIE

'Wildly entertaining' LUCY FOLEY CLAWS OUT! 'Witty, biting and delicious' KATHERINE RUNDELL

'BELLA MACKIE HAS OUTDONE HERSELF' LUCY FOLEY

'SALACIOUS, GRIPPING AND VERY FUNNY' JOE LYCETT

'FEW CAN COMPETE WITH BELLA MACKIE' GUARDIAN

SHARPEST, FUNNIEST

THRILLER OF THE YEAR

BOOKS

ESSAYS, FICTION and NONFICTION REVIEWS

The art of persuasion

Think you've picked that fresh new book yourself? Think again. The industry has a whole box of tricks to influence what you decide to buy. John Self investigates ...

‘Some influencers expect to get paid to review books. It feels like you’re breaking some sort of contract’

HINK ABOUT THE last book you bought. How did you choose it? Was it from a recommendation, a review, a TikTok video? Did the cover grab you, were you swayed by the quotes on the front, or did you just happen to spot it on an appealing table as you walked into the shop? Did you think

about all the nudges that led you to that decision - by the publisher, the bookseller or that person you follow on Insta?

The reality is that our reading choices are directed and massaged at every turn. “It’s all about the art of persuasion,” says Philip Gwyn Jones, who was a publisher for more than 30 years and is now a literary agent. And who are the persuaders? They’re the booksellers, the supermarket stock buyers, the publishing houses and their ranks of marketers and publicists. And, more recently, persuasion often comes from BookTokers and online influencers, social media videos, podcasts and Instagram posts. How is all this changing publishing?

We all judge books to some extent by their covers, but did you know how much thought goes into finding just the right cover, colour, font and design? These covers are focus-grouped, shown to supermarket buyers and often changed at their behest, according to Jamie Keenan, one of Britain's leading book designers. "That happens quite a lot," he says. "If Tesco with commercial books, or Waterstones with literary stuff, don't like it, they've got a tremendous amount of clout." (Waterstones and Tesco declined to speak to me for this piece.)

Meanwhile, online browsing and buying have brought about big changes. “There’s been a move towards more iconic book covers because of thumbnail images [on apps and websites],” Keenan explains. “One very simple emblem or logo that you can see from a distance, even when it’s two inches tall. Nice bright colours and big type,” he adds. “That’s what publishers are doing to attract people’s attention.”

It's true: when I went into Waterstones last week, I felt like reaching for my sunglasses to shield the glare of garish, saturated colours screaming from the fiction shelves: more sweet shop than book store. When I shared a photo on Instagram, a number of authors messaged me. “I hate it,” said one (whose own latest novel has a brightly coloured cover). “It’s just so brash.” Yet ironically, because all these books look the same, the effect is to make them blend in, not stand out. “Jewel tones have the industry in a headlock,” messaged another.

And then there are the increasing numbers of copycat covers, so that every cosy crime novel suddenly looks like Richard Osman's bestsellers - cream background, coloured border, hand-lettering - and all heartwarming Japanese books have to feature a cat. (At his last publishing house, says Gwyn Jones, for Japanese fiction "there was this unspoken imperative to put a cat on the cover even if there wasn't a major role for a cat in the book. It did seem to make a difference.") "You quite often get briefs on what are called comparable titles," Keenan says. "That's a nod-and-a-wink way of saying, 'Can you do something that looks a bit like these three?'

After the cover does its trick, we read the publisher's description on the back. That's the work of copywriters. "The cover designer has got them to pick up the book," says a copywriter for a major commercial publisher. "It's my job to make sure they don't put it down again."

The blurb is how we decide if this book is one for us. "You've got seconds to grab people," says the copywriter. One of their tricks is to use Christopher Booker's book The Seven Basic Plots. "Most stories can fit into three or four of Booker's categories: The Quest, Overcoming the Monster and so on. It gives you tools to tell the story of the book in different ways. You want to say: 'It's the same but different.'"

What if an author isn't writing what's on trend right now? "For the best part of two decades," the copywriter says, "we had Scandi noir: very dark, psychological thrillers. Now cosy crime is absolutely everything. If a writer is still writing noir and wants their books to be in the supermarkets, it needs to look like the books that are selling in supermarkets." That means "you'll find books being packaged rather differently to how they [really] are". These cosy crime blurbs need to, frankly, make death and violence sound like a minor inconvenience, so they focus on the mystery aspect (the books are “ingenious”, full of “twists and turns”) or the welcoming narrative tone (“delicious” and “delightful”) or the sense of tradition they follow as “quintessentially British” stories. But “publishers are lemmings,” the copywriter says, “and that’s where the market is.”

“There has been a sense since the mid-2000s that popular fiction readers’ tastes have narrowed,” they continue, “following one or two big trends. That parallels [the rise of] social media. Romantasy and cosy crime are the main areas of current growth.”

Whatever the genre, “a blurb has to tell a little story,” says Louise Willder, another copywriter, and author of a book on the subject, Blurb Your Enthusiasm. But, “we’re aware not every word we write will get read.” That’s because, explains the commercial copywriter, “People read in an ‘F’ [shape] - they’ll read across the top and then they won’t read the next line, they’ll just drop down to the next paragraph. So you’re trying to hit your marks at the start of each paragraph.” Cliches have always been rampant, they just shift with time. So “witty” becomes “whip-smart”. “It’s never ‘moving’, it has to be ‘deeply moving’,” says Willder.

Publishers' blurbs aren't the only thing on book covers; they are also clogged with endorsements from fellow authors. According to Willder, “audiences say they’re mistrustful” of these. There’s a sense that they are favours for friends - which may be justified. When it comes to quotes, “networking is crucial” confirms the commercial copywriter. “I’ll try to get two or three endorsements from my circles, or the author’s circles,” adds Gwyn Jones.

Author endorsements are, in any event, more often aimed at booksellers than readers. Even though many books are now sold online, the visibility of books in shops remains crucial to their success. Although some names may offer more effective badging than others - certain authors “seem to pop up on every single book”, says Brett Wolstencroft, manager at independent chain Daunt Books. “Stephen King has endorsed so many people,” says the commercial copywriter. “Tony Parsons is another culprit.”

Not all booksellers need to be persuaded, it should be said - some need to be paid. One experienced publicist I spoke to said: "To get books into supermarkets, you have to pay quite a lot of money. The general public thinks that those top 10s are earned positions and they are very much not earned positions. They're paid for." This practice used to be widespread. TG Jones, formerly WH Smith, also charged publishers for chart space, according to a 2022 BBC report, though the chain said that sales performance was also a factor. And in the time before James Daunt took over, Waterstones charged publishers to put their books on display tables. But now, one Waterstones bookseller tells me, "everything is down to individual booksellers".

Publishers send out early copies of books to booksellers, because if they read and like them, they can kickstart a book's success. Wolstencroft tells me that “the public trust us [as booksellers] because they know we really have read these books, we really do like them, we’re not driven by the tricks of the publisher.”

But what about the tricks of the bookseller? Three of the four window displays in Daunt's Marylebone branch are each focused on one title. “People have a very limited attention span,” Wolstencroft says. “Give them a wall of different books and they’ll move on quite quickly.”

Conversations with customers - hand-selling books - are crucial, because “they’re not just talking to one person, but to 30, 40 people around them in the shop. And the business of hearing a book recommended is incredibly powerful,” Wolstencroft adds. “Three or four people will come to the till in the next five minutes with that book.”

In many bookshops, a surrogate for hand-selling books are the cards attached to shelves praising particular books – shelf talkers, as they’re known. The Waterstones bookseller tells me that these “go a long way if they read sincerely. If they’re short and just say ‘I love this book’ or ‘It really made me cry’, that will work almost 100% of the time. One that doesn’t feel emotional will never work.” Waterstones, however, has a “standard that there have to be three review cards per bay [of shelves], so sometimes you have to churn them out to fill the bay. And if nobody [in the shop] has read it, you just steal something off Goodreads.” Those cards, they admit, “are less successful”.

MALLER INDEPENDENT bookshops can manage personal recommendations via tailored book subscription services. “I don’t really use the word subscription,” says David Headley, who runs Goldsboro Books in London and Brighton. “We call it a book club, with members rather than subscribers.”

Goldsboro has four book clubs, each sending out a new work of fiction in an exclusive edition to its members every month, including clubs for fantasy (with 2,000 members) and a recently launched club for debut fiction, with almost 500 members. Numbers like these give Goldsboro's clubs tremendous clout. Being chosen for one of them - Headley picks the books himself - "can get you into the top 10 bestsellers", he tells me.

How does he choose the books? “I go into publishers every six months and they pitch their books that are coming out.” But the final choice is Headley’s, and publishers don’t contribute to the cost. “We pay for everything, so if I buy 2,000 books, I have to sell them.”

Headley is also a literary agent, and several of his own client authors have appeared as Goldsboro book club choices. How does that work? “Not every author gets that privilege,” he says. “I don’t ever take on a client and promise them that. But if I really love the book and think people should read it, then I’ll choose it.”

What publishers are always chasing is the elusive word-of-mouth recommendation, an artificial version of a trusted friend pressing a favourite new book on you. That's what can be provided by booksellers and, increasingly, online influencers, on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube. "Influencers are important because they talk to a community and they're trusted by the community," says Lee Dibble, digital marketing director at Pan Macmillan. "Jack Edwards [who has 1.6

'The big thing now is making sure our books are discoverable by chatbots. It's an evolving science'

million followers on YouTube and 1.2 million on Instagram] or Dua Lipa can create huge interest from nowhere," adds Gwyn Jones. See, for example, how Edwards put a rocket under Fyodor Dostoevsky in 2024, helping the obscure novella White Nights shift more than 100,000 copies.

How do publishers persuade influencers to cover their books? “You might gather influencers round a restaurant table,” says Gwyn Jones. For books that publishers have spent a lot of money on, the process begins early. “Big dinners a year and a half ahead of publication,” a publicist tells me. “If it’s a debut they’ll invite [the debut author] alongside lots of established names to draw the [influencers] in.”

“You’re trying to buy their favour,” says Gwyn Jones of the influencers. In some cases, the buying is literal: “There are some BookTokers who expect to get paid to review books,” says the publicist. “It feels like you’re breaking some sort of contract there.” It is not, they add, about securing a positive review. “It’s more that it’s so competitive, some people think they can charge just to cover your book.”

This is separate from paid partnerships, where, as Dibble puts it, “they have to make it really clear they’ve been paid for that work” and “there might be a brief where there's a couple of messages [the publisher] wants to get across, but it's completely up to them how they talk about it".

It’s arguable, however, that any paid advert by an influencer muddies the waters of that crucial trust relationship with their community. “The whole thing of it being a common endeavour sort of dies the minute you start charging for your services,” says Gwyn Jones. Search Instagram or TikTok for “books” and “ad” and you’ll find numerous book influencers with text such as: “my fave author has a new book out and it is one of her best” or “this series felt like three arrows in the chest”. If they’re being paid to post this, how can their followers be sure it’s a sincerely held opinion?

Publicists are the publisher's frontline in seeking to secure attention for their books, but even this has changed in the digital age. “There’s an old adage where you have to see [the book] seven times before you buy it, so you’re trying to cover as many bases as you can,” the publicist tells me. As well as space in traditional media, this means social media (“a huge part” of publicity now) and new media. “If you can get an author on a really big podcast, that book can go to number one,” the publicist says. And “the big podcasts for books aren’t podcasts about books – The News Agents, Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place, or Davina McCall. You’re trying to pull out the lifestyle angles.”

Some traditions persist: “I stand by the fact,” the publicist tells me, “that there is no such thing as bad publicity. When there was all the controversy over The Salt Path, sales actually went up.”

There are areas that remain largely out of publishers' control, such as Amazon. But they do have some techniques. Publishers now usually add subtitles to a book on Amazon (“For readers of Sally Rooney”) to try to draw stray web searches. They also tag books with keywords. But it only goes so far. “You won’t show up next to Richard Osman by mentioning him 100 times in the metadata,” Dibble says.

If you’ve ever wondered why your favourite author is constantly urging you on social media to pre-order their new book, it’s because “the impact of Amazon rankings is huge”, the publicist tells me. “Preordering can have the biggest impact, and then it’s much easier to stay [in the charts] because it’s a snowball effect.” And where once search engine optimisation (SEO) was the big thing, now it’s GEO - generative engine optimisation, or “making sure our books are discoverable by chatbots”, Dibble says. So how do you court ChatGPT or Claude? It’s an evolving science, she says, but “you can format your content in particular ways that bots like, such as author Q&As or listicles”.

But what came across time and again from the people I spoke to is how authenticity is key. “It’s not like Quaker Oats,” says one publicist. “You’ve got to be passionate.” “I would only pitch things that are genuinely good,” says another. “Trust is the important thing,” David Headley adds.

All of these techniques can help to give a book a leg up, but nothing guarantees success even then. “We’re always quoting [screenwriter] William Goldman,” says Louise Willder. “Nobody knows anything.” In the end, as readers and browsers, despite all the nudges and cajolery and the tricks of the trade, the final decision really is ours.

Barbara Cartland in the 70s

A la Cartland

The extraordinary life of a bestselling romantic novelist Kathryn Hughes

The Great Dictator A Life of Barbara Cartland Matthew Sweet HODDER & STOUGHTON, £25

B ARBARA CARTLAND was famous for dictating her novels. With a pekingese clamped to her hot pink bosom she would lie back on a library couch and exhale a story about virginal girls taming wayward dukes, damaged airmen or

misunderstood surgeons. Meanwhile Miss Savory, Mrs Smith or Mrs Morgan, picked for being unfidgety and sneezeless, would take everything down in immaculate Pitman shorthand. Cartland reckoned on being able to polish off 8,000 words a day. "In this way," she told one of the many reporters who quizzed her on her astonishing productivity, "the typescript for an 80,000-word novel is finished in a fortnight." At her peak she was pushing out 23 books a year which added up to 723 in total. Only Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare topped her lifetime sales of 750m.

Cartland was a dictator in other ways, too. Husbands, dogs, houses and the local council were all expected to bend themselves to her indomitable will. Resistance, let alone opposition, was futile. The managing director of the company that printed her books suggested that she read Nietzsche on the perceptive grounds that they had a lot of ideas in common. Oddly, he also declared himself madly in love with her. Behind that marshmallowy exterior, all pink chiffon, candyfloss hair and soft, smudgy lines, there lurked sinews of high-tensile steel.

Anyone expecting this biography of Barbara Cartland to be an amusing takedown of a monstre sacré along the lines of Craig Brown's witty 2017 decimation of Princess Margaret will be disappointed. Rather, Matthew Sweet pays his subject the compliment of absolute seriousness, regarding her as a cultural phenomenon whose extraordinary life, stretching the entire 20th century, deserves deep study. Sweet has had unfettered access to the cornucopia of material that Cartland left behind at Camfield Place, the Hertfordshire manor house where she lived until her death in 2000 at the age of 98. Conducting a fingertip search of her letters, scrapbooks and typescripts, Sweet has crafted a generous but clear-sighted account of a woman who was too often reduced to the status of a lazy joke.

She was born in 1901 into the lower upper class. On her father's side she was pure trade. James Cartland and Son was a Birmingham metalworkers turning out umbrella stands, crocodile-shaped inkwells, shelf brackets shaped like sea monsters and “pharaonic letterboxes embossed with meaningless hieroglyphs”. Her adored mother Polly, meanwhile, was Gloucestershire gentry and there had been the usual rows about marrying down. Cartland’s paternal grandfather killed himself when the business went bust and her father retreated into alcoholism, leaving Polly to manage the tricky business of getting her daughter launched into a life the family could no longer afford.

Sweet suggests that this constellation of losses and compensations set the emotional template for Cartland's adult life. Men were necessary but fragile and certainly best not relied upon. Having come out as a deb in 1919 into a world where there were not enough husbands to go round, Barbara set out to become financially self-sufficient by plunging into the only kind of work for which she was qualified. For the next decade she filed gossipy titbits about young London society to the Express, the Mirror and the Daily Mail.

This was the world of the Bright Young Things, so often written up today as a madcap time of pyjama parties and midnight dashes to the continent. In fact, Cartland's columns reveal a society still in shock from the first world war: fathers are dead (Cartland lost hers in the trenches in 1918), grand family houses have been sold, divorce is everywhere and life seems impossible without alcohol or drugs. The men whom Cartland stepped out with were not the heart-throb dukes and dashing airmen that she would later write about, but broken people without the language to express their desolation. "My contemporaries were ashamed to show emotion," she observed with characteristic perception in her 1943 memoir The Isthmus Years. "We had all of us a horror of sympathy."

So instead she simply carried on with a brittle determination to make the best of things. After plenty of dalliances with men called things like Pingo Langrishe and Nigs Ratendone she made a tactical marriage to a dull man called Alexander McCorquodale who was heir to a printing fortune. When he retreated into drink - shades of her father - she effected a neat swap by divorcing, then marrying his paternal cousin. In this way there was no need to change her surname: she had replaced one Mr McCorquodale with another. It rankled that she never achieved a title until she herself was made a Dame in 1991. By contrast, her ambitious daughter, Raine, managed to insert herself into the peerage not once but three times through each of her carefully strategic marriages.

The only man who really mattered to Cartland was her beloved younger brother, Ronald. They went on holiday together and endlessly discussed the cod-eastern philosophies that were all the rage in the 1920s: Ouspensky and Gurdjieff were favourites and Cartland retained a vague mysticism to the end of her life involving ghosts and spiritual healing. She also believed in flying saucers and the power of honey to cure just about anything.

Brother and sister bonded too over politics, specifically a socially engaged, internationalist Toryism. Barbara bossed Ronald into parliament where he became a leading anti-appeaser. She in turn wrote one of the first of the tiny number of 1930s British novels that dealt specifically with the evils of Nazi antisemitism. Dangerous Experiment (1936) involves the improbable story of Lena Carrington who, after a shipwreck and a spell as the slave of a tribe of thunder-worshippers in the Caucasus, ends up in Germany where she is courted by a Nazi lover. In the end she breaks things off when she sees him mistreating a Jewish refugee.

This, of course, is not the Barbara Cartland that most of us remember from the 80s and beyond. In what Sweet calls her “imperial phase” she was writing novels with paper-thin plots that she endlessly recycled. She was also a relentless self-promoter. Bed linen, candles and towels were all enthusiastically marketed under her name, although with remarkable restraint she drew the line at scented toilet paper. She also pulled off a promotion with Dewhurst the butcher, which offered customers one of six previously unpublished Cartland novels for every £12 they spent. The promotion was not a great success because of the sheer weirdness of “being given a copy of Desire in the Desert with a parcel of mince”.

But when, in a stroke of fortune so improbable that even now it hardly seems real, her daughter, Raine, became Diana Spencer's stepmother, Cartland sensed new opportunities for cross-pollination. She took to announcing "I invented virgins" and managed to imply that the royal wedding of 1981 was somehow her doing, despite being pointedly not invited. Raine, a chip off the old block, made sure that the gift shop at the Spencer family seat, Althorp, stocked a full run of Barbara Cartlands.

It would be easy to dismiss Cartland as a quirk, an aberration the likes of which we will not see again. But the great triumph of this brilliant book is the way that Sweet embeds her firmly in the economic, political, social and artistic transformations of the 20th century while charting the ways in which she also transcended them. Somehow, and this remains the deep mystery of it all, Barbara Cartland emerges as that rather admirable thing: an entirely self-made woman. To buy a copy for £22.50 go to guardianbookshop.com

Putin and Trump at the Alaska summit, 2025

Putin's man? How Trump helped Russia and hurt Ukraine Lawrence Freedman

POLITICS Betrayal Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest Luke Harding GUARDIAN FABER, £20

American presidents have struggled to get the measure of Vladimir Putin. When George W Bush met him in 2001, he reported that he had “looked the man in the eye”, got a “sense of his soul” and found him “trustworthy”. Barack Obama thought Putin was making a mistake with his interventions in Ukraine and Syria, but didn’t do much about it. Joe Biden backed Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion, yet his fear that Putin would reach for the nuclear button if backed into a corner made him risk averse. He worried about the impact of the sort of long-range strikes against Russian territory that Kyiv is now launching on a daily basis.

This caution frustrated Ukrainians to the point that they looked forward to Donald Trump's re-election. Be careful what you wish for: the returning president thought his rapport with Putin would be enough to get Russia to sign up to an immediate ceasefire. In Trump's head it was President Zelenskyy, fighting a war he was bound to lose, who was the problem.

This led to the betrayal that gives Guardian correspondent Luke Harding's book its title. Instead of increasing the pressure on Moscow, the new administration set about abandoning Ukraine. In the UN General Assembly, the US voted with the dregs of Russia's supporters against a resolution condemning its aggression (even China abstained). Trump denounced his predecessor, Biden, for the support given to Ukraine, exaggerated its value (claiming it was \$350bn when it was close to \$70bn) and demanded privileged access to Ukraine's mineral wealth as a form of repayment. Then came the greatest indignity of all as Zelenskyy was baited in the Oval Office, with JD Vance accusing him of disrespecting the president, after he had merely tried to correct falsehoods about how his country was coping with the war. He was ushered out of the White House and subjected to further denunciations. Intelligence was even cut off to Ukraine's frontline forces for a short but critical period.

Trump's delusions about Putin persisted. Later that year he invited him to Alaska for a summit, where he was treated with extraordinary deference, in the belief that he was prepared to

compromise. The only compromise Putin had in mind involved Ukraine handing over its territory without a fight. (Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, is still denying Russian claims that this was agreed in principle at the summit.) In any case, the meeting was a failure, with Trump left irritated by one of Putin's long disquisitions on the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations. It ended before lunch.

Harding demonstrates Trump's betrayal less through accounts of negotiations and summits than in his reporting from Ukrainian cities under constant attack from the air. As Zelenskyy was being ambushed in front of the world's press, Harding was in Odessa, visiting a clinic that had been hit by an Iranian-designed Russian Shahed drone. As she viewed the wreckage of the gutted children's clinic in which she worked, Olena Palsh lamented: "We fashioned it with love. The work of five years was destroyed in an instant." Harding tells many such stories of the suffering and devastation inflicted by Putin on a country he considers to be a natural part of Russia.

In this way, he creates a sobering chronicle of a long and vicious conflict. He is skilled at describing the individuals caught up in events, including Ri Chol-nam, a North Korean soldier who was surprised to find himself fighting for Russia, and for whom the shame of being captured by the Ukrainians led to a suicide attempt. The wider context is also deftly conveyed, with chapters on how China is trying to make the most of the situation and how Putin seeks to intimidate Europeans, sabotaging internet cables on the seabed or flying drones into their airspace.

The villains at the core of the book are undoubtedly Trump and Putin. Harding discusses whether Trump might himself be a Russian asset. Is it just that he enjoys the company of tyrants and envies their supreme power, or do they have embarrassing kompromat that he wants to ensure doesn't see the light of day (though admittedly this is a man who seems to know no shame)? Harding concludes with a question in the subjunctive: "If Trump were a Russian agent, what exactly would he do differently?"

Yet now Putin seems disappointed by Trump, for he has not delivered the Ukrainian surrender he sought. Which leads to a different question: given Trump's readiness to accommodate Putin, how come the Russian leader has been unable to make the compromises that would have allowed him to close the deal? It's a shame that Harding is no longer allowed into his old stomping ground of Moscow, where his contacts might have helped him to explore the biggest puzzle: why Putin persists with a futile and costly war he can't win. To buy a copy for £16 go to guardianbookshop.com

Stories of hope A call for sisterhood in an era of climate crisis Samantha Ellis

SOCIETY Feminism for a World on Fire Natasha Walter VIRAGO, £25

It has become increasingly difficult to change our minds, to question our own views or to find common ground with people we disagree with, all of which makes Natasha Walter's new book both refreshing and exhilarating.

In her ebullient 1998 debut The New Feminism, Walter hailed Margaret Thatcher as a trailblazer. In this fiercer, bleaker work, she rips into the “glossy language of aspiration feminism”, “the message that the individual woman can do anything she wants if she only has the necessary courage”. That kind of feminism inspired an “explosion of books and films about pioneers and heroines, about bossy women and gutsy girls” which retold the feminist story as “a succession of isolated campaigns, led by outsize individuals”.

Instead, Walter advocates for ecofeminism, and for solidarity and sisterhood, “narratives that focus less on how I win on my own, and more on how we thrive together”. She’s serious about that “we”, marshalling stories from across the globe. Walter founded the charity Women for Refugee Women in 2006, directing it for the next 15 years. During that time she was struck by women’s complaints of environmental degradation, their despairing at the “heaps of toxic waste that had grown up behind their homes”. Meanwhile feminism was being commodified by companies like Missoni, which copied the pink pussy hats knitted, for nothing, by feminist protesters, and sold them for £140 apiece. And by Dove, which promised “real beauty” and inclusivity while making billions of single-use plastic shampoo sachets that, according to Greenpeace, have clogged up sewers and contributed to floods in places like the Philippines (Dove states that it has made an “agenda-setting commitment to tackle the global beauty industry’s plastic waste issue”).

She also saw some feminists who had supported the charity switch their energies to focus solely on British women, who they insisted needed protecting from migrants. No wonder she invokes indigenous scholar and healer Yuria Celidwen's belief that political journeys must start with grief. But she also draws hope from Holly Archer (not her real name), a

victim of grooming, gang-rape and abuse who has set up a project in Shropshire supporting survivors and “refuses to let her story be exploited by those who would use it to drive hatred and division”.

I'd forgotten until she reminded me here that the slide into dystopia in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale starts with climate change. In real life, too, women suffer first and most from environmental collapse. Rising sea levels in Bangladesh send women travelling miles further to fetch fresh drinking water. In north-east Syria, the radical women of Rojava - who fought off the extreme misogynist forces of Islamic State and are resisting authoritarianism from the new Syrian government as well as attacks from Turkey - struggle to feed their families because of water scarcity and food shortages. Nevertheless, they are “building something new”.

Walter travels there to interview them and finds “the most determined feminists I have ever met”. It’s exhilarating to meet them on these pages too. One of the most joyous moments in the book comes during a conversation with Bahiya Mourad, who set up a mala jin, or women’s house, in 2011. For a while she and her comrades evaded the authorities’ attention because they seemed like harmless old women, but when the government did try to close them down, they beat them off with sticks. Part of their work involves helping women who want to marry against their parents’ wishes, and, says Mourad, “often we end up dancing at their weddings”. In a book that can sometimes feel hopeless, it’s a vital reminder that feminist joy is not about buying a £140 pink pussy hat, but about helping other women – and, maybe one day, celebrating with them when the seemingly impossible has been achieved. To buy a copy for £22.50 go to guardianbookshop.com

Hélène Carrère d'Encausse in 1983

Secrets and lies The complex history of an elite French family Blake Morrison

MEMOIR Kolkhoz Emmanuel Carrère FERN, £20

When Emmanuel Carrère's mother, Hélène, died in 2023, at the age of 94, President Macron spoke at her memorial. She had been “perpetual secretary” of the Académie Française, in effect its head, and 200 people gathered at Les Invalides in Paris to pay tribute. Emmanuel’s father, Louis, was there too, in a wheelchair, only half aware of what was going on. This 400-page memoir, translated into English by John Lambert, is a homage to both parents and the unlikely history that brought them together. It’s also an act of reparation towards Hélène, whom Emmanuel worshipped as a child but upset as an adult by publishing a book that she’d forbidden him to write.

Hélène grew up in stateless poverty in Paris, the daughter of Georges Zourabichvili, whose parents had fled Georgia in 1921, and Nathalie von Pelken, who as a child had six governesses, one for each day excluding Sunday. Though “the magical world of the fallen Russian aristocracy” was the backdrop, conditions were tough, not least after Georges disappeared in 1944, murdered by partisans for alleged Nazi collaboration. Hélène was 15 at the time and unsuccessfully tried to hide the truth about George’s death from her younger brother, Nicolas.

She was determined and highly ambitious. For a time she considered an acting career but found her metier as a Russian historian. It helped that she was charming and attractive, so much so that an Afghan pilot, on a flight from Tashkent to Paris via Tehran, first invited her to the cockpit, then landed the plane in Kabul in order to kidnap her. He kept her there for four days before a couple of US aid workers sneaked her away on a private plane.

By then she was married to Louis, who worked for an insurance company and was often away on business trips. At home Hélène ruled the roost and let Emmanuel and his two sisters sleep around her bed, a setup she called “kolkhoz”, the name for collective farms in the USSR. There was no television or radio; the children were made to read. Her son’s reading was strenuous: from Jules Verne and Alexander Dumas, he moved on to Dostoevsky at 13. His mother brought out his softer side - whenever she went away he’d write long letters saying how “horribly” he missed her.

He felt abandoned when she began receiving phone calls from a “Mr N” and had long furtive conversations with him. No less distraught, her husband threatened to kill himself. Hélène ended the affair to spare Louis but he “lost her love for ever” and moved from the marriage bed to a tiny room. Worse, she more or less stopped speaking to him, a habit that lasted to the end. When diagnosed with cancer and admitted to a palliative care home, she merely told him she’d be away at a conference.

The mother-son relationship remained close until Emmanuel published A Russian Novel, which explored the story of her father, Georges, which she had asked him not to tell (“It’s my story, not yours. Leave him where he is”). Publication was “a family cataclysm”; she blamed her brother Nicolas for helping with it. Though she did eventually forgive Emmanuel, her loyalty to Russia divided them. A week before the invasion of Ukraine she described Putin as “a rational man”, committed to good relations with Europe. Dismayed, Emmanuel visited Georgia, where his cousin Salome Zourabichvili had become president. A trip to Ukraine followed. He remains violently opposed to Putin.

His mother loved order and completeness. And at her memorial Macron praised her for finishing the latest Académie dictionary - a 40-year task - with the word zygomatique (an anatomical term). In reality, as she frustratedly told her son, they'd only reached zoo, with 62 more words to come, the last of them zz, onomatopoeia for sleep. She wouldn't have slept well if she'd know this book was coming, but it's an epic achievement and an honest, heartfelt account. To buy a copy for £18 go to guardianbookshop.com

The Disappearers Marlon James HAMISH HAMILTON, £20

Fear and loathing Marlon James's scorching exposé of homophobia in Jamaica is a triumph Yagnishing Dawoor

SENSE OF SWEEP," replied Marlon James, when asked what moves him most in literature. "Sweep isn't just about external journeys, but internal as well. It can be over years and decades, or across land and sea." If that

explanation is still hazy, pick up his mighty new novel, which is longlisted for this year's Booker prize and is tirelessly - sometimes exhaustingly - grand and peripatetic. Mounting a grisly exposé of Jamaican homophobia, this 640-page doorstopper is an emotionally bruising narrative that roves “uptown, downtown, ghetto and gully” through Aids-era Kingston with sidetrack excursions to 1950s England and a closing leap to 2000s United States.

The novel's defining event is a gruesome mob attack on eight queer men who have clandestinely come together to work on bringing John Herbert's 1967 gay prison play, Fortune and Men's Eyes, to the stage. The goal, in the words of director Havelock Titus, is to shatter “the whole fragile myth of Jamaican male sexuality”. “Because prison,” he explains, “is the ultimate male institution and yet masculine sexualities that could never happen outside in the normal world flourish in there all the time.”

The spunk and sass of these men, their banter and squabbles as they feel each other out and ease into their roles, as well as their fears, insecurities and motivations for doing the play, are relayed by one of the actors: Eddy Porteous, a “white-ish” Belgian Jamaican college student. His diary entries over the course of the month preceding the assault make up the novel’s expositional first quarter, illuminating the interplay of class, race and colourism in the experience of Jamaican queerness.

The narrative kicks into gear with the section on the attack. Now we are thrust, chillingly, into the minds of the perpetrators, among whom are a policeman, a self-loathing closet case, a deacon and a reggae singer named Streggeh Don whose hit, Batty Is Not Pussy, is the rallying-cry-cum-soundtrack for the splatterfest. Violence is James's shtick and a hallmark of his fiction, from torture and sexual abjection in his subversive slavery epic, The Book of Night Women, and gang warfare in his Booker-winning novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, to the near-ceaseless carnage in his ongoing Dark Star fantasy trilogy. But here, far from the glib relish of which James has been accused throughout his writing career, one senses an unequivocal ethical purposefulness. “I think evil is a choice,” one survivor asserts, “and an ongoing one. Even in the midst of committing wickedness there are choices of how wicked one will be, which is made by the minute.” In order to grasp this statement in all its wounded, furious profundity – to see the outsize hate unleashed on these men as deeply volitional – the reader must bear witness not only from within the action, but also from within the consciousness of the perpetrators.

One man has a branch shoved into his anus and dies. Another has both his eyes gouged out. All but Eddy, who had skipped rehearsal on that fateful night, are battered, gashed and maimed. Two of them will later vanish without a trace. Wrestling with survivor's guilt, Eddy teams up with fellow actor Jordan to try to find them. More so than Eddy, it is Jordan who is the novel's beating heart. A gleeful, foul-mouthed "sometime prostitute" he is the Jamaican homophobe's "battymonster" come to life.

Jordan and Eddy's journeys into the promiscuous gay underground and the dark heart of heterosexual Jamaica are recounted in a series of interview transcripts, as the pair take turns speaking to a journalist from an American media outlet. Their frustrations gather further poignancy within the broader tragedy of the Aids epidemic engulfing Jamaica's gay community: "This is what Aids is after all, isn't it? One long set of disappearing acts."

The Disappearers is a bleak and uncompromising exploration of rage and survival; of trauma and its afterlife; of the terrible intimacy that binds victims to their perpetrators, and survivors to the dead, as well as revenge's lure for those who are not given their due. Throughout, the narrative obsesses over the questions of whether meaning can emerge from the devastation of atrocity, and whether the void left by the missing is a mystery to be solved, or a limbo to be helplessly inhabited. What if the disappeared, done with being part of a world bent on eliminating them, didn't want to be found? Fizzing with filth, snark and venom, the novel hawks and spits at convention, especially the politics of respectability that insists on restraint; it strafes down on homophobia with ruthless abandon. Few books have mapped the beleaguered realities of queer existence with such psychological depth, harrowing realism and searing condemnation.

The formal design, however, is not without flaws. The overlong narrative sags in places, tarrying where it should speed along, and the intertextuality - most obviously the revenge plot's debt to Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon - can veer into self-conscious pastiche. While the book's conversation with the queer canon is richly rewarding (besides Herbert, Gide, Genet, Vidal, Wilde, Baldwin and Holleran are some of the visiting spectres), I struggled with the fact that a significant chunk of the action is reported rather than dramatised. As well as the interview transcripts, we have letters from Havelock to a friend; some pivotal moments are thus experienced either at a temporal and affective remove, or inevitably somewhat summarised.

Ultimately, these are redeemable shortcomings in an otherwise remarkable novel. James makes room for the contradictions of queer life, its intimacies, estrangements and hungers, in utterly indelible ways. His prose is a consistent triumph: bitter and hilarious, lyrical, bawdy, pugnacious and scorchingly, ravishingly queer. The Booker judges have described this novel as a “reckoning”; it is incontestably also a haunting. To buy a copy for £17 go to guardianbookshop.com

Death on the Nile Mortality and memory in a gem of a novel John Banville

Passage Colin Thubron CHATTO & WINDUS, £14.99

Virginia Woolf said of Middlemarch that it is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people. In the shallow and infantilising age through which we are living, Colin Thubron dares to assume that his readers are adults. Passage is a very beautiful, very moving, authentic work of art. Hardly more than a novella, it sits lightly in the hand, but its emotional and aesthetic weight overtips the balance.

Thubron began his career as a travel writer and a large part of the action of Passage is set in a vividly but economically evoked Egypt. This is not the teeming Egypt of Cairo or Alexandria, but of the countryside, the villages, and the great immemorial tombs and ancient monuments. The best travel writers know that “abroad” is most convincingly evoked not by awed exclamations at the world’s wonders, but by an attitude of relaxed familiarity. Thubron is obviously an old Egypt hand, or at least has the skill to convince us that he is.

The story he tells is both simple and subtle. The main character is Kathleen, an Anglicised Australian actor whose father had emigrated from Slovenia. She is in her 40s, beautiful and gravely ill, and the brief first chapter is a toe-curlingly stark description of an operation on her brain to investigate a tumour which, as we will learn, is incurable.

As it happens, Kathleen's husband, Robert, is himself a brain specialist, and has elected, unwisely, to be present at the operation, “standing as far away as space allows ... He finds himself staring speechless into his wife’s brain. It is a turmoil of ink and crimson coils, faintly pulsing under the surgeon’s instrument.”

Robert and Kathleen's marriage has gone stale; also, it has a historical blemish, since it was Robert's younger brother, Alan, who first met Kathleen and fell in love with her when they were both in their teens.

Kathleen is a wonderful creation: strong-willed, outspoken, and above all clear-eyed, about herself and others. She knows how ill she is, but is determined not to give in to self-pity and to live her life as fully as she can to the end. She insists, only weeks after the operation, on setting off, with

Robert and Alan - yes, Alan does seem a glutton for heartache - on the Egyptian holiday that had been planned before she became ill.

One of the most admirable aspects of the book is Thubron's restraint in exploiting the symbolic possibilities that this journey holds out to him. Egypt, after all, or the parts of it that the travellers visit, is itself a kind of afterworld. “The temple city that was gathering around them, with its unreadable carvings and maimed statues, was a ruined monument to death and memory.”

Death and memory: these are the poles between which Kathleen's dwindling existence is strung. What for the other tourists are more or less interesting sites, and sights, are for her the points of exit that she must soon step through: "When her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw in front of her a gold-lit corridor that appeared to reach into infinity. In its walls, painted gods marched or floated through an ocean of hieroglyphs. Above her spread a constellation of stars."

When she encounters a local guide, the soft-spoken and quietly considerate Ashraf, it seems she is being offered another and surely final chance at love. However, she knows it is an impossibility: “She imagined his hands encountering with horror the sutures under her hair.” What she does not know is that Ashraf, a political activist, is already a marked man, as she is a marked woman, in a different way, and for different reasons.

Passage is an exquisitely wrought novel that reverberates in the mind with poetic force. The record of Kathleen's passage from life into the not-life is at once tragic and affirmative. "No matter, she was moving through a sacred theatre where gods and humans transformed into each other, as if they shared one essence, the immortal and the transient interfused."

To buy a copy for £13.49 go to guardianbookshop.com

I'm your biggest fan A bookish infatuation drives a knowing caper Sam Leith

Sophie, Standing There Meg Mason BLOOMSBURY, £20

The protagonist of Meg Mason's new book, the follow-up to the 2020 tragicomedy Sorrow and Bliss, is an invisible woman. She might well be standing there, but you won't notice her. She's a techie at literary festivals - the person who shuffles up to a famous writer a few minutes before their event and apologetically slides a microphone cable down their shirt while they're making small talk with the chair or accepting a bottle of room-temperature mineral water from an anxious publicist.

No man is a hero to his valet, and no writer is a hero to the technical staff lurking in the wings of a venue. Mason's opening pages present a teasing but not quite libellous series of cameos from real writers: George Saunders deciding at an inconsiderately late stage to insist on swapping his headset for a lapel mic; Ann Patchett being frosty with a fan; Mick Herron accidentally stepping on someone's foot and not apologising.

Sophie lurks in the wings of her own life, too. She likes her job but she has much to be sad about. Not long ago, her husband brought their relationship to an end with oafish callousness (she was in the shower; he didn't bother to take his earbuds out while he delivered the news), and with it her hope of becoming a mother. Now her beloved books are in storage in the garage of her old house and she's living alone in a dingy rental flat owned by her husband: "The water in Sophie's glass tasted like pipes. She felt very tired ... The coffee table was actually a cable spool with ‘12 AWG’ spray-painted on the drum."

Mason's prose is wan and witty, handling the admixture of pathos and bathos well; and her sinuous sentences capture the wavering movements of thought with less fuss and more laughs than, say, Virginia Woolf. As a bookish person, and one inhabiting a lightly metafictional narrative, Sophie is glumly aware of her literary analogues. There's "a lot of sad girl fiction" on her Kindle. "Eleanor Oliphant," she reflects. "That was the worst. Even though it was extremely well written and Sophie had recommended it to about 10 people when it first came out, in this moment, she wished she'd never heard of it and couldn't recall the cheese scones and those cappuccinos Eleanor always ordered, the saddest of all the coffees."

Mason is brilliant, too, at describing the small but intense joys of everyday life – getting your scalp massaged at the hairdresser, for instance, or owning one really nicely designed pair of trousers. She’s likewise good at life’s routine humiliations and inanities, such as bumping into your ex with a leaky bottle of coconut water in your handbag, or asking a favour from someone whose text messages you have been ignoring, or realising how much it’s going to cost to take an Uber back from Ikea.

The engine of the plot is a parasocial relationship but an old-fashioned one: Sophie becomes obsessed with a famous writer. (The writer is just “the author” for the first part of the book but then, perhaps finding the conceit unwieldy, Mason gives her a name, Lilac Dunne.) Sophie rereads her books, talks to an imaginary version of Lilac, and spends hours scrolling images of her and listening to her on podcasts. Then fantasy and reality collide when, to Sophie’s terror, Lilac is booked to appear after Elizabeth Strout drops out of an event.

An infatuation with the idea of Lilac, with her public persona and her authorial voice, is complicated by a first glancing and then apparently deepening encounter with the real thing. Lilac takes Sophie up, a little, and Sophie is flattered and flustered. She thinks of herself as a nobody but Lilac seems not to. And then ... well, no spoilers.

If there's a fault to be identified in this continuously witty and touching narrative, it's in the person of Lilac. As a writer she appears to be unstuffy, poised, wise and at ease in the world; Sophie isn't the only one to fall for her. When we encounter Lilac in person, she's harder and more ruthless than her public persona but no less impenetrable, with none of the psychological complexity or vulnerability displayed elsewhere. She's more deus ex machina in Sophie's story than fully realised character.

But perhaps that's by design. In this Bridget-Jones-meets-Pirandello caper, Mason is nothing if not knowing. As she writes in one of the closing chapters, opening a little postmodern mise en abyme: "If someone wrote a novel about Sophie, which they wouldn't, but if they did, it could end there." It doesn't. To buy a copy for £18 go to guardianbookshop.com

Falling down Existential crisis in an age of contradictions Sarah Crown

Triage Claudia Rankine ALLEN LANE, £22

A ny resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental," writes the multi-award winning Jamaican-American poet, essayist and playwright Claudia Rankine in the disclaimer to her latest work. "Unless it isn't." The pretzel-logic of this statement, its assertive ambiguity, sets the tone for a book that digs directly into the question of what we are to do with the idea of truth, when the world we live in is asking us "to hold, visually and emotionally, realities we do not yet have a viable system of language for". In Triage, Rankine borrows from her personal history and from a world whose landscape now encompasses "the rise of fascism, the implementation through deportations of the Great Replacement theory, the starvation of devastated populations subjected to war and climate change", and uses the material she gathers to pose a simple question. When faced with realities such as these, what do you do? Do you stand, or do you fall?

The book begins with a friendship. Two young people - our narrator, and another she refers to only as “the theorist” - meet in college in the late 20th century, and are drawn to each other. They’re passionate; they’re idealistic; they’re committed to the activism of the time and steeped in the texts and authors and philosophical conceits of the humanities. Over time, they develop a game. “When we spied each other during the day,” the narrator explains, “we had to collapse.”

The pair fall to the ground “in the dirt, grass, on cement, wood”, all over campus. They become known for it (“Aren’t you the two who fall?”), even though they themselves don’t seem, fully, to understand what their falling means. That it is a response to the “toomuchness” of the world around them, to “all the fevered wretchedness we had no answers for”, is without question. But what exactly the response itself signifies is less clear. Looking back from a vantage point 40 or more years into the future, the narrator offers a range of possible interpretations: “a refusal of continuance”; “a way to say things were unaligned”; perhaps just “the easiest way to keep from breaking apart”. But between the narrator and the theorist, the meaning of the game is never definitively pinned down.

And it is perhaps this ambiguity that exists between them, even at the heart of a game that binds them to each other, that eventually drives them apart. The years pass; the world becomes wilder, more brutal, less sane; the crises and disasters to which the theorist and the narrator could, or should, respond multiply and intertwine. In the face of this worsening world, what began as a hair's-breadth difference in the interpretation of their college game widens into a chasm. On the one side, the narrator sees her role as one of witnessing. Her work takes her into art criticism. The theorist, on the other hand, is not content with reaction; they are compelled to act. What matters about falling for them isn't the collapse itself, but the fact that the act of collapsing pushes them to rise up, over and over again.

The book itself is a fantastical hybrid - part memoir, part reportage, part essay, part lyrical lament - and the complexity of its construction both mirrors and engages with our present moment's contradictions.

Triage is a challenging book for challenging times: it forces us to look at the world around us without blinking. There may be, as the narrator suggests in one of her final conversations with the theorist, “no solutions, only recognitions”. But at the same time, Rankine is clear that the truth of that statement doesn’t render action redundant: the book proposes courses of action even if it doesn’t offer the false promise of success. “Trying in the face of defeat is a thing,” the theorist argues. “For you, loss is a state of grief; for me, it’s a state to refuse … Things are unachievable only when you need the road to be short.” To buy a copy for £18.70 go to guardianbookshop.com

BOOKS OF THE MONTH

Children and teenagers

Poetry with wonder and wit; a heartwarming tale for horse lovers; a portal to the future; and a brilliant YA wartime romance. By Imogen Russell Williams

The Flying Machine of Dreams Kate Wakeling, illustrated by Viviane Schwarz OTTER-BARRY, £12.99 A delectable picture-book collaboration that perfectly distils the wonder of the everyday, from the textures of a leaf to a squishycushioned den. Wakeling's irresistible poetry is heightened by Schwarz's sweet, strange illustrations.

Bison Rule, OK! Sarah Ziman, illustrated by Nia Havilliard OTTER-BARRY, £8.99 What annoyed Big Sister this week? What's the cure for everything in the school medical room? And what's so good about having a bison as your friend? Witty, satisfying, resonant and fun, this enticing poetry collection will tempt a range of 6+ readers.

Sad to leave her foster parents and the pony she loved to ride, Pres isn't yet ready to trust her Aunty Janelle, or form a new bond with the rescue pony at the city stables. But what if he really needs her? This heartwarming, layered, readable story will please 8+ horse lovers and Jacqueline Wilson fans.

How to Steal the Future Christopher Edge MACMILLAN, £7.99 At the heart of a dangerous, ever-changing maze hides the Avenir, a mystery with the power to unlock the future. Drew is looking for his sister Evie, who disappeared during her own attempt to reach the centre. As the traps and puzzles get deadlier, can Drew find Evie and save his own future before time runs out? A high-concept, brain-twisting 9+ thrill ride from the author of Escape Room.

My Name Is Zayn Fidan Meikle FLORIS, £7.99 After a long, dangerous journey fleeing the Taliban, Zayn is wrenched away from his best friend Samim when their dinghy sinks in the English Channel. Sent to a hotel housing other asylum seekers, Zayn's attempts to start a new life are disrupted when his roommate disappears. A standalone companion to the award- winning My Name Is Samim, this moving, compelling 10+ story of courage and adaptability shines a searchlight on the asylum system and gangs who prey on vulnerable children.

Traitors' Nest Frances Hardinge MACMILLAN, £16.99 In the kingdom of Thaletal, castles move as a Great Game is played, disrupting the lives of ordinary people. When teenage Burr's village is threatened by an ominous new castle, a coup attempt backfires and Burr finds himself spirited away to an unknown corner of Thaletal. Can Burr and his sisters - and the strange heiress Burr has unwillingly kidnapped - learn to beat the players at their own Game? Humane and inimitably inventive, this magnificent 12+ fantasy is yet another barnstormer from the Costa-winning Hardinge.

Cut Him Out in Little Stars Lucy Strange CHICKEN HOUSE, £8.99 When her fighter pilot fiance is shot down, heartbroken Juliet is sent to stay by the sea with her sister. But the discovery of a local girl's body plunges her into mysteries past and present, and meeting handsome, scarred flight lieutenant Bertie Campbell complicates everything even more. Can Juliet overcome trauma and terror to risk falling in love again? This enchanting, atmospheric, poignant second world war romance is the brilliant Strange's first foray into writing for teenagers.

Cazalets, continued

A new trilogy of novels by Louisa Young is set to carry on the beloved family saga by her aunt, Elizabeth Jane Howard. She describes the thrill and responsibility of taking up the story

n the late 1980s Elizabeth Jane Howard was wondering what to write next. Jane, as she was always known, was at that time the author of seven novels. Her debut,

The Beautiful Visit, had won the John Llewellyn Rhys prize in 1951 when she was 28 years old and The Long View (1956) was one of the first novels written with reverse chronology. Her talent was somewhat overshadowed in a tawdry world by her drop-dead beauty and by her having briefly been an actor (and by the famous lovers and husbands she walked out on, including Sir Peter Scott, the ornithologist and conservationist, in 1946, and Kingsley Amis, who was then himself a famous novelist, in 1983).

Stuck, she asked her stepson Martin Amis which of two projects she should go for: an updated version of Sense and Sensibility, or a family saga based on her own life? He said, do the family saga. Jane's family project developed into the Cazalet Chronicles: five volumes in which she fictionalised her life's experience, divided between three young female cousins, Polly, Clary and Louise, and a cast of 52 more named characters, set between London and a grandparental family home in Sussex.

The first volume, The Light Years (1990), opens in 1937, and the series closes in 1958. From a slow beginning, the Cazalets grew into a worldwide phenomenon, selling millions of copies, and has been in print ever since.

As each one came out I tore through them: not just because Jane was brilliant and I was a fan, but also because she was my aunt. My grandmother, the sculptor Kathleen Scott, had been Jane's mother-in-law: mother of Peter Scott and of my father Wayland Young. In 1990 I was writing a biography of Kathleen - so Jane was a living witness for me. It put my smoky-voiced, glamorous aunt and me in a peculiar overlap: she, in her 60s, was writing a fictional version of the actual life she had lived, and I, at 29, was writing a putatively factual version of the same things, though they had happened before I was born.

That was my first book; the last Cazalet novel was to be Jane's last. I was so ready to sit at her feet, listen to her stories, to “carry her reticule”, as she put it, when she went to literary festivals. In her beautiful house in Bungay, Suffolk, where she lived with her brother Colin, known as Monkey, we talked about everything. How funny life is, how circular! We gossiped about people I’d never met, from decades before my birth. Jane gave me one version; Monkey gave me another. She loved me, I think, at least initially, for my dad’s sake, and because I was a young woman, becoming a writer.

Through the mirrors and veils of her fiction, I recognised people and situations, saw hints of truth about my own family's mysteries. In reality, Kathleen Scott and 19-year-old Jane had not got on at all - it was a hurried and frightened wartime marriage, a failure immediately. In the Cazalet books, Kathleen is fictionalised as Zee and comes across as an absolute monster, who threatened to kill Jane/Louise.

But my father adored his mother: "She was always saying she was going to kill people!" he said. "It was a turn of phrase ... but the wrong one for Jane then." The past seemed so close, and so far away. And of course it's always fascinating to think of your parents' generation being young, and messy.

I read the volumes avidly as they came out, and ran back to her wanting to ask, “Jane, is that real? Was that true?” “True in spirit,” she told me. At the same time as she protected her own version, she wanted to protect those she loved. This curious

Can these three novels count as mine, when I've broken into her world to write them?

palimpsest gives the fiction an astonishing extra tension, as those who have read her memoir, Slipstream (2002), or the biography by Artemis Cooper (A Dangerous Innocence, 2016) can testify.

The Cazalet Chronicles are often described as a comfort read, both because they contain servants and food and clothes, and because they provide such a deeply complete fictional world for escaping into from an unsatisfactory real one. But being upper-middle-class doesn't protect the characters from rape, child abuse, incest, abandonment, suicide, divorce, concentration camps, war, fear, loss, cancer or death. They are sometimes seen as somehow lighter than her earlier, more literary works, but she didn't think they were, and they're not: I've read them many times now and each time they get darker.

I always wanted more Cazalets. Chronicles should go on. But it never crossed my mind to imagine I could pick up Jane's mantle. Until it did - which was as a PS in a "What Next?" email of my own to my agent. I was suggesting a long list of bad ideas, and then at the end: "Or I could always try to continue the Cazalet Chronicles". It was a joke! Jane was a great writer. Who would dare face the ranks of devotees, still so dedicated and protective? Or launch into the continuity perils of 500,000 words?

Elizabeth Jane Howard in 1960

I realised it wasn't such a terrible idea when Jane's daughter, my cousin, gave her blessing. My agent was all for it. We went to Jane's own publishers, and worked with some of her editors. There would be three volumes, we decided. One would just be silly - why wake everybody up for that? - and more than three was too far ahead to see.

I read the books again, thinking about how I would do it. Loose ends trailed before me, begging to be picked up. Pitfalls beckoned. The unsettling incestuous romance between half-siblings Juliet and Neville needed closure. Villy, Louise's mother, was a victim of being a 20th-century woman as well as being a bad mother. I wanted her to have a better ending than just being dumped and her four children disliking her. Virtuous, kind Rachel, who for years didn't even realise she was a lesbian, deserved better too (I am regularly accosted by young gay women wanting to know what I have planned for her, because it had better be good). And then there is the great unresolved issue of Louise's abandoned son, Sebastian, who was too close to home in reality for Jane to address in fiction.

It did seem to me that the characters were all still there, their lives continuing, just off-stage. The fifth Cazalet book, All Change, ends at Christmas 1958. I was born three months later. I was there! The idea that their lives might be up to me and my imagination was intoxicating, trepidation-inducing and inspiring. It’s not about inventing things to happen to them: they are already in full flow. I am chasing after them with a notebook. I make it seamless for the reader by continuing Jane’s elegant structure of tessellated sections, each from one person’s point of view, but I do allow the way I write, my generation’s use of language, to bring things forward in time, as time itself moves forward.

I'm now the age Jane was when she was writing this fictionalised account of her life. Can these three novels count as mine, when I've broken into her world to write them? I'm not sure that's answerable. But equally, what a circle it is, from writing about the young girl Jane in my biography of my grandmother, to the picking up of her baton now, after her death, beyond her knowledge. By bringing these characters on, of necessity I make them mine. Because this isn't a pastiche, an imitation, or a homage. It's a living story. The family chronicle rolls on through time in reality as it does on the page. I might even put it in a book ... The Golden Hours, the sixth volume of the Cazalet Chronicles, is out on 3 September. Move On Up, the seventh, will be published in September 2027.

THE BIG IDEA

Should we revive national service - but for care?

It sounds draconian, but with an ingenious tweak Andy Burnham could score a win-win, writes Paul Sagar

THE UK'S SOCIAL CARE SECTOR is in crisis. Costs are spiralling, with many local councils forced to dedicate the vast majority of their budgets to it. At the same time, more and more families are seeing their savings disappear into the black hole of nursing home fees. With an ageing population, the problem is set to get worse.

In only his second week as prime minister, Andy Burnham pledged to succeed where so many of his predecessors have failed: by fixing Britain's social care system. And yet, as parliament returns from recess, the new-ish administration is still worryingly unclear about how it will do this. Despite Burnham declaring that care workers should enjoy better compensation, we don't know how he plans to pay for any of it - not least because he has kept Starmer's campaign pledge to not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance. At the moment, it looks as though it will be impossible to square the circle.

What the government needs is big, innovative ideas. We should look to history for inspiration, while also absorbing the lessons of past mistakes.

How about national service - but instead of entering the military, recruits are pledged to the NHS? Eye-catching, but ultimately not right, at least not in that form. Forcing young people to do work they'd prefer not to, when there isn't even an enemy at the gates, will only lead to bad results. Indeed, the army has already learned this: compulsory recruits in the postwar period were typically unmotivated and incompetent; a drag rather than a boost to the military's performance.

But that's a crude precedent. We can take more relevant inspiration from elsewhere. For example, young men in Austria who do not wish to serve in the military can instead opt for health or social care work; many end up driving ambulances. The trade-off is that they do nine months instead of six. In Norway, conscientious objectors were, until 2012, able to perform “civilian national service”, working in community settings such as primary schools or nursing homes, and accruing points towards university entry for doing so.

Thinking along similar lines, how about this? The government offers recent school leavers a deal: 50% off their total university fees if they first spend a year volunteering in social care. (You could even up the ante: 100% off if they commit to two years; full back pay with a bonus if they stay in the profession.)

There are many reasons to take this proposal seriously. First, it is not just social care that is in crisis. University funding is, too. Right now, UK universities are panicking because student enrolment fees no longer keep them in the black. But at the same time, undergraduates are being presented with eye-watering

Further reading Three books for a deeper dive

Labours of Love The Crisis of Care Madeleine Bunting GRANTA, £9.99

loan bills and interest rates at levels that make capital repayment much harder. We are rapidly approaching a cliff edge. The government is going to have to fix the system one way or the other. Why not do something innovative and radical at the same time?

The overall maths might work surprisingly well. If uptake is sufficiently high, the state gets an enormous amount of free (in the short term) labour to offset the costs of lost loan revenue. If that sounds exploitative, remember that it would be in the interests of young people themselves (in the longer term) because they would leave university with a heck of a lot less debt.

But the upsides go beyond just money. At the moment, unscrupulous agencies too often rely on low-paid migrant labour, ignoring the linguistic and caring skills required do a safe and competent job. A scheme like this would open up a new pool for recruitment - of eager-to-learn young people at the start of their careers.

Of course, they would have to undergo proper training and would only get the discount if they complete the programme to a certified high level. Along the way, some would discover that care work can be deeply rewarding; that the current stigmatisation of this kind of employment just doesn't tally with reality.

I know, because since I broke my neck in a rock-climbing accident in 2023, I have relied on 24-hour live-in care. I am lucky to be with a very good agency, which only employs highly competent and conscientious staff (from all over the world). I have seen up close just how rewarding and dignified care work can be. Sure, there are some icky parts to looking after a man who can't go to the toilet by himself. But all my care workers take real pride in helping me live as close to a normal life as possible. Of course, they're not on footballers' wages. But they get a very visible amount of life satisfaction from helping me find mine.

One of the most interesting care workers I've met was covering holiday earlier in the summer. Originally from Ireland, she had just finished a two-year master's degree at King's College London (by coincidence where I teach, in a different department). She is now a qualified dietitian, who in future will be working in hospitals. But until she makes that transition she is spending a year with my spinal agency, after having been employed as a care worker in Ireland for two years prior to her degree. It's a job she finds deeply rewarding.

I am confident that if we incentivised UK students to try social care before university, many would consider rejoining once they had graduated. This would help to reduce wider stigma around care work as the preserve of poor, often vulnerable migrant workers, assumed to be doing it only because no one else will.

Look, I'm neither a government accountant nor a policy expert. Perhaps when we've crunched the numbers, it just doesn't work. But from where I'm sitting this has the potential to be a win-win of the sort that could define the Burnham administration. All the scheme needs is a name, and there's an obvious one for the taking: "Care First".

Dr Paul Sagar is a reader in political theory at King's College London.

The Courage to Care Nurses, Families and Hope Christie Watson VINTAGE, £10.99

Who Cares Emily Kenway HEADLINE, £12.99

SCAN ME

Fischer HEATING & HOT WATER. MADE BEAUTIFULLY SIMPLE.

Modern electric heating for a home that works around you.

ONE DAY INSTALLATION

Minimal disruption to your home.

PRECISION TEMPERATURE CONTROL

Heat only what you need when you need it

COMPATIBLE WITH RENEWABLES

Pair with solar or time-of-use tariffs

ZERO EMISSIONS AT POINT OF USE No flue required

COMPACT & QUIET Modern, space-saving design

KEEP YOUR EXISTING RADIATORS

No need to replace your whole heating system

Rated Excellent

REQUEST YOUR FREE CATALOGUE

0800 103 2716

fischerfutureheat.com

4.8 Rating for service

Request your FREE catalogue today Quote code GN3526

or post the coupon Address the envelope to: FREEPOST FISCHER FUTURE HEAT (No stamp or address required)

Name: Phone: Address:

Postcode:

We like to listen to our customers - for this reason the Bastian Plc Group of companies may contact you about exciting new products we are developing and offers or deals which may be of interest to you so that you don't miss out. To learn more about the Bastian Plc Group of companies and how we look after your data please see our updated privacy policy as www.fischerfutureheat.com/privacy-cookie-policy/

GN3526

MARVELLOUS

Yotam Ottolenghi on the joy of simple breakfasts. Plus: six exclusive new recipes

Weekend mornings are for family - and whoever happens to be over. Forget fussing and focus on just one big lovely thing for the middle of the table, writes Yotam Ottolenghi

Portrait (previous page): Pål Hansen Food photography: Jonathan Lovekin amily life has had a bigger impact on how I cook at home than almost anything else. There's a lot of pasta on the menu these days, and potato wedges with different sauces. A lot of meatballs. And a great many pancakes - more than I would have ever predicted

before I had kids.

My weekend pancakes - which made their way into my book Simple Too - are supposed to be a batch-cooking exercise: lots made on Sunday, then reheated through the week, in the toaster or a dry pan on the stove, so breakfast is more or less solved until Friday. That's the theory. In practice, all 22 pancakes the recipe makes are gone by Sunday lunch - eaten by the boys, their friends, or whoever happens to be over for breakfast.

But my kitchen on a weekend morning doesn't only answer to my kids, even though that's their indisputable assumption. I love having friends over for brunch, and what I actually want, most weeks, is one big thing in the middle of the table - generously for everyone. So they can help themselves and I'm not the only one standing after everyone else has sat down.

Like the butter beans with Urfa chilli butter, with toast, bacon and semi-hard-boiled eggs. Or a big tray of baked za'atar tomatoes and mascarpone, with some sausages and sourdough. Or a big pan of menemen (Turkish scrambled eggs) with a leaf salad and a few slices of avocado.

I feed a lot of people - with the things I really want to eat and without too much fuss: that's the idea. Here are some of the breakfasts and brunches in Simple Too - for you, your hungry family and all your breakfast guests.

Menemen (far left)

Menemen is a Turkish breakfast dish: scrambled eggs, spices, tomatoes. Simple! It's the most comforting of all ways to start - or end - the day. The key is to add the eggs off the heat, so that they cook gently in the residual warmth of the pan. Serve with buttered toast or a leafy salad with slices of avocado.

Prep: 5 mins Cook: 15 mins Serves 2

4 eggs 3 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped (160g) 3 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tsp cumin seeds ½ tsp Aleppo chilli flakes ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tbsp tomato paste 300g cherry tomatoes, halved 1 tbsp double cream 5g coriander leaves, roughly chopped Fine sea salt

① Put the eggs into a bowl with half a teaspoon of salt. Lightly beat, just to break up the yolks, and set aside.

2 Put the oil into a medium frying pan on a medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for five minutes, stirring a few times, until softened and starting to colour. Add the spices, tomato paste and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt and cook for two minutes, until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and 60ml of water, then cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down. Squish them with the back of a spoon if they need a bit of help.

③ Remove from the heat and swirl in the eggs, using a wooden spoon or spatula and moving the pan gently until just set. Spoon over the cream, sprinkle over the coriander and serve straight from the pan.

Coconut greens with Scotch bonnet and eggs (left)

This recipe is inspired by the Trinidadian bhaji, which Milli Taylor, my test kitchen colleague, first discovered through her friend, the chef and food writer Shivi Ramoutar. Traditionally, these braised greens are served alongside rice and dal as a main meal, but we think they are equally delicious with the addition of eggs for breakfast. Play around with whatever greens are in season. Chard is great - just make sure you chop the stems and add them before the leaves, at the same time as the onions.

Prep: 5 mins Cook: 25 mins Serves 4

3 tbsp olive oil 1 small onion, thinly sliced (150g) 2 tsp cumin seeds, lightly crushed 1 Scotch bonnet pepper (or regular red chilli), pierced a few times with a knife

4 garlic cloves, crushed 400g baby spinach leaves 400ml tin of coconut milk 6 eggs Fine sea salt and black pepper

① Heat the oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high heat. Add the onion and three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and cook for about eight minutes, stirring often, until softened and golden. Add the cumin, Scotch bonnet, garlic and lots of pepper and cook for another minute. Add the spinach, in two or three batches, and cook for about three minutes until wilted. Add the coconut milk, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and reduced slightly.

② Use a spoon to make six wells in the mixture and crack one egg into each. Sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper, cover, and cook for a further four to five minutes, until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Serve straight from the pan.

Getting ahead

If you want to get everything ready in advance, the dish can be prepared up to the point just before the eggs are cracked in.

Weekend pancakes with date butter syrup (above)

This is a much-loved recipe used in our London delis. Once made, these fluffy pancakes keep well in the fridge for up to three days (or longer in the freezer), ready to be reheated in the toaster or in a dry pan on the stove. That's why we suggest making a pretty big batch at the weekend to eat throughout the week.

Prep: 10 mins Cook: 25 mins total (2-3 minutes per batch) Makes about 22 pancakes

For the pancakes 350ml buttermilk 3 eggs, 2 whole, 1 white 70g unsalted butter, melted 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract 250g plain flour 40g caster sugar 2 tsp baking powder ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda vegetable oil, for frying Fine sea salt

For the date butter syrup 75g date molasses 75g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

In a jug, whisk together the buttermilk, whole eggs, egg white, melted butter and vanilla. If you don't have buttermilk, make your own by adding 25ml of lemon juice or white wine vinegar to 325ml of whole milk and setting aside for 15 minutes to curdle.

② Whisk together the dry ingredients and three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the egg mixture. Whisk until just combined - do not over-mix: a few small lumps here and there are fine - then set aside for five minutes to thicken.

Meanwhile, put the date molasses, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of water into a small saucepan on a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and whisk in the butter, a couple of pieces at a time, until emulsified. Keep warm.

4 Place a large non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Once hot, brush with oil and drop 3-4 large tablespoonfuls of batter, evenly spaced apart, into the pan. Cook for two to three minutes, until the batter has risen and you can see small bubbles on the surface. Flip the pancakes and cook for another 30-60 seconds, until springy to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack (or keep warm in a low oven) and continue with the remaining batter. Serve with the date butter syrup.

Baked za'atar tomatoes and mascarpone (left) These are inspired by Simon Hopkinson's creamed tomatoes on toast, from his classic cookbook Roast Chicken and Other Stories. Use any ripe tomatoes: this is a great opportunity to use up whatever you happen to have lying around - all shapes and sizes are welcome. They are best served hot.

Prep: 5 mins Cook: 25 mins Serves 6

300g mascarpone 50ml double cream 3 garlic cloves, 1 crushed, 2 thinly sliced 2 tsp cornflour 600g ripe tomatoes, halved, quartered or thickly sliced (depending on size) 1 tbsp za'atar 1½ tbsp olive oil 1 tsp thyme leaves Fine sea salt and black pepper

① Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan/gas 7).

2 Mix together the mascarpone, cream, crushed garlic, cornflour and a quarter of a teaspoon of salt in a large, round baking dish (26-28cm). Smooth the surface and arrange the tomatoes on top, cut side up. Season with a quarter of a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper, and scatter over the za'atar and sliced garlic. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil and bake for about 25 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender and the cream is golden and bubbling round the edges. Leave to rest for five minutes.

③ Serve with the remaining half a tablespoon of oil and some thyme sprinkled on top.

Everyday granola (above)

We get spoiled in the test kitchen whenever my co-author Verena Lochmuller brings in one of her weekend “projects”. In fact, we’ve come to rely on them on a Monday morning. This granola came about this way. For the sake of simplicity, Verena had to trim down the ingredient list. That was somewhat painful, but you are more than welcome to start adding your favourites back in. Just take your pick from almonds, pecans, walnuts, ground cinnamon or ginger, or any dried fruit, stirred through once cooled. This granola is good for every occasion, even spooned over ice-cream. Make a big batch. It keeps for at least six weeks in an airtight container.

Prep: 5 mins Cook: 1 hr 15 mins Makes about 800g

275g jumbo rolled oats
150g blanched hazelnuts
25g sesame seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
50g sunflower seeds
110ml olive oil
85g demerara sugar
85ml maple syrup
3 tbsp tahini
1-2 very ripe bananas, finely mashed (150g)
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
Fine sea salt

① Preheat the oven to 160C (140C fan)/gas 3.

② Combine the oats, nuts, seeds and half a teaspoon of salt in a large bowl.

3 Put the oil, sugar and maple syrup into a small saucepan on a medium-low heat. Cook for about five minutes, whisking occasionally, until the sugar has melted (the oil might be separated on top, but that's OK). Whisk in the tahini, banana and vanilla until combined, then pour over the oat mixture. Stir well and spread out on a large parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, until browned and starting to crisp up. Leave to cool completely.

④ Crisp up further before transferring to a jar or airtight container.

Butter beans with Urfa chilli butter (right) This dish is for all the butter addicts - the word even appears twice in the title. The beans become so creamy and buttery that you'll want to spoon them straight on to toast with nothing else.

Prep: 5 mins Cook: 15 mins Serves 4

50g unsalted butter 1 tsp Urfa chilli flakes 1 preserved lemon, seeds removed, finely chopped (20g) 2 tsp lemon juice 1 onion, thinly sliced (160g) 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tbsp biber salçasi (Turkish red pepper paste), mild or hot (or tomato paste with a pinch each of sugar and dried chilli flakes) 1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp double cream

700g jar of butter beans, with the liquid, or 2 x 400g tins Flaked sea salt

① Put 30g of butter into a small saucepan and place over a high heat. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally, for two to three minutes, until nutty and deeply brown. Take off the heat, carefully add the chilli flakes, preserved lemon and lemon juice, and set aside.

② For the beans, add the remaining 20g of butter to a large frying pan and place over a medium-high heat. When hot, add the onion and fry for about seven minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to caramelise. Lower the heat to medium, add the garlic, biber salçasi and cumin, and cook for one minute. Add the cream, beans (including the liquid) and 60ml of water. Cook for about five minutes, until the liquid has thickened and lightly coats the beans.

③ Drizzle over the Urfa butter, add a pinch of flaked sea salt and serve straight from the pan.

Note on the ingredients

The rest of the jar of biber salçasi can be used in any recipe that calls for regular tomato paste - it adds a little more depth and flavour. Keep the jar in the fridge once opened ●

Ottolenghi Simple Too by Yotam Ottolenghi and Verena Lochmuller is published by Ebury at £30. To buy a copy for £27 go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

MATCHMAKING GUARDIAN READERS SINCE 2009 'She's one of the easiest people to talk to that I've ever met'

Blind Date

Mike 37, scientific editor

What were you hoping for? Good company, nice food and an interesting evening with someone new. I got everything I hoped for.

First impressions? Warm, confident and easy to talk to.

What did you talk about? The joys of being an aunt/uncle. Freelance life. Jury duty as a newly minted British citizen.

Most awkward moment? None that I recall, so either the evening went smoothly or the malbec did its job.

Good table manners? If there were any faux pas, I was too busy enjoying the conversation to notice.

Best thing about Caterina? She's genuinely one of the easiest people to talk to that I've ever met.

Would you introduce Caterina to your friends? Without hesitation.

Describe Caterina in three words Warm, kind, elegant.

What do you think Caterina made of you? Hopefully polite, easy company and good for a chat. Perhaps a lack of shared passions meant the spark wasn't there, but the conversation never ran dry.

Did you go on somewhere? We were the last two in the restaurant, so we went for a stroll around London until midnight, when I had to dash for the last train back to Cambridge.

And ... did you kiss? Sorry to disappoint: just a farewell hug.

If you could change one thing about the evening what would it be? I'd have liked a bit more time before that last train forced the evening to end.

Marks out of 10?
9.5. Hard to fault a thoroughly enjoyable evening just because it wasn't heading toward romance.

Would you meet again? We may meet for a coffee when I'm in London, and there's an open invitation for a guided tour of Cambridge.

Caterina 35, teacher

What were you hoping for? To meet someone special.

First impressions? Nice smile and face; a bit nervous or shy.

What did you talk about? Favourite cuisine. Past and future travels. Harry Potter. Even politics.

Most awkward moment? I felt I was leading the conversation most of the time, asking questions.

Good table manners? Very nice: he would pour water in my glass whenever it was empty.

Best thing about Mike? You can tell he's someone who loves putting care into what he does and what he says - a rare find these days.

Would you introduce Mike to your friends? Not sure - my friendship group has a lot of energy.

Describe Mike in three words Organised, thorough, kind.

What do you think Mike made of you? Not sure. Maybe that I'm a weird woman who eats fast and laughs loudly!

Did you go on somewhere? We had a walk around Soho/Covent Garden - I felt he deserved a bit of tourism, coming from Cambridge.

And ... did you kiss? No, just a hug.

If you could change one thing about the evening what would it be? Nothing major - maybe just a slightly quieter spot to chat.

Marks out of 10? 7.5.

Would you meet again? As friends. I would like to grab a coffee together.

Mike and Caterina ate at Tagine & Grill at the Sun and 13 Cantons, London W1. Fancy a blind date? Email blind.date@theguardian.com

TRUE STORIES OF OUR SEX LIVES

This is how we do it

'My ex wouldn't even kiss me during sex. Marcus is happy to take his time'

Camille, 65

I met Marcus on Guardian Soulmates nine years ago. I had been divorced for eight years, and getting back out there had been tough - I had a hard time finding a genuine man. We messaged back and forth about our shared love of films and discovered we only lived 10 minutes apart. He really took the pressure off our first date by writing: "If there isn't a romantic spark, we can just be friends who watch films together at our local cinema." But when we met, we both felt a connection.

Even so, I decided to wait to have sex with him. I'd had bad experiences of sleeping with men, who would then disappear on me. Marcus was very respectful and patient.

He's taught me that it's not all about penetration. In my previous marriage, the sex was check-listy and turn-takey. It felt like a routine task - done without care, interest or enthusiasm. My ex-husband wasn't very nice to me. I found it hard to understand how he expected me to sleep with him when we weren't in a good place. Sometimes we would have sex and not even kiss. Marcus is happy to take his time, and go down on me for as long as it takes for me to orgasm. He has a gentle touch and is an amazing kisser.

We still live in our separate homes, near one another. It works well for us because from Monday to Thursday I am often overwhelmed by my stressful job and don't have the capacity for sex. Fridays are the best time for us. I'll ask him: "Do you fancy having sex?" He always says yes, I never feel rejected. In the past, I dressed up in sexy underwear for my ex and he just laughed at me. The other day, I dressed up in only a leather jacket and high boots and Marcus took racy photos of me.

We spend weekends at each other's houses and prioritise our sex life. My kids are grown up and out of the house, so it's a different experience to be able to walk around the house naked with your boyfriend. He often compliments my body. When I was young, I was super slim. Now I've put on a bit of weight but it's encouraging that Marcus is always telling me how good I look.

Marcus, 59

I was quite newly single when Camille and I started chatting. I was intrigued by our compatibility - I had been in a long marriage and a long-term relationship, and in both cases we'd become less and less compatible as time went on. I would invite my partner to the cinema or an exhibition, but she had lost interest in coming to those things with me. On our first date, Camille and I went for lunch and to see a film, and I just wanted to keep chatting to her all night. I didn't mind that she wanted to wait a few weeks before having sex.

We live separately and don't tend to have sex from Monday to Thursday. Before her current job, I would often pick her up from the station and we would head to bed straight after work. Nowadays, she's working so late that we don't have time for that. If I am there during the week, I can see how stressed she is - and I am happy to kiss or cuddle. It's not about me at that moment, and the last thing I would do is try to initiate. She has Fridays off

and so that is a regular opening for us. On the weekends, we are big fans of doing it before we head out the house.

I felt a lot of rejection in my previous relationships. With my second long-term partner, our sex life dwindled down to almost nothing. In my marriage, my wife would say things like “you’ve missed your chance.” I had not even noticed an opening - but apparently instead of going to the shops we could have been doing it. With Camille, she tells me when she wants to have sex, and she initiates it. I know where I stand.

When Camille comes out of the bathroom naked, I always tell her it's my first treat of the day. She doesn't believe me, but she has an incredible body. She is the most desirable woman I've ever been with, and I'm often basking in the afterglow of our sex. Names have been changed As told to Elena Angelides

Would you and your partner like to share the story, anonymously, of your sex life? Email sexlives@theguardian.com with a few words about what you get up to

You be the judge Should my partner stop eating off other people's plates?

Interviews: Georgina Lawton

The prosecution Helen

I know Bill hates waste, but pouncing on people's leftovers is embarrassing, unhygienic and rude

My partner, Bill, hates food waste and is passionate about sustainability and the environment. He says: “Thank you, chicken,” or “Thank you, duck,” before he eats, which I think is quite sweet.

But Bill's ethos means he also takes food off other people's plates, which is an issue for me, particularly in public. I don't like the way he does it. He'll wait until everyone's finished and the waiter is clearing the plates. Then, at the last minute, he'll grab something.

We live in Lisbon, and were recently having dinner with friends we hadn't seen in a long time. The place was busy and the waitress was rushed off her feet. She came to clear our plates and Bill reached across to finish the duck breast our friends had ordered. He didn't even say: "Have you finished with your duck?" I think that's rude.

The waitress was trying to clear the table while Bill fished around eating the scraps. It felt inconsiderate to keep everyone waiting. If we'd been with his mum, I'd have made less of an issue of it, but with friends we rarely see I found it embarrassing.

This isn't a one-off. At home, if friends are over, he'll never let something go to waste. I've watched him remove mould off leftovers in our fridge and eat them, and he scrapes leftover rice off other people's plates.

I care about the environment too. I don't throw food away without thinking, but if something has gone off, I will. Bill is militant about what goes in the bin. Once, I threw away a melon rind and he took it out of the bin to eat the tiny bits of watermelon on it.

In Lisbon, people often share food when eating out. In a tapas situation, it's fine to pick at leftovers as everyone is helping themselves. But to me it feels rude and unhygienic to take leftovers off someone else's plate. Bill often eats far more than he actually wants, then complains about how full he is.

I know his intentions come from a good place. I'm not asking him to waste food. But if he's going to ask for somebody's leftovers, I wish he'd do it earlier rather than waiting until somebody is clearing the plates.

Some of Helen's points have been taken out of context. It wasn't really our friends' duck dish, because it was a tapas-style meal. I was thinking: "We're kind of sharing that."

Normally, I'll wait until everyone's stopped eating and then ask: "Are you finished?" I just forgot. I was waiting for the moment to pounce on it. I can see it was more embarrassing for Helen because the whole table witnessed it. I don't think the waitress was waiting long, certainly not more than a minute, but I appreciate that it was awkward.

I hate food waste. A few grains of rice or a bit of salad isn't an issue, but I struggle with seeing meat wasted. I'm concerned about animal welfare and the fact that an animal has died. You could say that makes me hypocritical, because I eat meat, but when I see this piece of beautiful pan-fried duck, I don't think it should go in the bin. It's about respect for the animal and not letting it go to waste.

Sometimes I probably come across as self-righteous. I used to work in renewables and I feel strongly about how much food we waste globally. I like educating people.

I don't think there's anything wrong with asking to eat people's leftovers to reduce food waste. There are limits, of course. If it was a business meeting or dinner with my boss, I wouldn't do it. If I knew it would jeopardise things for Helen socially, I'd be on my best behaviour. Around family and close friends, though, I don't see it as a bad thing.

As for the watermelon, the bin bag I picked it out of was brand new. The melon rind was right on top with barely anything else in there. I realise my behaviour was a bit odd. I don't want to make myself ill, and if food has genuinely gone off, I'll throw it away. Equally, if anyone at the table was ill, I wouldn't pick at food and spread germs by eating from their plate.

I know I can get carried away. But it always comes back to one thing: I don't think good food, especially meat, should go to waste if it could be eaten. Names have been changed

The jury of Guardian readers

Should Bill leave the leftovers?

If this was a one-off occurrence and Bill just forgot to ask the others before tucking in, then he can be forgiven. But if he makes a habit of “pouncing” on his neighbours’ food without warning, they won’t stick around for long. Christian, 50

Eliminating food waste in your own home is responsible and aligned with Bill's morals, but time and place should be considered. Ultimately, he should acknowledge Helen's embarrassment and adjust his behaviour in public accordingly. Tracey, 33

While I sympathise with Bill's wish to reduce food waste, especially meat, taking food from others' plates is rude and embarrassing. He and Helen should establish clear boundaries they both agree on, maybe keeping it to family meals. Also, if animal welfare matters so much, why not become vegetarian? Alicja, 33

There's no problem with finishing leftovers if you ask politely. But Bill using the environment as an excuse, instead of just apologising, suggests that he'll keep forgetting his manners. He should at least stop eating meat if he's going to lecture others on food waste. Sinead, 25

I think it's fine to swoop on other people's food, but I may be biased because I do it myself. A lot. These are Bill's friends - and what is a bit of spit between friends? His heart is in the right place. Kitty, 34

THE VERDICT Guilty Bill's argument should be binned 3 Not guilty This is food for thought for Helen 2

You've heard the cases, now you decide ... Scan to vote on this week's dispute, share your own, or be one of the jury

I've got feelings for a teacher at my children's school. What should I do?

Ask Annalisa Barbieri

I've been married for 20 years and have two children. By most measures, our marriage is stable and successful. But lately I have found myself developing feelings for a teacher at my children's school. While our interactions there are limited, we also attend a weekly non-school activity. What began as casual conversation has become much more significant in my mind. I find myself looking forward to seeing them, thinking about our conversations later, and wondering what might have been if we'd met in different circumstances.

They are married with children too. Nothing inappropriate has happened, and neither of us has acknowledged any romantic feelings. However, I cannot shake the sense that there may be a mutual connection.

I am struggling with what these feelings mean. Are they evidence that something is missing in my marriage, or simply the result of encountering someone new after years with the same partner? Is this a genuine connection that deserves attention, or a fantasy that has never been tested by real life?

Most importantly, what should I do next? I don't want to hurt my wife, my children, this person, or their family. Yet pretending these feelings don't exist hasn't made them disappear.

The first thing to address is your use of the pronoun “they”. This makes me wonder if it’s a man or a woman you’ve developed feelings for. If it’s the former, and you’ve lived as a heterosexual man thus far, then you need to be honest with yourself and then your wife about what this all means beyond the crush.

I went to psychotherapist Mark Vahrmeyer, who said: “It’s a romantic idea that once we have found the right person we should only ever desire them. In reality, that’s not how desire works. You can love your wife, value your marriage and still find yourself drawn to someone else. The feeling does not in itself mean your marriage is failing, or there is something wrong with you.”

Neither is it an instruction to do something about it other than wonder what this is trying to tell you.

“A crush,” said Vahrmeyer, “can be harmless and even enjoyable. It can feel like something private within the constraints of a committed life. The difficulty begins if you start feeding it, seeking signs that it is mutual, creating more contact or treating the fantasy as though it were already a relationship.”

Real-life, long-term relationships, as you know, have to deal with a lot of everyday-ness. Crushes operate outside that and can feel freeing and heady.

This “imagined relationship”, said Vahrmeyer, “is largely untested. You know this person only through limited, favourable circumstances, not through the demands of everyday life. They can become anyone you need them to be. Infatuation can make the unfamiliar seem vivid and the familiar seem dull, but that does not mean the unfamiliar would survive reality any better.

“You do not need to deny the feeling, but nor should you test whether it is mutual,” advised Vahrmeyer. “Seeking signs, creating more contact or disclosing your attraction would begin to turn fantasy into action. The task is not to repress the desire, but to contain it: to think about what it may be telling you while taking responsibility for the boundaries that protect everyone involved.”

Whether this feeling is mutual, or for a man or a woman, I would heavily counsel against you doing anything about it. Starting a relationship with a trusted “other” at your child’s school will have deep and long-lasting effects, not least for your children.

If you would like advice on a personal matter, email ask.annalisa@ theguardian.com. See guardian.com/ letters-terms for terms and conditions

STYLE

Swot up with these lessons in back-to- school dressing

Green flags are those items which you should snap up when you see them, because they are as rare as hen's teeth

Jess Cartner-Morley On trends

used to love back-to-school shopping when my children were little. The miniature highlighter pens, the name labels, those pop-out pencil cases from Smiggle, even the intergenerational wrangling over when the price of a water bottle becomes unreasonable. I love the ceremony of new beginnings. The curtain-raising drama of it all.

Luckily for me, you don't have to grow out of back-to-school shopping even though your children do, because in fashion September is considered the start of the new year.

Back-to-school is a whole vibe, not just a shopping spree. The juice is in the back-to-school thinking, rather than the back-to-school shopping. It is about snapping back into focus, getting your head in the game. Life gets a little loose over summer, which is delicious, but sometime about now you get a restless itch for a new tempo: more coffee and less wine, more can-do and less can't-be-bothered.

This is the most fun time of year to shop. I love seeing the swimwear and sandals swept away by crisp shirts and I-mean-business kitten heels and loafers. But this also makes it a seductive time to shop, so we need to have our wits about us.

I came across a useful protocol on stylist Allison Bornstein's Substack, where she wrote about her fashion red flags; deal breakers that tell you that a piece isn't going to work for you, and which you ignore at your peril. They are personal to everyone.

Bornstein's first red flag - and I am very much with her on this - is the bra-specific top. Off-the-shoulder necklines, shoulder cut outs, open backs. These are acceptable for special occasion tops, but no one has the time to rummage for a strapless bra before work, and wardrobe-solution type bras are almost never comfortable to wear all day. Not to mention: if the person who designed the top doesn't think about where bra straps go, it makes me wonder how much they think or care

about women's bodies - so it's a philosophical red flag as well as a practical one.

Green flags, meanwhile, are those items which you should snap up when you see them, because they are as rare as hen's teeth. (Annoyingly, you will almost always spot a green flag item when taking a short-cut through M&S because you are late for a meeting, but you must try to grab them when you can.) Green flags include the perfect jeans, and an all-day bag of the right size that has a secure but unfiddly fastening and doesn't require you to hunch one shoulder toward your ear to stay in place. I would add shoes with a 5cm-ish mini-heel that is either block-shaped or flared, so that the tip doesn't come off when wedged in the escalator or between paving stones.

Back to the red flags. It is good to be extremely picky. Fashion has a monumental overproduction problem, so there are a lot of clothes out there. The best shoppers are utterly ruthless. One of my red flags is anything with

buttons that look a bit cheap or even just boring: a bad button makes a dull coat. Another is anything that misbehaves when you move: skirts that ride up, off-the-shoulder necklines that won't stay down. "That woman over there yanking at her top every 10 seconds looks so chic," said literally nobody ever.

The key is to combine high standards with gritty, laser-focused realism. Do not buy a sundress you wish you’d had on your holiday last month or a grand linen ensemble perfect for a long lunch which you won’t have time for between now and 2027. Clothes should express your aspirations, but they also need to survive your Tuesdays. More than anything, back-to-school season is about clothes for real life. If a top only works with a weird bra or a bag only looks good until you put anything in it, that’s not wardrobe, that’s a fail. It goes back on the rail and you, my friend, go straight to the top of the class.

Think facial sunscreens are greasy? The best new ones are light, fresh and invisible

Sali Hughes On beauty

BODY

A almost half of UK adults do not apply sunscreen daily. If you think even this woeful figure sounds surprisingly high, I agree with you

- some surveys have daily SPF use as low as 8% in the male adult population.

My own feeling, based on hundreds of conversations with the UV-reckless, is that most would probably offer “greasy texture and feel” as their defence. And yet almost a third of the population wear moisturiser.

So what if I told you that sunscreen formulation has improved dramatically in the past five years, offered up some excellent, modern SPFs that feel exactly the same as a lightweight, non-greasy face lotion, and promised that you'll barely even know you're reducing your risk of premature skin ageing and cancers as you wear them?

Let's start with the comfiest sunscreen yet from the always dependable La Roche Posay. Anthelios UVAIR Serum Sunscreen SPF50 (£26)

It's been tried by friends with rosacea, eczema and acne, and in all cases I had to ask for it back

comes in clear and tinted versions. I won’t dwell on the latter because there’s only one shade of tan and this sullies what is an otherwise flawless formulation. The clear version, however, suits every skin tone and is a near-perfect daily sunscreen for all types - non-oily while still comforting drier skin, invisible, lightweight and obedient under makeup. One can never say anything is suitable for all sensitive skins (someone will always react to any product and this is not without fragrance), but so far it’s been tried by friends with rosacea, eczema and acne, and in all cases I had to ask for it back.

Similarly faultless is Aqua Glowing Sunscreen SPF50 (£15.30) from Dr Althea, a high-street Korean brand that has yet to disappoint me. This is for drier skins, which may cause you to expect heavy duty grease, but there is none. What a glorious everyday sunscreen at a good price. Fluid, quickly absorbed, soothing (thanks to panthenol and ceramides) and leaving a fresh, not at all makeup-like glow, it stays healthily moist-looking for hours, even on my very dry face.

Finally, Naked Sundays' CabanaClear Water Gel Serum SPF50 (£30) is just about the wateriest, lightest, freshest-feeling and least visible sunscreen on the market. It leaves even the oiliest sunscreen refuseniks without a leg to stand on.

None of these sting my eyes, which is my recurring issue with many other synthetic UV filters, and all can be used instead of moisturiser if you only have the will to apply one layer of a morning.

Is it true that ... Mental health is affected by inflammation?

Inflammation is the immune system's response to injury or infection. If you cut yourself and the area becomes red and swollen, that's inflammation: immune cells are rushing to fight germs and repair tissue.

But inflammation can also occur in the body during illnesses, and a low level of inflammation can arise from obesity or ageing. “A marker of that inflammation tends to be elevated cytokines in people’s blood,” says Prof Daniel M Davis, head of life sciences at Imperial College London and author of Immune Health: A Myth-Busting Guide. “They’re the molecules immune cells use to communicate with each other.”

There are more than 100 types of cytokines in your body, and some affect the brain. “If you have a fever, it’s not just physical, you’re also mentally affected,” says Davis. “Some cytokines influence how you feel.”

Studies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis have found that cytokine-blocking anti-inflammatory drugs can also improve mood. Scans suggest this may be because blocking cytokines changes activity in the brain.

A study of nearly 5,000 children found that those with higher than average levels of the cytokine IL-6 in their blood at the age of nine, with no sign of depression, were more likely to suffer depression at 18. Another study, this time of adults, found a correlation between the development of an immune-related disease and a previous diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety.

Scientists don't yet know enough to use this knowledge to treat conditions such as depression or anxiety. “Several lines of evidence point to an overlap of immune and mental health, but we haven’t disentangled this enough to know who could benefit, and exactly what part of the immune system we could safely target to improve people’s mental health,” says Davis. Kate Lloyd

How have my plants fared this summer? Some better than others

Claire Ratinon On vegetables

've grown plants in heatwaves before, but this year has been different. Back-to-back heatwaves feel far more intense than the shorter ones I'm used to. Records for heat and dryness

were broken in August, and my veg patch has dealt with it in myriad ways.

You might think more sun equals more growth, but that isn't necessarily the case. When under heat stress, plants close their stomata - the pores on the underside of their leaves - hindering the movement of water and exchange of gases needed for photosynthesis. This can result in a check on growth that I've seen in several of my plants, some of which dropped their flowers before they could start bearing fruit.

Stressed-out plants can be vulnerable to pest attacks, which might explain why so many leaf miners have found my chard this year. Even some established perennials have struggled in the heat. The golden raspberries, which are in their second season, had canes that were growing well then suddenly turned brown and died.

I also became reacquainted with the importance of gauging a plant's wilting point when I planted out some lettuces that were desperate for more space on a 32C day - silly me! I did it when the patch was shaded by a willow tree, but when I checked on them at the end of the day, they had flopped over and started to wither. Regular glugs of targeted watering miraculously saved them from the brink - otherwise known as the "permanent wilting point" - and they're doing well enough. But if another bout of hot weather comes, I expect they'll bolt like the last round of lettuces did.

Plants can suffer from damage and discoloration when exposed to high

A few of my plants are actually doing really well. Special mention goes to the cucumbers and the grapevine

levels of UV. The golden marjoram, self-seeded nasturtiums and newly planted-out beans all had leaves with signs of sun scald, despite being warmth-loving plants. Scalding can affect a plant's growth, but if the damage is confined to a few leaves, which are removed, the plant can recover and grow normally.

I've long struggled with compaction in my very clay-heavy soil, and despite mulching regularly, the heat caused the ground to dry out more than usual, becoming less penetrable by my crop's roots. I'm blaming the stunted growth of my courgettes on this sorry situation as the bed they're in seems unusually solid. Now my water butts are empty, I'm working on accepting that some of my crops won't be offering much of a harvest this year.

Yet some of my plants are actually doing really well. Special mention goes to the cucumbers in the greenhouse and the grapevine that grows by my back door. Most years, it gets mould or mildew before the grapes swell but I'm hopeful this year will see its first real harvest.

Gynelle Leon's Houseplant hacks Can a lint roller banish pests?

The problem

Thrips and spider mites are tiny and very good at hiding under leaves, in leaf joints and along stems. By the time you notice the damage - silvery streaks, speckling or fine webbing - the infestation is usually well under way.

The hack

Use a sticky lint roller to pick up pests that are hard to see. The idea is it works as both a detection tool, and a light physical intervention, lifting adults and eggs before they multiply.

The method

Roll a lint roller gently across the leaves, focusing on the undersides and the stems. Look out for thrips, which show up as thin dark or pale slivers, and mites, which appear as tiny moving dots. Repeat every few days if you suspect a problem, and pair with the appropriate insecticide or treatment.

The test

I ran a lint roller over a plant that I suspected of harbouring thrips. The sheet had several thin dark specks stuck to the surface.

The verdict

As a detection tool, the lint roller is a clever little trick. It turns an invisible problem into something you can see, which is often the hardest part of catching pests early. But it isn't a cure: rolling alone will never lift every pest, so treat anything you find properly.

My TV contract has run out - and so has my patience

Tim Dowling On modern life

F

ourteen years ago, I received a text from my eldest son claiming he'd just found the TV face down on the sitting room floor, destroyed. I didn't

entirely buy his theory about the dogs being responsible - I discovered a football lying suspiciously near the crime scene - but it was a problem I needed to solve before my wife returned from a business trip.

That was the last time I bought a new television. It still works, but it's small by today's standards, to the extent that it's impossible to read the contents of a ransom note held by a detective in a drama. As TVs have expanded, the ransom notes have got smaller; I often have to pause the programme, get up and put my nose to the screen.

On a Monday afternoon I come in from my office shed to find the middle one typing furiously on his laptop, with my wife looking on.

“Show Dad,” she says.

“What?” I say.

“Your broadband and TV package is ending,” he says.

“Yeah, I think I got an email,” I say.

“Next month your bill goes up by like, 50%,” he says. He turns his screen to show me. He wants me to be shocked by the new number, but I’m too busy being shocked by the old number.

"How long have I been paying that?" I say.

“Two years,” he says.

"Can I cancel the contract?" I say.

"The contract is over," he says.

“You have to explain it very slowly to him,” my wife says.

The middle one says we can renew the contract for the same price, or threaten to quit and hope they make us a better offer. “Or,” he says, “you can switch to broadband only, buy a smart TV like everyone else and save 70 quid a month.”

“A new TV?” I say. “Will it be big enough to read ransom notes?”

"I don't know what that means," he says.

Armed with our new project, we all repair to the living room. The middle one begins the tiresome process of extricating us from our present deal, progressing from chatbot to chat human to chat human's supervisor. My wife starts looking at televisions. I take a tape measure to the alcove between the chimney breast and the wall, where our present TV resides.

“Here’s a nice one,” my wife says. “Highly recommended, 50 inches.”

YOURDESK IS THE PERFECT PLACE TO REST AND RECHARGE.

“Fifty inches?” I say, extending the tape measure. “Far too big.”

RELAX IN A LUXURIOUS AND EXCLUSIVE CHAIR WITH NO CHILDREN CLIMBING ON YOU.

"Not that way," says the middle one, looking up. "It's 50 inches diagonally."

“What use is that to me?” I say. “I’m measuring across!”

“All tellies are measured diagonally,” he says.

“Still?” I say.

'I'm afraid your father's gone mad,' my wife says. On the contrary, I'm the only sane one left

Here's what I mean: the first cathode ray tube TV screens were round, so the size of the display was naturally

“What do you mean, still?” he says.

Becky Barnicoat On millennial life

TREAT YOURSELF TO LUNCH EVERY DAY WITHOUT HAVING TO FEED ANYONE ELSE.

expressed as the diameter. When the round screen was masked in a rectangular box, the diameter was also the diagonal. And the convention persisted for decades because, from a marketing standpoint, it made screens sound bigger than they were.

“But now it’s like, TVs are huge - who cares?” I say. “Measuring diagonally is childish.”

“I’m afraid your father’s gone mad,” my wife says.

"On the contrary," I say. "I'm the only sane one left."

To demonstrate my sanity, I use a plank from the garden to mark off the exact horizontal capacity of the alcove at TV height: 1,113mm. Then, looking up the listed dimensions of various 50in tellies, I note that they actually vary in total width by up to 8mm.

“You must be very pleased,” she says, leaving the room. The middle one, I notice, has already gone.

“I am pleased,” I say, to no one.

“Why do we care about 8mm?” my wife says.

“Because,” I say, “as my research shows, 40% of the most highly recommended 50in TVs will not fit in that gap.”

The pall I've managed to cast over the whole project persists even after our new broadband-only contract arrives by email. It still hasn't lifted the next afternoon when, all alone, I unbox our new TV and slide it gently into place, with barely a millimetre to spare either side.

I plug it in and follow the setup process. Then, after double-checking to make sure no one is home, I scroll through the guide in search of a programme in which someone is kidnapped for ransom.

STUNNING, UNINTERRUPTED VIEWS OF YOUR COMPUTER WITH NOBODY SCREAMING FOR YOUTUBE.

BECKY BARNICOAT FOR THE GUARDIAN

YOURDESK IS SO PEACEFUL YOU'LL NEVER WANT TO LEAVE!

Tourism is only just taking hold in Vipava, but locals are determined to do it right, by putting community first and preserving what makes it special

Slovenia's secret valley

Words: Ailsa Sheldon

The drive to Pedrovo is vertiginous, and each hairpin bend has me sending a silent prayer that we won't meet a tractor coming the other

way. When we near it, we abandon the car and continue on foot to the hamlet, a scattering of red-roofed, whitewashed houses high on the steep karst hillside. The air is warm and dry, scented with wild sage. We follow a hand-painted sign to Čilčevi Farmstead. Descending stone steps to a lush garden, we find a shaded table set with fresh cheeses produced at the farm's own dairy. Below, the valley stretches in both directions, a wide flat plain hemmed in by steep mountain slopes, with the Vipava River winding lazily through fields and vineyards.

If the Vipava valley gets a mention in a Slovenian guidebook, it's usually as a wine region footnote. The area is an hour's drive south-west of Ljubljana, meeting Italy at the cross-border city of Nova Gorica (called Gorizia on the Italian side). Most visitors skip it in favour of the Soča valley to the north, drawn to the turquoise river and opportunities for rafting on the rapids.

Vipava is a landscape shaped by a strong wind, the burja, which barrels down from the Alps, keeping the red earth arid, the trees bent low, and creating the perfect terrain for dry wines and dried meats. Tourism has

traditionally been less of a focus, but I'm here with my family to meet local entrepreneurs and producers, to learn how this valley is building a genuine visitor experience that works for the community.

Part of the reason for the slow development of tourism has been the scarcity of accommodation, save a few nondescript business hotels and a handful of holiday cottages. One place that's helping change that narrative is Wellba, a boutique guesthouse in the village of Planina, where an old abandoned farmstead has been converted into self-catering apartments and guest rooms by a local couple, working with traditional craftspeople and salvaged materials.

Marko and Tereza Kobal both grew up on this hillside and then worked in Ljubljana before deciding to return to build a family business, striving to create the kind of place they seek out when travelling. “People who travel want to experience something that is just the way it is, without embellishment, pretence, exaggeration - somewhere authentic,” says Marko. We enter Wellba through a traditional “black kitchen”, its walls darkened by generations of wood smoke. “When we came here the building needed work but it had a real soul. We want the building to stand for another 300 years, so we took the renovation slowly and carefully.”

The quiet Vipava landscape (left) is shaped by its Alpine winds and vine cultivation

Our light, spacious accommodation wears its history lightly, with plenty of space for playing card games and reading books on the balcony, with views of the neighbouring farmyard and the valley beyond. Next door, another tumble-down farm building will be converted and opened in 2027. The couple are also working on a boutique hotel in Vipava town in the valley below. The dream is for their children to run Wellba one day, forging their futures in this valley.

Across Vipava, similar small projects are emerging: small, family-run and developing slowly and thoughtfully. Tom Ločniškar and Borut Kokalj began Čilčevi Farmstead during the pandemic, having moved to Pedrovo and become interested in farming. “We started to keep animals. Now we have 150, which is too many animals for just a hobby,” laughs Tom.

He recalls the mad panic to source equipment before the lockdowns began. The pandemic also brought him his first customers, people who were out walking and keen to support local businesses. Tom and Borut keep local Istrska sheep and Drežnica goats, which graze on dry karst grasslands, changing pastures across this hillside every four days. Having tasted fresh cheese straight from the chill of the dairy, including creamy goat's cheese with fenugreek and buttery mature sheep's cheese, we walk uphill to meet the goats.

Tom says that in the early 1900s around 1,000 people lived in Pedrovo, but by the 1970s the permanent population had fallen to just two, and remained that low until the 1990s. "The village was almost abandoned because people moved to the cities," he says. "It was the same in a lot of hill villages: life was hard and tractors didn't work on steep slopes." Today the population has risen to 20, with second homeowners roughly doubling that number in the holidays.

Elsewhere in the village, I meet Alenka and Mark Smerajc, who were one of the first families to return, raising three children and running a business here. Today they have two small holiday cottages in what were farm outbuildings and run a relaxed courtyard restaurant for guests, opening to the public at weekends and for holidays. “People wanted food,”

Pedrovo (left) is perched on the edge of the karst plateau and overlooks the valley

The region's many narrow lanes are perfect for cycling trips (left). Fresh cheeses at the Čilčevi Farmstead dairy in Pedrovo (below, left). Marko and Tereza Kobal (below) run the boutique Wellba hotel in Planina

shrugs Alenka, as her teenage children help bring out beautiful plates of handmade pasta with local cheese and wild herbs from the kitchen.

“In Vipava valley there was no tourism, so we got to decide how to build it,” says Jani Peljhan. That means GPS-guided cycling tours along roads too small to merit signposts, and experimenting with “wine trains”, carrying visitors from Nova Gorica to the vineyards with local winemakers on board to lead tasting sessions.

Jani's company, Wajdušna, also offers hiking and paragliding, both gaining in popularity here. He meets us at Wellba with some e-bikes and we pedal through Ajdovščina to spot Roman ruins, and up to Vipavski Križ, famed for being one of the smallest towns in Slovenia, before zigzagging back up the other side of the valley through vineyards. The warmth of the afternoon and the steep hillsides makes me appreciate the “sport” mode on the bikes.

In other regions, wine tourism often means visitor centres and branded experiences. In Vipava it still means sitting in someone's kitchen. At Vina Lisjak in Zalošče, I eat at a little restaurant run by two brothers. “We opened the restaurant to show the wine,” says Peter Lisjak. “It’s all from our farm.” We eat generous platters of house dried meat, aged mountain cheeses, a fennel frittata and slow-cooked celeriac steaks with celery

pesto and spinach. Dishes are served family style and there's plenty of time for stories, with samples of delicious wine straight from the barrels in the cellar.

From Wellba, we walk across the village to Ferjančič vineyard, where seventh-generation winemaker Matic Ferjančič talks us through his wines. His father developed the vineyard, going from five to 50,000 plants. “We work hard in the vineyard to make it easy in the cellar,” he says. As we chat, Matic keeps an ear to the baby monitor for the eighth generation sleeping upstairs.

Although many of my favourite restaurant experiences are the simple ones, Vipava valley cuisine can reach loftier heights. One night we smarten up the best we can and follow a winding road uphill to Zemono Manor, to eat at Gostilna Pri Lojzetu. Chef Tomaž Kavčič is known as a Slovenian slow food pioneer, and has earned a Michelin star for his playful dishes and proud use of local ingredients.

We eat delicate Vipava river trout with fermented apricots from the previous summer, and langoustine bisque from the coast. Traditional dishes such as jota, a sauerkraut and potato stew, are honoured on the menu, their humble roots celebrated not hidden. There are some theatrics, like a juniper plant producing flavoured vapour to complement a sorbet, but the restaurant atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. The server chats with my young stepson about his preferences, and brings him a generous bowl of gnocchi. It’s Kavčič’s night off so he sits with friends and a bottle of wine at the back of the restaurant, coming round all the tables frequently to chat.

Vipava may not remain overlooked for ever. But talking to the people building businesses here, there is little appetite for becoming the next famous wine destination. What they seem to want instead is something rarer and more interesting: tourism that helps a place thrive without changing what made it worth visiting in the first place.

The trip was provided by Vipava Valley Tourism and the Slovenian Tourist Board. Wellba Planina (wellba.si) has doubles from £97

Want to avoid the crowds in Florence and Siena? Escape to the isles of the Tuscan archipelago, from lively Elba to tiny, car-free Giannutri

Tuscany's treasured islands

Words: Francesca Lombardo

Scattered between the Tuscan coast and Corsica, the seven islands of the Tuscan archipelago offer a striking contrast to mainland Tuscany. All

are part of a protected national park, but each has its own character - some are lively, others tiny and sparsely inhabited. Montecristo and Gorgona are only accessible via strictly limited guided tours, but here's a brief guide to the highlights of the other five.

Elba The all-year-rounder

As Italy's third-largest island, and with a year-round community, Elba is the archipelago's main tourist hub, blending Napoleonic history with rugged landscapes, lively seaside towns and fine beaches. It is famous for

Napoleon's brief 1814 exile at the Palazzina dei Mulini, but its history runs much deeper, with 16th-century Medici fortifications to defend against pirate raids around the coast, and medieval hill towns, some standing on sites occupied since Roman times, inland.

Beach lovers tend to divide between the white-pebble coves of Sansone and Capo Bianco near the largest town, Portoferraio, in the north, and the golden sands of Fetovaia and Cavoli in the south-west beneath Monte Capanne. Marina di Campo on the south coast is a favourite for watersports, and windsurfing and sailing schools are popular in many resorts, from Procchio in the north to Lacona in the south.

Hikers can explore the 36-mile (58km) Grande Traversata Elbana, crossing the island from Cavo in the north-east to Pomonte or Patresi on the west coast, passing along mountain ridges and through traditional villages. Usually completed in three or four days, it's best tackled in spring or autumn.

Where to eat: In Portoferraio, Ristorante da Gianni is a favourite for handmade pasta, seafood and traditional cuisine. Try the house speciality, orecchiette with prawns and courgettes. In Marina di Campo, Da Piero serves seafood-focused dishes right on the beach. Where to stay: In Marina di Campo, Hotel Punto Verde (doubles from about £90 B&B) is a charming family-run hotel near the beach. In an 18th-century building in Portoferraio's historic centre, Indarsena (doubles from £86 B&B) is 10 minutes' walk from several beaches. Getting there: Ferries from Piombino to Portoferraio take about an hour with Toremar, Moby or Blu Navy.

The Medici fortifications in Portoferraio on Elba (far left). A Roman column on the beach at Cala Maestra on Giannutri (left)

Giglio The charming isle

At just 21 sq km, Giglio is small but has three villages, secluded coves, an extensive coastline and a landscape of historic terraced vineyards. Access for private vehicles is heavily restricted during August, with exceptions for longer stays, which helps preserve its peaceful atmosphere, while buses and taxis link the harbour, villages and beaches, so a car-free holiday is easy.

From Giglio Porto, trails lead to hidden coves and hilltop viewpoints, while the medieval lanes of Giglio Castello, a fortified 12th-century hilltop village, are perfect for an aperitivo and an evening stroll.

Beaches have distinct characters. Campese, on the north-west coast, is the largest, with reddish-gold sand and views of the 16th-century Torre del Campese. Cannelle, in the east, offers pale sand and crystalline water, while farther north, Arenella combines golden sand, granite boulders and clear water for snorkelling.

Where to eat: In Giglio Porto, Ristorante Doria is a seafood favourite with a sea-view terrace (try spaghetti alla chitarra with sea urchin and toasted breadcrumbs). In Campese, Da Zio Meino offers cucina povera (peasant cooking) such as pancotti di mare and spaghetti alle vongole e alla bottarga (with clams and cured mullet roe).

Where to stay: On a hillside overlooking Giglio Porto, B&B La Vela (doubles from £87 B&B) is a small guesthouse with maritime-themed interiors. On a headland above Campese Bay, Le Poste di Simplicio (doubles from £100 B&B) is a family-run B&B with sweeping sea views. Getting there: Toremar or Maregiglio ferries run from Porto Santo Stefano to Giglio Porto in about an hour.

Capraia A wild hikers' paradise Located just over 20 miles (33km) north-west of Elba, Capraia is one of the archipelago's most remote islands. Largely car-free, with few roads, it is best explored on foot along mule tracks winding between sea cliffs, hidden coves and 16th-century Genoese fortifications, although taxi boats and a bus provide limited transport.

Highlights include the red rock formations of Cala Rossa, the Genoese fortress of San Giorgio and the 16th-century Torre dello Zenòbito.

Beaches are few, but swimmers can cool off at Cala San Francesco, hike to Cala del Ceppo and Cala dello Zurletto, or take a taxi boat to Spiaggia della Mortola, one of the few sandy stretches.

Where to eat: In the main village, the fixed menu at Il Carabottino changes according to what the

Cannelle beach on Giglio (left). Capraia (right) is best explored on foot

local fishers happen to bring ashore, while Il Pigghiolo takes a more contemporary approach, reworking island flavours in dishes such as squid parmigiana and cod croquette. Where to stay: Accommodation is limited, but La Mandola Eco Hostel (doubles from £70 room-only) near the port is a restorative basecamp for walkers, beachgoers and divers, with a sheltered saltwater pool. In Capraia village, Il Saracino Boutique Suites is a small, characterful retreat with sea views (doubles from £130 B&B). Getting there: The ferry from Livorno takes 1 hour 45 minutes with Toremar.

Pianosa The protected isle

Daily visitor numbers to Pianosa are restricted, helping preserve the island's fragile environment and tranquil atmosphere. You can either buy a ticket on the limited ferry service or join an authorised guided excursion.

Roman remains (including early Christian catacombs) and abandoned prison buildings from when the island served as a penal colony offer glimpses of its history. And the restored Casa dell'Agronomo and Museo delle Scienze Geologiche e Archeologiche explore its agricultural, geological and archaeological heritage.

Guided walks, cycling and kayak excursions are among the best ways to explore. Swimming is restricted to Cala Giovanna, an easy walk from the small port and historic village, to help safeguard the marine ecosystem.

Where to eat: Da Brunello in the small harbour village is Pianosa's only cafe/restaurant, with a focus on fresh fish and vegetables grown on the island.

Where to stay: Close to the cafe and run by the same management, the island's only accommodation, Albergo Milena (doubles from £95 half-board) offers simple rooms in a historic building. Getting there: There are authorised excursions from Elba with Acquavision (45 minutes), and limited Toremar ferry services run from Piombino to Pianosa (about three hours).

Giannutri The roadless retreat

While Elba hums with holidaymakers and Vespas, this tiny, car-free limestone crescent, where scent-heavy macchia slopes into ink-blue waters, offers a radical detox from modern life.

With only one restaurant-cafe, which also functions as a small grocery shop, day trippers are advised to bring their own water and lunch. Most people swim at Cala Spalmatoio and Cala Maestra, while much of the coastline forms part of a protected marine reserve renowned for its diving and snorkelling. A guided tour of a Roman villa linked to the Domitii Ahenobarbi family is a must.

Where to eat: La Vela Giannutri, the island's only dining option, focuses on seafood dishes, from tuna tartare to spaghetti alle vongole.

Where to stay: Accommodation is limited to the family-run A Casa Diana (doubles from £123 B&B), with simple rooms and sea views, and a scattering of holiday rentals.

Getting there: Maregiglio runs ferries from Porto Santo Stefano, or there are seasonal excursion boats (taking about an hour). In summer, Maregiglio also operates excursions and mini-cruises between Giglio and Giannutri.

The harbour on Pianosa (left), where visitor numbers are strictly limited

Readers' travel tips Beguiling isles

Winning tip

A bird's-eye view of wild Croatia Giant griffon vultures glided parallel with my bus as it reached the highest point of Cres in the north of the Croatian Adriatic. Covered in scrubby heath, olive groves and lavender, with small towns and villages on its coast, its wildness is its appeal. Some, like Cres town, are unobtrusively set up for holidaymakers; in others, locals just quietly get on with the life they've lived since the Venetians ruled here. Rhiannon

Going under the radar in Greece Between Rhodes and Crete, Karpathos slips under the radar: no package crowds, just goats, wildflowers and twisting mountain roads. The remote village of Olympos feels frozen in time, while Apella and Achata have turquoise water backed by unspoilt, pine-covered mountainsides. Hotel Lefkorama provides a spectacular valley-to-sea view. End the day at a family-run taverna, sipping local wine as the sun drops into the Aegean. Stephen and Luca

Swimming off the Kerry coast Earlier this summer, my sister and I road-tripped around the south-west coast of Ireland. Our favourite place was Valentia Island, a small land mass slightly off the more touristy Ring of Kerry, accessed via a bridge to the south and a ferry to the north. Head for Glanleam beach, an idyllic secluded cove surrounded by rich vegetation, and take a dip in the Atlantic. Like us, you'll probably want to return the next day and do it again. Ellie

A car-free outpost of Brittany After an exciting 60-minute ferry crossing from Audierne, you arrive on the Île de Sein, an island mostly only 1.5 metres above sea level. There are no cars and you can walk the entire island in a couple of hours. We loved the cowrie-shell-rich beaches. There is plenty of history here, an impressive lighthouse and a handful of stylish cafes (we had crepes in Chez Bruno). It's a world away from the busy mainland. Miles

To enter our readers' tips competition and see the terms and conditions, visit theguardian.com/readers-travel-tips (you must be a UK resident to enter). The week's best tip, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet, wins a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property. This is a selection of tips: see more on our website

LIFESTVIF

Stuffed dumplings are a religion in Poland, but Ben Aitken had never been a believer. Could a trip to a charming Baltic city convert him?

In search of the perfect pierogi in Gdańsk

• used to live in Poland. I worked in a fish-and-chip shop in the western city of Poznań, boning cod and peeling potatoes for £1.50 an hour. With the exception of

that job, I enjoyed everything about my time in the country, not least the food. I liked the chicken broth with noodles, the slippery herring, the knuckles of pork the size of basketballs, the cold beetroot soup that beats gazpacho hands down.

One thing I was less delighted by were Polish dumplings - pierogi. It wasn't that they weren't nice - they were - it was more that they didn't seem to warrant the extreme levels of affection and esteem Poles often bestow on the doughy parcels. By being ambivalent about them, I was going against a well-established grain.

It is claimed by some that pierogi arrived in Poland via Marco Polo (actually a myth), and that the oldest written Polish recipe dates to 1682 (true). In short, these things have pedigree, and you denigrate them at your peril. I almost lost a Polish friend once for not being smitten with Poland's answer to gyoza and ravioli. Such was her reaction, you'd have thought I'd denigrated the late Polish pope, John Paul II.

“I don’t understand this mentality,” said Paulina. “Have you tried the

ones filled with cheese and potato?" "Yep."

"Have you had the ones from the fancy place on the old square?" "Yep."

"Have you had the frozen ones from the supermarket?"

“Uh-huh.”

“Hm. Have you tried my grandmother’s?”

"Erm, no."

“Well there you are. Mystery solved. You have to reserve judgment and stop talking nonsense until you’ve tried the dumplings of a babcia.”

I had versions of this conversation several times when telling Poles that I was merely fond of pierogi rather than hopelessly devoted. On each occasion, the babcia (grandmother figure) in question was either dead or otherwise engaged, meaning that their dumplings couldn't be tested, and my opinion - that pierogi are just OK - couldn't be validated.

Until now perhaps. Having enjoyed searching for the perfect steak frites in Paris, I set myself the task of giving pierogi a proper crack of the whip in one of Poland's finest cities - its jewel on the Baltic coast, Gdańsk. Could the old port city cure me of my pierogi scepticism? Would the dumplings of a local babcia bowl me over? The answer was yes ... and no.

Gdański Bowke

After a mooch around the picturesque old town, I pull up a pew on the riverside terrace of this well-regarded establishment. I have a mixed plate of the classics: potato and cheese, cabbage and mushroom, minced pork. They've been boiled then shallow fried, ensuring a slightly crisp finish, and are served with the traditional accompaniments: sour cream and bacon bits jostling in their own lardy juices.

The first thing that strikes me is the size of these parcels. Boy, are they plump. Of the selection, potato and cheese triumphs, with the optimal mouthful requiring a touch of each topping: the bacon bringing a salty crunch, the lard adding an umami note, the sour cream resolving the whole. In short, solid grub in a lovely spot. £13, 7.5/10

Panorama

No chance of just happening on this restaurant: it's on the 16th floor of what might be charitably called a nondescript building. The view isn't postcard-perfect but it's powerful: the vista is dominated by the city's famous shipyard, where in 1980 trade union leader Lech Wałęsa and his unmerry men downed tools and gave communism the cold shoulder.

The boiled dumplings have been blackened with charcoal or squid ink, filled with a raspberry reduction and white Belgian chocolate, then decorated with strawberries and cream. This is a main course, by the way, not a dessert. I have fun pressing a fork through the foreboding dough and watching the innards spill. Gory but enjoyable. There's a nice sourness from the raspberries, the chew on the dough allows the flavours to travel and combine, and I like the crunch you get from the tiny raspberry seeds. I had been tempted by the savoury pierogi option - rabbit with thyme sauce - but I went with madam's suggestion and I'm glad I did. After all, babcia knows best. £11, 7.5/10

Mandu

The dumplings here are made on site and it's a lovely thing to witness - the craft, the culture, the skill of the babcia. The menu is extensive: 40 types, with baked, boiled and deep-fried options. Some of the fillings require a double take: chorizo, potato, mascarpone and ... truffle paste, anyone?

I'm pleased to see variety, though. As with the sandwich, conceivably a dumpling can be filled with anything. (In Cleveland, Ohio, I once encountered bacon cheeseburger pierogi -

I'm smitten. The filling is gentle and balances the tangy sauce of onions slow-cooked in wine

which I interpreted as evidence that multiculturalism was working just fine.)

I have a baked half-dozen, filled with a mingling of beef, cheese, red onion and pickled cucumber. Small pies they are, befitting the etymology of pierogi. The filling is excellent, but the heavier carriage of the yeast-risen dumplings starts to weigh on me, and I find myself digging out the interior and foregoing the case. I would have appreciated a mixed plate option, to avoid things getting samey. £12, 8/10

Stary Mlyn

This pierogi specialist is housed in an old mill - hence the name, which translates as old mill - on the edge of what has become known as booking. com island, on account of its popularity with tourists. I have the mixed plate - nine iterations of Poland's beloved comfort food. There's a half-hour wait after ordering, while the dumplings are "cooked on the fly", the ceaseless prep apparent at the back of the dining room. The wait gives me a chance to read a kids' book I find on the merchandise stand (yep, there's merch) about a dumpling that goes on an adventure and ends up as prime minister.

The fillings are decent: beef rib, cod fillet, chicken and cheese - but they are somewhat overpowered by the dough. One shortcoming of Polish dumplings is that a plate of them, even a mixed one, can get a bit repetitive.

Here's an idea: individual dumplings, slightly enlarged, handheld, easily

taken away and munched on the move? The largest pierogi ever made, incidentally, was about two metres long and weighed nearly 100kg, though the largest recognised by the Guinness Book of Records weighed 55.7kg - both, unsurprisingly, in the US. £15, 7/10

Oberża 86

Gdańsk is officially in a relationship with two other cities - Sopot and Gdynia. Together they are known as the Trójmiasto, or Tricity. I take a short train ride to Gdynia, the ugly sister of the three. After vainly wandering around for an hour in search of pierogi, I'm about to abort the mission when I chance on Oberża 86. I confess my head is turned less by the name or the building and more by the word Michelin on the sign. I pop my head in and ask if they do pierogi. They do, as a starter, just the three pieces, filled with broad beans and served with a shallot sauce, which they suggest pairing with a wine from the north-west of Poland.

I'm sold. And soon I'm smitten. The sauce has a zing that comes from the onions being slow-cooked with wine and lemon. The dough has the quality of pasta. The filling is gentle, and balances the tangy sauce. And there is the right amount - a lovable trio, rather than a testing half dozen. The wine helps, I must say. It's lairy, with apple vibes and a slight fizz, the Johnny Rotten of the white wine world. After crowning Oberza 86 my winner, I waddle to the local beach for a swim, wondering if I'll be more or less buoyant after all the pierogi I've taken on board the past couple of days. £12, 9/10

Ben Aitken is the author of A Chip Shop in Poznań: My Unlikely Year in Poland. To buy a copy for £10.99, go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

Answers to quiz by Thomas Eaton

1 Willow pattern. 2 Lynn Redgrave (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). 3 Denmark. 4 Antony and Cleopatra. 5 Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro. 6 Hydrogen. 7 Chatham, in Kent.

8 Val Doonican. 9 Yangtze River. 10 Supermarket clothing labels: Tesco; Asda; Morrisons; Sainsbury's. 11 All billed or nicknamed Little: Little Eva; Little Boots; Little Richard; Little Steven. 12 Birth states of recent

US presidents: Donald Trump; Joe Biden; Barack Obama; George W Bush; Bill Clinton. 13 Parts of the mandible (lower jawbone). 14 Alumni of Leeds University. 15 Unrelated to other known languages.

Answers to Weekend Crossword by Sy

The kids' quiz Molly Oldfield

This quiz answers questions posed by children – will you get a better score than your parents?

1 Ella, 5, asks: why is the grass green?

A Fairies get up early every morning to paint it green
B Grass has a pigment called chlorophyll, which makes grass look green
C Overall grass looks green but each individual blade is a different shade of pink
D It's green in England but in other parts of the universe it's silver or gold

2 Phoebe, 11, asks: what was the most deadly dinosaur?
A Diplodocus
B Titanosaur
C Tyrannosaurus rex
D Velociraptor

3 Esme, 7, asks: what are electrons made of?
A They're not made of anything - they can't be broken into smaller pieces
B They're made of quarks

C They're made of bananas, mashed up in the blender D They're made of long lengths of steel

4 Roman, 6, asks: why are children called kids?

5 Jack, 6, asks:

children called kids? A It's from the Latin word "chrid", meaning naughty B It's from the term "kidding around" C No one knows D It's from an Old Norse word meaning "young goat"

why are dinosaurs called dinosaurs?

A Because they are old and don't know what's cool
B It comes from the words "deinos" (terrible) and "sauros" (lizard)

Weekend crossword Sy

C It comes from the words "dine" (to eat) and "sonar" (navigating with sound)
D It's Latin for massive bird

Scan the code to send Molly a question for a future quiz

Answers (no peeking!)

1 B. Grass is green because it contains chlorophyll, the pigment in plants that helps them turn light, water and air into food for themselves. Chlorophyll absorbs red and blue light from the sun, but reflects green light, which is why grass looks green. 2 C. Many experts believe the T-rex was the deadliest dinosaur. It's said the force from the bite of one of its back teeth would be like being sat on by a medium-sized elephant! 3 A. Electrons are known as elementary particles, as they cannot be broken down into smaller pieces. They are some of the building blocks that make up the universe. 4 D. The word kid can refer to a young goat, but is often used to mean children. It comes from the Old Norse word for a young goat, and was adopted as English slang sometime in the 16th or 17th centuries. 5 B. "Dinosaur" comes from the Greek words for "terrible lizard". It was invented by the English paleontologist Richard Owen in the 1840s, to refer to the "great fossil lizards" found in the UK. Later scientists realised dinosaurs are not lizards, but are related to birds.

Molly Oldfield's new book, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World, based on her podcast, is out now. Does your child have a question? To submit one, scan the QR code above.

Across

1 State that in 1967 declared independence from Nigeria (6) 4 Author of the New Testament Epistles (2,4) 9 Recipients of one of them? (9) 10 The gift of which enables one to speak fluently? (3) 11 Leo ......, author of War and Peace (7) 13 Massachusetts town known for its witch trials (5) 14 Comedy starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine (9,4) 16 French city, once home to Van Gogh (5) 18 Worcestershire market town, known for its Bell Tower (7) 20 Mamma ..., Abba hit (3) 21 German militias formed in 1918 (9) 23 The Irish senate (6) 24 Military slang for everyday screw-ups (6) Down

The Office? (5)

1 David ....., manager of

3 Nile delta port city known for its eponymous stone (7)
5 Characteristic feature shared by narwhals, water deer and elephants? (5)
6 Amazonian genus popular in domestic aquariums (9)
7 Mexican folk song that was a hit for Ritchie Valens and Los Lobos (2,5)
8 Co-host of The Rest is Football (4,7)

12 The Slovenian capital (9) 14 EU programme for education, training, youth and sport (7) 15 Nickname given to 30 St Mary Axe, London (7) 17 The Bulgarian capital (5) 19 Ed ....., former 400-metre hurdles champion (5) 22 The UK's air defence force (3)

Solutions to Crossword and Thomas Eaton's quiz page 69

Quiz Thomas Eaton

1 Which design illustrates the tragic love story of Koong-Se and Chang? 2 Which British woman was nominated for all four Egot awards, but didn't win any? 3 The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is in which country? 4 Which Shakespeare play opens in Africa? 5 Which football stadium is officially the Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho? 6 The sun's nuclear fusion is primarily fuelled by which element? 7 Which naval dockyard closed in 1984 after more than 400 years? 8 Who "rocks, but gently" in a 1967 album title? What links: 9 Jari Hill, Tanggula mountains; Chongqing; Wuhan; Nanjing; Shanghai? 10 F&F; George; Nutmeg; Tu? 11 Eva Boyd; Victoria Hesketh; Richard Penniman; Steven Van Zandt? 12 New York; Pennsylvania; Hawaii; Connecticut; Arkansas? 13 Alveolar process; mental protuberance; mental spines; oblique line? 14 Brownlee brothers; Mark Knopfler; Corinne Bailey Rae; Keir Starmer; Jack Straw? 15 Ainu in Asia; Basque in Europe; Sandawe in Africa; Zuni in the US?

Stephen Collins

Could they be a person who leaves one-star reviews for things when they've been sent the wrong item?

Be one-star-reviewers-of-things-for-not-being-other-things wise.
Stephen Collins

SUMMER SALE

Change Your LIGHT. Change Your LIFE.

This is the best time of year to grab a bargain and treat your eyes to better light. Fewer people buy gas boilers in the summer and the same logic applies to lights.

HD Original - 7.2 W

Our most powerful full spectrum light source designed to copy natural light. Infinite beam settings. Our most popular model. Best for eye conditions and professional uses.

√ Variable Beam Width

√ Fully Dimmable

√ Lightweight or Extra Heavy

√ Floor and Table Models

√ Real Wood Carry Handle

90-Day risk-free trial

5-year warranty

Snooze function

Also in Black @£299.99

OFFER PRICE £224.99

HD Essential - 6 W

If you just want the benefits from the more natural light source with no bells and whistles. Best for those who would rather not pay for the extra power and variable beam width.

Fixed Width

√ Fully Dimmable

√ Lightweight or Extra Heavy

√ Floor and Table Models

√ Real Wood Carry Handle

30-Day risk-free trial

5-year warranty

Also in Black @£249.99

OFFER PRICE £199.99

HD Mini - 5 W

√ Dimmable √ Cordless (4hrs+) √ Lightweight (1.5 kg)

30-Day risk-free trial 1-year warranty

Also in Black @£174.99

OFFER PRICE £174.99

HD ROAM

√ 3 brightness settings √ Cordless (4hrs+) √ Super Lightweight (600g)

30-Day risk-free trial 1-year warranty

Also in White @£74.99

OFFER PRICE £74.99

Better Lights from £74.99. Summer OFFERS: seriousreaders.com/A296

Clearance Prices

We are selling off what we have most of, which happens to be white lights in many cases, but black models are also heavily discounted. We are making way for the new 2026 models.

Free Delivery

Does what it says on the tin. We pay. You don't.

Nothing to Lose

You get to try it at home and if you don't love it, we will collect it and refund all your money. Thankfully 99 in every 100 people who try one do love it.

"I thought the lights sounded expensive, but reading that the deal was 'sale or return' I decided to give them a try. From the moment I turned them on, I knew I was in paradise. I commend these wonderful lights to everyone. I wish I had bought them at least forty years earlier!"

Mr Reeves

The Guardian University Guide 2027

From university and subject rankings, to advice on how to budget, where to live, and finding the social life that suits you; navigate it all with the Guardian University Guide 2027. Free with the Guardian on Saturday 12 September*

Go beyond the league tables: get the inside scoop on student life.

Batch of the day Freezer-friendly fishcakes

Feast

Meera Sodha Mozzarella and green bean salad

Sami Tamimi Turmeric flatbread

Rosie Mackean Cucumber rice

Benjamina Ebuehi Rum punch lollies

Felicity Cloake Key lime pie masterclass

Poppy O'Toole Midweek chicken and baked rice

Dean Parker Cavolo nero salad

The food filter Coleslaw, rated

Drink Cocktails in cans

Grace Dent 'Structured and very chic bedlam'

Meera Sodha

One thing I learned during the hot weather is that I don't have enough 'substantial but quick salads' in my locker. A salad one could call lunch (or a light dinner when served with other bits). On rotation in my 'throw-together' category is my no-cook chickpea, tomato and cucumber salad, to which I'm also going to add my favourite summer vegetable, bulgur and pesto salad, which isn't quite an assembly job, but near-enough and a family favourite. To that line-up, I'm happy to introduce this gently spicy, green beauty.

Prep	10 min
Cook	20 min
Serves	2

1 tbsp rapeseed oil
250g green beans, topped
150g frozen
edamame beans, defrosted
100g frozen petit pois, defrosted
2½ tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tbsp sambal oelek
1 tbsp light soy sauce
½ tbsp light agave syrup
½ tsp brown or red miso
15g fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped
2 x 125g mozzarella balls

Feast app

Spicy mozzarella, green bean and edamame salad

My recipe tester, Hannah, and I disagree on how much mozzarella a person can eat. I like a whole ball to myself, she prefers a half-ball. Adjust as you see fit.

Put the rapeseed oil in a wide frying pan on a medium to high heat. Test the heat with a wooden spoon - when it's hot enough, bubbles should form around the bottom of the spoon. Add the green beans to the pan, spacing them out, and leave for two minutes. Turn the beans, leave for another two minutes, then turn again and cook for a further two minutes, until blistered or blackened in places. Transfer the beans to a large bowl, then add the edamame beans and petit pois to the same bowl.

To make the dressing, put the sesame oil in the same pan on a low to medium heat and, when it's hot, add the garlic and stir for a minute. Add the sambal oelek, light soy sauce, agave and miso, stir well, cook for up to a minute, then take off the heat.

Pour the dressing into the bean bowl, mix well to coat, then fold in the chopped mint.

To serve, use tongs (or two forks) to lift the greens on to a platter, leaving behind the dressing. Tear open the mozzarella, arrange on top, then pour the remaining dressing over the cheese and salad.

Sami Tamimi Breakfast, brunch or any time

Few things make me happier than a bowl of warm musabaha served with freshly baked bread straight from the pan. It's a combination that shouts comfort, generosity and the simple pleasure of sharing food. Across the Levant, musabaha is a much-loved breakfast or brunch dish, though I'd happily eat it at any time of day. Served with the buttery, soft turmeric and nigella seed flatbreads, it becomes a meal that is nourishing, intensely satisfying and perfect for gathering family and friends around the table.

Prep 15 min Cook 15 min Serves 4

2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle 5 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 1 large green chilli, finely chopped seeds and all 1 tbsp ground cumin 100g tahini, plus extra to serve 120g greek-style yoghurt 3 tbsp lemon juice Salt

For the cherry tomato salad 150g cherry tomatoes, halved 1 mini cucumber (100g), finely diced $\frac{1}{2}$ red pepper (75g), finely diced 20g fresh coriander, finely chopped 2 spring onions, trimmed and very thinly sliced 1 green chilli, thinly sliced seeds and all 1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp white-wine vinegar 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp sumac 1 tsp dried mint $\frac{1}{2}$ tsp aleppo chilli, plus extra for sprinkling

Musabaha (warm chickpea dip with tomato salad)

When I'm short of time but craving something nourishing, full of flavour and genuinely satisfying, I turn to musabaha time and again. Unlike hummus, the chickpeas are left whole, then gently warmed and topped with a vibrant salad of spicy cherry tomatoes, fresh coriander and good olive oil. Serve with plenty of the warm flatbreads opposite for scooping.

Put the chickpeas in a medium saucepan and add enough water just to cover them. Bring to a simmer on a medium heat and cook for about five minutes, to soften them a bit more. Drain the chickpeas, reserving about 300ml of the cooking liquid, and set aside.

Meanwhile, put all ingredients for the cherry tomato salad in a medium bowl with half a teaspoon of salt, mix well and set aside.

Put the oil in a medium saucepan on a medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, for two minutes, until the garlic starts to colour. Add the chilli, cook for another minute, then add the drained chickpeas, the reserved cooking liquid, cumin, tahini, yoghurt, lemon juice and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat to low and simmer, stirring from time to time, for two minutes.

To serve, transfer the warm chickpeas to a large serving plate with a lip or a wide shallow bowl. Drizzle over some tahini, then spoon over the cherry tomato and coriander salad. Finish with a good drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of aleppo chilli. Serve with the flatbreads opposite.

PHOTOGRAPH: MATTHEW HAGUE/THE GUARDIAN, FOOD STYLING; TAMARA VOS. PROP STYLING; ANNA WILKINS, FOOD STYLING ASSISTANT; GEORGIA RUDD. INSET: GETTY IMAGES

Turmeric and nigella seed flatbread

V

Prep	5 min
Rest	10 min
Cook	25 min
Makes	8

150g full-fat greek yoghurt 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 350g 00 flour, or plain flour, plus extra for dusting 100g wholewheat flour $^{3/4}$ tsp ground turmeric 1 tbsp nigella seeds $^{1\frac{1}{2}}$ tsp salt 35g ghee, or butter, melted

I come from a culture where offering freshly baked, warm bread is one of the greatest traditions of hospitality. Whether welcoming unexpected guests or gathering loved ones around the table, bread is always the first thing shared. These golden flatbreads, scented with earthy turmeric and nutty ghee, are perfect for scooping up the warm chickpeas and spicy tomato salad opposite, but they're equally delicious served with dips or simply drizzled with good olive oil.

Put the yoghurt and bicarb in the bowl of a free-standing mixer with the dough hook attached, and stir with a spoon to combine. The mix should start bubbling.

Add 150ml water, stir again, then add all the remaining ingredients apart from the ghee and mix on low speed for five minutes, until the dough is soft but not sticky.

Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces of about 110g each. Roll each one into a ball, cover with a damp towel and leave to rest for 10 minutes - this is to prevent the dough from drying out.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of dough into a 16cm disc about $\frac{1}{2}$ cm thick.

Heat a grill pan until it's very hot. Lay in one or two dough discs and cook for a minute or two on each side, until the bread is cooked through and has char marks. Remove, keep warm and repeat with the remaining dough. Brush each flatbread with melted ghee or butter, and serve.

Prep 10 min Cook 40-45 min Serves 4

Spice mix 1 tsp ground white pepper 2 tsp Chinese five spice 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp black pepper ½ - 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional) 1 tsp sugar

750g Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Anya potatoes Olive oil 1kg Sainsbury's British fresh chicken skin on thighs 270g Sainsbury's Taste the Difference baby sweet peppers, de-seeded and roughly chopped 1 red onion, peeled and sliced 1 Sainsbury's Taste the Difference British sweet spear carrot, peeled and sliced widthways on an angle

Curry yoghurt
200g Sainsbury's Taste the Difference authentic Greek yogurt
1 tsp mild curry powder (if you like spice, use hot curry powder!)
1 tsp garlic powder

Spice bag traybake

New Guardian Food show FEED with Jimi Famurewa travels the UK in search of food trends. This hearty dish is his homemade twist on a takeaway favourite

The chicken here - which is roasted rather than breaded and fried - might confuse some spice bag purists, but the Filipino-inspired spice bag at Lasa in Belfast (barbecued chicken and a calamansi and coconut milk red curry sauce) showed me that other elements can be added to this Irish-Chinese takeaway classic.

Contrasting textures are key to a spice bag, so add a little bit to the cooking time to crisp up the potatoes and the chicken if you need to. The curry yoghurt, which adds coolness and tang, throws a South Asian influence into the mix, which works with the nutty flavour of the Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Anya potatoes.

Heat your oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Make the spice mix by combining all the spices with the sugar and two teaspoons of salt.

If your potatoes are small leave whole, otherwise halve them lengthways. Add to a large mixing bowl with 1 tablespoon of the spice mix and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir well then tip into a large baking dish. Put your chicken thighs into the now empty mixing bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of spice mix with a drizzle of olive oil and stir until fully coated. Place the chicken - skin side up - on top of the potatoes and put into the oven for 30 minutes.

To make your curry yoghurt, heat a small frying pan over a low heat with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, and add the curry and garlic powder. Cook for 1 minute or until starting to bubble, stirring regularly, then remove and let cool. Put the Greek yoghurt into a bowl and stir in the curry oil. Add in a pinch of salt and pepper, and 2 tablespoons of water to loosen.

Once the chicken has had 30 minutes, take the tray from the oven and increase the heat to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Carefully remove the thighs to a plate.

Stir the sliced peppers, onion and carrot into the potatoes, with any remaining spice mix. Pat the chicken skin dry with kitchen roll, then put back on to the dish. Return to the oven for 10-12 minutes or until everything is cooked through and the chicken skin is crispy. Serve up with your curry yoghurt and enjoy!

WATCH

Jimi make this recipe in FEED with Jimi Famurewa. Out now on YouTube and the Guardian

Scan the QR code to shop the full range of Sainsbury's Taste the Difference ingredients

PAID FOR BY

Rosie Mackean Quick and easy

When cooking on a weeknight, it's easy to forget that sometimes experimenting with temperature is as important as flavour. Hot things combined with very cold things are exceptionally refreshing in the summer, and also make the mundane more exciting and playful. This dish of hot rice, hot butter, cold cucumber sauce, hot egg and cold pickles might sound, well, a bit weird, but I promise it's delicious, comforting and also cooling.

PHOTOGRAPH: MATTHEW HAGUE/THE GUARDIAN. FOOD STYLING: TAMARA VOS. PROP STYLING: ANNA WILKINS. FOOD STYLING ASSISTANT: GEORGIA RUDD

Prep	10 min
Cook	30 min
Serves	2

200g Japanese short-grain rice Salt and black pepper 2 medium eggs 40g soft salted butter 3 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

For the pickled cucumbers 200g baby cucumbers, or the same quantity of a large cucumber 1 tsp flaky sea salt 3 tbsp caster sugar 75g white-wine vinegar 1 tbsp olive oil A small handful fresh dill, leaves picked and chopped ½ tsp dried mint

For the cucumber sauce 1 large cucumber, peeled and deseeded 100g creme fraiche 1 very generous pinch flaky sea salt 1 garlic clove, peeled 1 ice cube

Pickled cucumber rice

Start with the pickles. Slice the cucumber into rounds, put them in a heatproof bowl, add the salt and toss. In a second heatproof bowl, mix 75ml just-boiled water with the sugar and vinegar, then pour over the cucumber and set aside while you make everything else.

Wash the rice under cold water until it runs clear, then drain. If you have a rice cooker, use that. Otherwise, put the rice in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, add 250ml cold water and a pinch of salt. Put the pan on a medium heat, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat as low as possible and cover with the lid. Leave the rice to cook for eight minutes, then take off the heat and set aside, still covered, for 10 minutes, so it absorbs all the water.

Meanwhile, blitz the peeled and deseeded cucumber in a blender with the creme fraiche, salt and garlic, until smooth. Transfer to the fridge with the ice cube to keep it lovely and cool.

Cook the eggs in boiling water for seven minutes, then rinse under cold running water until they're just cool enough to peel.

Dress the pickled cucumber with the olive oil, dill and dried mint. Pile spoonfuls of the rice into the centre of two bowls, then dot with the soft butter - it will melt and pool in the rice (heaven). Pour the cucumber sauce around the rice, top with the pickles, peeled and halved fudgy eggs and some shredded spring onion, then serve with plenty of salt and pepper on the eggs. Good Time Cooking: Show-Stopping Menus for Easy Entertaining, by Rosie Mackean, is published by Pavilion Books at £26. To order a copy for £23.40, visit guardianbookshop.com

Poppy O'Toole Batch of the day

I've called this spicy chicken and baked rice 'midweek', but you can enjoy this baby all week long. Juicy, spiced chicken, fluffy baked rice and enough flavour to make you bin that takeaway menu and raid your cupboards instead. Then, fragrant, delicate fishcakes with a lovely, bouncy texture, which are such a winner for the freezer. They take only 10-ish minutes to cook from frozen, so they save you from hunger and distraction on a busy WFH day.

Prep	10 min
Marinate	1 hr
Cook	45 min
Serves	8

200g greek yoghurt Finely grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon 50g harissa paste 1 tbsp garlic granules 1 tbsp dried oregano 2 tsp ground turmeric 1 tbsp ras el hanout 2 tsp ground coriander 2 tsp ground cumin Salt and pepper 16 skinless, boneless chicken thighs Olive oil 3 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped into large pieces 2 red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped into large pieces 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced or grated 2 tbsp tomato puree 400g basmati rice 1 x 400g tin crushed tomatoes 800ml chicken stock

Serving suggestions (all optional) Sliced or pickled red onion Crumbled feta Flat-leaf parsley leaves

Midweek spicy chicken and baked rice

In a large bowl, combine the yoghurt, lemon zest and juice, harissa, garlic granules, dried oregano, ground turmeric, ras el hanout, coriander and cumin with a large pinch each of salt and pepper. Add the chicken thighs, give them a good mix to coat, then pop them in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour.

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/gas 6. Meanwhile, put a glug of olive oil in an oven-safe saute pan on a high heat. Chuck in the onions and peppers, fry for two to three minutes, until slightly blackened, then add the garlic and fry for a minute more, until fragrant.

Turn down the heat to medium, squeeze in the tomato puree and cook for one minute, until the mix darkens. Season generously, then tip in the rice and toast for one minute. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and chicken stock, and bring to a bubble.

Put the chicken thighs on top of the rice in the pan - you want about half of each chicken thigh sitting above the level of the stock - then put the pot in the oven for 30 minutes, until the chicken is slightly charred and cooked through and the rice is tender. Serve immediately, piping hot, with the pickled red onion, feta and parsley, if you like.

To eat later, freeze in an airtight container for up to three months. To reheat from frozen, heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/gas 5 and reheat for 45-50 minutes, until piping hot throughout. Or defrost fully in the fridge overnight, then heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/gas 6 and reheat for 25-30 minutes, again until piping hot throughout.

PHOTOGRAPHS (INCLUDING COVER): LOUISE HAGGER/THE GUARDIAN. FOOD STYLING: EMILY KYDD. PROPSTYLING: JENNIFER KAY. FOOD STYLING ASSISTANT: MANDY THOMPSON

DF

Prep	5 min
Chill	1 hr
Cook	15 min
Serves	8

500g skinless,
boneless cod, or
haddock
200g shelled raw
king prawns
3 tbsp green Thai
curry paste
2 lemongrass stalks,
bashed and roughly
chopped
50g fresh ginger,
peeled and roughly
chopped
4 garlic cloves,
peeled
1-2 tbsp fish sauce,
to taste
2 tsp palm sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 eggs
About 200g
cornflour
Olive oil

To serve (all optional) Sweet chilli sauce Pickled veg Cooked rice noodles Thai basil and mint leaves Lime wedges

Lemongrass and ginger Thai-style fishcakes

Tip the fish, prawns, curry paste, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, palm sugar and soy sauce into a food processor. Crack in the eggs and blitz to a paste. Scrape into a bowl and mix in enough cornflour to make a wet dough - you may not need all of it, so add it in batches.

Wet your hands so the fishcake mixture won't stick to them, then weigh out into 16 equal balls of about 70g each. Shape into 2cm-thick patties, then arrange on a well-oiled baking tray - they will feel really wet, but that's normal! - and refrigerate for at least one hour to firm up.

Put a little olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat, then, working in batches, fry the fishcakes for three to four minutes on each side, until cooked through, piping hot and golden.

Serve with sweet chilli sauce, rice noodles, herbs and lime, if you like.

To serve later, freeze the raw fishcakes on a tray until solid, then transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to three months. To cook from frozen, put a little olive oil in a frying pan on a medium-low heat, then fry the fishcakes in batches for about five to six minutes on each side, turning carefully, until cooked through, piping hot and golden. These recipes are edited extracts from Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Batch Cookbook, by Poppy O'Toole, published by Bloomsbury Publishing at £22. To order a copy for £19.80, visit guardianbookshop.com

Candbury

the taste of a glass and a half

Benjamina Ebuehi The sweet spot

It's only right that on the weekend of the Notting Hill carnival, rum punch is your drink of choice. So whether or not you're heading to west London to celebrate, these ice lollies will get you in the party mood. They're fruity, sweet and balanced out with plenty of fresh lime. See this as more of a guide than a strict recipe - I always like to make sure there's enough leftover mixture to pour over ice to drink while the lollies are setting.

Prep	5 min
Cook	10 min
Freeze	6 hr+
Makes	8-10

500ml pineapple juice

250ml orange juice 100ml grenadine syrup

100ml fresh lime juice

70ml dark rum 70ml coconut rum 1 dash Angostura bitters (optional)

Rum punch ice lollies

All punches have different ratios, so adjust the lime or sweetness to taste. Just don't be tempted to add more rum or they won't freeze and you'll end with slush.

Put the pineapple juice, orange juice and grenadine in a large jug or bowl. Stir in the lime juice followed by both rums and a dash of bitters, if using.

Give it a taste and add a little more lime juice, if you'd like it sharper, or a splash more grenadine for something sweeter.

Fill eight to 10 ice-lolly moulds with the punch mix, add sticks and freeze for at least six hours, and ideally overnight. (Keep any excess punch in the fridge and serve over ice.) Release the lollies and enjoy straight away.

Dean Parker Open your arms to autumn

As the days start to shorten and the temperature drops (finally!), the produce becomes richer, sweeter and more comforting. At the restaurant, we let the ingredients do the talking, and today's recipes celebrate some of my favourite seasonal flavours: the salad is deeply satisfying, balancing sweet roast squash with bitter greens and a punchy tapenade. For dessert, meanwhile, chocolate mousse with poached fruit is my idea of autumn in a bowl.

Prep	10 min
Cook	2 hr
Chill	4 hr+
Serves	6

For the mousse 200g 70% cocoa dark chocolate 3 eggs, separated 40g caster sugar 300ml double cream Creme fraiche, to serve

For the poached quince 55ml clear honey 375ml apple juice, or kombucha 20ml apple cider vinegar 1 bay leaf 3 black peppercorns ¼ cinnamon stick ¼ lemon 250g quince

For the brown butter milk crumb 60g butter 100g milk powder 50g plain flour 40g caster sugar 1 pinch flaky sea salt

Chocolate mousse with poached quince

All the various elements can be made ahead, ready for assembly on the day. Quince season proper is a few weeks off still, so if you can't wait, try this with firm apples or pears until the real thing appears on grocers' shelves.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie, until smooth, then leave to cool slightly. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then slowly work in the sugar until glossy. Whip the cream to soft peaks. Beat the egg yolks, stir into the melted chocolate, then fold in the whipped cream. Gently fold in the whisked egg whites, then spoon into a container and chill for at least four hours.

Now for the fruit. Put the honey in a medium pan on medium heat and cook until it starts to caramelise. Add all the remaining quince ingredients except the quince itself, and bring to a simmer. Peel and quarter the quince(s), then cut out the core(s). Add the quince to the honey pan, cover, turn down the heat to very low and simmer gently for an hour and a half. Take off the heat, leave to cool, then lift out the quince and cut into 2cm x 2cm dice.

For the crumb, heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/gas 4. Melt the butter in a small pan, then cook until it turns nut-brown and toasty. Mix the milk powder, flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl, pour in the brown butter and stir until the mix turns into small crumbs. Spread out on a greased and lined oven tray, then bake for 12-15 minutes, stirring halfway, until golden. Leave to cool.

To assemble, spoon a quenelle of mousse on each plate, then dip the spoon in hot water and use the back of it to make a well in the centre of each portion. Spoon 10 or so quince cubes on one side of the mousse, generously scatter some crumb on the other side, spoon on a big dollop of creme fraiche and serve at once.

PHOTOGRAPHS: MATTHEW HAGUE/THE GUARDIAN. FOOD STYLING: TAMARA VOS. PROP STYLING: ANNA WILKINS. FOOD STYLING ASSISTANT: GEORGIA RUDD. PORTRAIT: NAOMIVANCE

Prep 15 min Cook 40 min Serves 4-6

For the salad
1 medium butternut squash, halved, deseded, peeled and cut into wedges
2 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra for the cavolo nero
1 pinch dried chilli flakes
Sea salt and black pepper
1 roughly 250g bunch cavolo nero Juice of $\frac{1}{2}$ lemon
2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds, or walnuts

For the tapenade
100g black olives, pitted
1 small garlic clove, peeled
1 tsp capers, drained
1 small handful flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp red-wine vinegar
Black pepper

Squash and cavolo nero salad with olive tapenade

This is the sort of dish that works just as well as a light lunch or as part of a larger feast shared with friends. If you like, top the finished salad with some crumbled feta, shaved pecorino or a spoonful of thick yoghurt.

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/gas 7. Put the squash in a large roasting tray with the olive oil and chilli flakes, season generously and toss to coat. Spread out the squash into a single layer, then roast for 30-35 minutes, turning once halfway, until golden and tender.

Meanwhile, strip off and discard the thick stalks from the cavolo nero and tear the leaves into large pieces. Blanch these in salted boiling water for two minutes, then drain and refresh briefly under cold running water. Squeeze dry, put in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice and a little olive oil.

Now make the tapenade. Finely chop the olives, garlic, capers and parsley, either by hand or by pulsing in a food processor, then put them in a medium bowl. Stir in the olive oil and vinegar to form a rough paste, then season lightly with black pepper to taste.

Arrange the cavolo nero on a serving plate and top with the warm roast squash. Spoon over the tapenade, finish with a scattering of toasted pumpkin seeds and serve warm or at room temperature. Dean Parker is head chef and co-owner of Celentano's in Glasgow

Felicity Cloake Masterclass: Key lime pie

Beautiful as the Florida Keys are, with average August temperatures topping 30C and with hurricane season looming, I think I'd rather enjoy their most famous culinary export in the calm of our own more temperate isles (well, usually, at least). Cool and creamy, with a refreshingly sharp, citrus tang, this is the perfect make-ahead dessert for any bank holiday festivities.

2 Break the biscuits into a fine crumb, either in a food processor or with a rolling pin and a clean tea towel

Prep	20 min
Cook	15 min
Chill	3 hr+
Serves	6

For the base 75g butter, or coconut oil, plus extra for greasing 200g digestive biscuits (about 13) 1 pinch salt

For the filling 4-5 limes 4 egg yolks 400g tin condensed milk

For the topping (optional - see steps 8 and 9) 300ml whipping or double cream 1 tbsp icing sugar

3 Melt the fat, then combine with the crushed biscuits and pack into the base and up the sides of a 20cm tart tin

1 A note on the biscuits In the States, this would involve graham crackers, which are sweeter and more crisp than our digestive biscuits. The latter do make a decent substitute, but feel free to swap in any other biscuits you like the idea of with lime (I suspect ginger nuts would be rather good).

2 Start on the pie crust Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/gas 4 and lightly grease a 20cm tart tin - not too shallow a one, ideally, and preferably loose-bottomed if you're planning on taking the pie out of the tin to serve. Crush the biscuits to a fine crumb, either using a food processor or by wrapping them in a clean tea towel and whacking with a rolling pin.

4 Bake the biscuit base at 180C for about 15 minutes, until dry to the touch and a little browned, then cool

8 Serve topped with sweetened whipped cream; or, if you're feeling fancy, with meringue and grill until browned

9 ... or top with meringue If you prefer a meringue topping (and to use up some excess egg whites into the bargain) - for the sweet-toothed only! - whisk two of the egg whites to soft peaks, then beat in 115g sugar a tablespoon at a time, until the mix is glossy and holds its shape. Beat in half a teaspoon of vinegar or lime/lemon juice, then spoon on top the pie. Brown briefly with a blowtorch or under a hot grill before serving.

8 Chill, then top with cream Chill for at least three hours, until set. If you're planning on topping your pie with cream, whisk this and the sugar in a large bowl until the mix holds soft peaks, then dollop on top of the set filling. Garnish with extra slices of lime, if you have them, or some grated lime zest, and serve.

7 Beat the egg yolks and zest Beat the yolks and zest for a couple of minutes with a whisk, electric beaters or a food mixer until the mixture thickens and turns pale green, then stir in the condensed milk. Beat in the lime juice - the mix should be shockingly tangy and sweet; chilling will mute the lime flavour, so add more juice, if you like - then pour the filling into the cooled biscuit shell.

6 Juice the limes Squeeze the juice from the zested limes into a jug until you have about 120ml, straining out any pips as you go. Add the egg yolks to the zest bowl (the whites make a lovely meringue topping, if you're looking for a way to use them up: see step 9 for a suggested recipe to replace the cream).

5 Wash and zest the limes Key limes are a distinct variety of thin-skinned, aromatic citrus that are hard to get outside the Americas. Happily, though not an exact match, this recipe works just as well with standard limes, especially if you use the zest as well as the juice. Scrub the fruit under hot water, then finely grate the zest into a large bowl.

4 Bake, then cool Bake the crust for about 15 minutes, until it's dry to the touch, then take out of the oven and leave to cool (though not mandatory, this step will give a crisper crust that holds together much better upon slicing, so it's worth turning on the oven for).

3 Pack the crust into the tin Melt the fat in a microwave or a small saucepan - butter is the classic choice, but I like the flavour of coconut oil here - then stir into the crumbs with a pinch of salt. Tip into the tin, use your hands to press down the mix into an even crust across the base and up the sides, then press again with the base of a glass.

7 Pour the filling over the cooled biscuit base, then pop in the fridge to chill and set for at least three hours

5 Grate the zest of four limes, then whisk with four egg yolks until thick. Beat in the condensed milk and lime juice

A NEW YOUTUBE SERIES EED WITH JIMI FAMUREWA

Eat your way around the UK's tastiest food trends

Renegade ramen shops in Essex and spice bag specialists in Belfast. Hype-magnet hybrid bakeries in London and American-style sandwich delis in Yorkshire. Follow food journalist and broadcaster Jimi Famurewa as he meets the people and plates shaping the way we eat in a new series. Watch it on YouTube or at the Guardian.

Mina Holland Canned cocktails for grown-ups

As someone whose children recently learned how to crack open a tinnie, this week's tasting was a perilous one. Cans covered in bright, seductive images of parasols, palm trees and their favourite fruit filled the kitchen, and both the seven- and the five-year-old went in for a swig. Premix cocktails are disproportionately marketed to young drinkers - gateway booze, if you will, as Bacardi Breezer pineapple was for me - and often have a one-note, cloying taste. Absolut's passionfruit martini and Malibu's piña colada are cases in point: both have sugary, synthetic fruit flavours that mask the taste of the base spirit. Is it any wonder that, in 2024, Britain had the worst rate of child alcohol consumption in the world? These drinks make it easy to forget you're even drinking alcohol.

Four canned cocktails worth cracking open

Whitebox Cosmo £5 (100ml) Ocado, 16.8%. Vodka, cranberry, lime and triple sec: cosmopolitans are back

Reina Mezcalita £4.99 (200ml) mexgrocer.co.uk, 10%. A smoky, citrussy delight - my favourite of the lot

M&S Served Mojito £3.35 (250ml) Ocado, 8%. Rum, mint, lime. Unlike M&S's cheaper premixes, this has some complexity

Aperol Spritz To Go £3 (250ml) Waitrose, 5%. Inarguably good and utterly dependable. Does what it says on the tin

Perhaps more than any other, today's theme has made me confront the very question of why we drink alcohol. Take me as an example. My Bacardi Breezer years were undoubtedly a question of booze for function; it loosened my teenage inhibitions and I had a laugh. The fact that this so-called alcopop was so saccharine chimed with my childish predilection for sweetness, and conveniently masked the flavour of the rum, which may at the time have offended my uninitiated palate. Twenty-five years on, and my palate is a different place, and I welcome the notes and nuances of a well-mixed drink. I now drink alcohol to savour it, and I like it to give me pause; it doesn't need to be hard work, but I do want it to make me think.

That's not to say there aren't premixes out there that can do this, and I tasted several that I found interesting. The Reina Mezcalita in today's pick, say, is delicious - smoky mezcal meets zippy lime soda - and I'd happily sip it from the can in the park or, even better, from a glass rimmed with Tajin at home.

Whitebox and Moth both produce good iterations of premix drinks (and in reassuringly small, potent formats) and are widely available in supermarkets; they feel a bit more grown up, too, both on the sugar front and because their ABVs skew higher, which you can taste.

Marks & Spencer has the widest own-brand selection, some better than others, but, on the whole, its premium Served range has more character and acidity (a good thing) than you find elsewhere - I enjoyed the mojito and the lychee martini especially. Spritz cocktails, too, work notably well in cans. M&S's limoncello one is a crowdpleaser, while Aperol Spritz To Go is everything you want and need it to be: a failsafe, bittersweet symphony.

The good mixer Bay leaf martini

For the infusion 20g fresh bay leaves 750ml vodka

For the batch serve (to serve 12-13) 400ml bay-infused vodka 100ml dry white vermouth – we use Martini Bianco 150ml chilled filtered water Unpitted green olives, to garnish

We came up with this when we wanted to create some fun, bespoke, easy-to-serve cocktails that we could pre-batch for busy services but that still had an edge. Vodka is a good base for infusions because it's neutral, while martinis are having a moment, so this ended up ticking all our boxes, being something that's recognisable but fun, and also noticeably our own.

First make the infusion by steeping the bay leaves in the vodka for 10-plus days. Fine-strain, ideally through muslin, into a clean bottle, seal and store in the fridge for up to a month (or almost indefinitely in the freezer).

To make the batch serving, pour the bay-infused vodka into a large, clean jug, then add the dry vermouth and filtered water.

To serve, pour 50ml of the mix into chilled mini-martini glasses and garnish each one with an olive. Alex Mammone, general manager, and Matt Beardmore, executive chef, Legare and Luna, both London SE1

Grilled fish for when it's roasting

Free trial

Feast New summer recipes

White peach and blackcurrant splits Kitty Travers 35 min + freeze
Fresh mint semifreddo Matthew Adlard 35 min + infuse + 'freeze
For sumptuous summer cooking, find all your favourite alfresco dishes in one place on the Feast app.

Download the Feast app

Download on the App Store GET IT ON Google Play

Tom Hunt The filter: coleslaw

I find shop-bought coleslaw hard to stomach, because it's sharp, gloopy and often made with poor-quality mayonnaise, spirit vinegar and pungent ingredients such as cabbage, mustard and onion, which are better eaten fresh, otherwise they break down and give off sulphurous aromas. I judged each product in this test on appearance, aroma, texture and, above all, taste, and awarded extra points for value, sustainability and minimal processing.

Preservatives and stabilisers are unnecessary (the better-tasting products don't use them), and often give a slaw an unappealing moussey texture. But I was surprised to find some great products, and most retained a surprisingly satisfying crunch.

PHOTOGRAPH & FOOD STYLING: ROBERT BILLINGTON/THE GUARDIAN

Best overall Waitrose deli-style coleslaw with red onion and chives £1.85 (300g) ★★★★☆ A lovely, crunchy, finely shredded slaw with a creamy, UPF-free sauce. Red onion and chives present, but not dominant. The mayo includes a little whipping cream, free-range egg yolk and UK dairy.

£1.39 (300g), in store only

A veg-heavy, fine-cut cabbage and carrot slaw with a subtle onion twang and a refreshing sauce. A little tart, but arguably that's what you want. Free-range

egg, too. Flavoured with mustard, pimento and turmeric, but also includes a preservative and stabiliser.

Morrisons The Best extra crunchy coleslaw £2 (300g)

A medium-thick, crunchy coleslaw in a rich, free-range egg mayo. Sweet with a mild acidity and a subtle onion flavour. One of the simpler recipes, but it does contain xanthan gum.

Tesco Finest coleslaw £1.40 180g) ★★★☆☆ A thinly shredded slaw that's simple, creamy and crunchy, and has a nice

balance of sweetness and acidity. Onion present, but not overpowering. No cream, but the thick mayo is thickened with citrus fibre, guar gum, xanthan gum and pectin.

£2.40 (300g), Ocado ★★★☆☆

Medium thick-cut slaw with a strong chive and onion flavour. Attractive pink cabbage, and one of the more mayo-heavy contenders. Includes a pinch of soft brown sugar, ground allspice and turmeric, though none is prominent. No gums, but potato starch and citrus fibre are added to stabilise.

Best bargain Aldi Specially Selected rich & indulgent coleslaw £1.29 (300g), in store only

A creamy, chunky coleslaw that's unctuous and moreish. Fresh and crunchy with well balanced sweetness and acidity. Cabbagey with a little carrot and a subtle onion, and a relatively simple mayo made with guar and xanthan gums.

Asda Exceptional classic coleslaw £1.94 (300g) ★★☆☆☆ A rich, saucy, medium-thin slaw, sweet and crunchy but with a

dominant onion and chive flavour. The mayo, made with xanthan gum and citrus fibre, is a bit moussey, though.

Iceland Luxury coleslaw £2.25 (330g) ★★☆☆☆ Finely shredded crunchy carrots, lots of sweet sauce made creamy by the addition of creme fraiche, and a sharp finish. Contains acetic acid, stabilisers (guar gum, xanthan gum) and a preservative.

Co-op Irresistible deliciously rich coleslaw £2.25 (300g) ★★☆☆☆ A finely shredded slaw with heaps of flavour, a warm dijon undertone, nice acidity from white-wine vinegar and great crunch. Colourful, with pink cabbage, carrot, red onion and chives, but a slightly overcomplicated ingredients list with potassium sorbate, maize starch and xanthan and guar gums.

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference coleslaw £1.50 (180g)
★★☆☆☆
A ribbon-cut, saucy coleslaw made with a splash of single cream. Subtle acidity from lemon juice, but a complex recipe including a preservative, stabilisers, potato starch and citrus fibre.

Kitchen aide How to preserve a glut of summer fruit and veg

What's the best way to preserve late-summer fruit and veg? Jess, by email

Fruit, fruit everywhere, so try fermenting it in honey, says Rachel de Thample, author of The Fermentation Year (out next month). “I’m currently looking at a jar of blackberries, but whole plums would be gorgeous, too,” she says, especially when eaten with cheese, meat or fish; you can also use the syrup like maple syrup or cordial. De Thample packs the fruit into sterilised jars and pours in just enough honey to cover it: “If the fruit has a low acidity, add a spoonful of lemon juice or a splash of cider vinegar as well.” Pop on the lid and leave for a few weeks. “It gets fizzy, but it doesn’t get to that explosive stage, because it has quite a concentrated sugar content. It’ll keep for up to a year at room temperature, but I normally pop it in the fridge after a few weeks.”

Kimchi is another option to keep Jess enjoying summer fruits all year round. “In Korea, apples and pears are traditional, but there’s a kimchi for every season,” says De Thample, who takes a British approach with a courgette, blackcurrant and strawberry number: “You can use up tomatoes in the paste, too.”

If you have plums and damsons, take inspiration from Japanese umeboshi: “That has a high percentage of salt - I use 15% per 100g fruit. Layer the salt and plums in jars and, if it’s really dry, pour over water; otherwise, just crush up a couple of the plums so their juices create a brine with the salt,” De Thample says. The brine can then be used like a plummy soy sauce.

Damsons are also a dream in flavoured liquors, says Kenji Morimoto, regular Feast contributor and author of Ferment: “That’s

a really nice way to capture their flavour - all you need is vodka, the fruit and rock [or granulated] sugar.

Cheong, a Korean form of maceration, will also prolong the goodbyes, Morimoto says. “You want equal parts sugar and fruit, then let that sit, stirring occasionally, and you’ll end up with this candied fruit and a delicious syrup, or just a delicious syrup.” That’s good for glazing tarts and spooning over ice-cream, and in cocktails, as well as for balancing savoury dishes such as stews.

Otherwise, Morimoto would bring “a bite of effervescence and briny tang” to the winter dearth by making lacto-fermented cherry tomatoes, which he stores and uses chopped in grain bowls and salsas, and in savoury sauces.

And there aren't many summer vegetables that won't taste great pickled, though courgettes in a classic sweet vinegar brine should be high on Jess's list. "In many ways, courgettes are better to pickle than cucumbers, because they retain that crunch," Morimoto says, so slice them, salt them, drain them, then add the brine. "You can then take the courgettes in any flavour direction you fancy: mustard seeds, fennel seeds and celery seeds; soy sauce, ginger and garlic; dill and allspice."

Whichever route you go down is sure to get you out of a pickle.
Anna Berrill
Got a culinary dilemma?
Email feast@theguardian.com

Waste not ... Brown bananas Tom Hunt

With two young kids, we get through a lot of bananas in our house. Perhaps surprisingly, though, most of them are frozen: our daughters eat them straight from the freezer most nights, with frozen berries and yoghurt, for pudding. We normally order a stack of bananas every Saturday, and they inevitably start to turn brown before the end of the week. At this point, we peel, slice and freeze them for the children's evening yoghurt, but sometimes, when we have a proper excess, I turn them into an incredibly satisfying "ice-cream". Its silky-smooth texture hits the spot, and satisfies ice-cream cravings without recourse to added sugar or excessive fat. The trick is to freeze the fruit in a single layer on a flat tray, so it doesn't form one big mass, then put in a container to enjoy as and when.

Brown banana “ice-cream” Peel and chop the bananas into 2cm-thick slices (this makes them easier to blend later), then spread out on a tray and freeze for at least five hours. Once frozen, store in a sealed container in the freezer.

To make the ice-cream, weigh the amount of banana you've taken out, then add half its weight in liquids - ie, water, yoghurt, milk or a plant-based alternative. Transfer to a jug blender and blitz smooth (not for too long, though, or the fruit will melt too much; stir, if need be, to help achieve an even blend). Serve at once as it is, or leave to soften like a soft serve, or freeze for an hour or more for a firmer, scoopable texture. Add any toppings of your choice, be that chopped nuts, coconut flakes or grated chocolate.

Rachel Roddy Tales from an Italian kitchen

Summer minestrone with pesto Now that I am an accomplished sourdough maker, soon to start my own micro-bakery and YouTube channel ...

Only joking! Now that I can make half-decent, variable loaves of sourdough, I have become more aware of how the temperature in the kitchen affects food. Not that I was completely unaware, of course - I have curdled enough milk and neglected enough eggs - but feeding, then watching the sourdough starter in a jar, and then the dough itself, seeing how the process takes hours in winter, speeds up in spring, then takes on a foaming, bubbling and at times terrifying life of its own in summer - these are all lessons in living microorganisms and fermentation.

It is a shame, then, that I didn't give the same attention to the pan of summer minestrone I had felt so pleased with myself for cooking, cutting the courgettes carefully so they looked like Trivial Pursuit scoring wedges, while drinking tea and listening for the bottle bank lorry to drop the glass into its box, and before the sun (or anyone else) was up. Even though the combined taste of minestrone and milky Yorkshire tea is interesting, I knew it had turned out particularly well. I put on the lid, left the pan at the back of the stove and went out.

It must have been 11am by the time I got back home, with a plant of basil quietly suffocating behind its plastic cone. The kitchen was already hot and the minestrone was only slightly, but unequivocally, fizzy.

A spoonful of pesto did not balance it out, either - but please don't let my neglect put you off making this abundantly fresh-green and creamy-white courgette, green and white bean minestrone, inspired by three recipes in Laura Rangoni's Profumi e Sapori di Liguria.

In a heavy-based pan or casserole dish, heat five tablespoons of olive oil, then fry a peeled and diced onion, a diced stick of celery, a handful of flat-leaf parsley stems, which you have minced (save the leaves for later), and a pinch of salt, stirring often, until the vegetables are pale and soft - about eight minutes.

Add six quartered cherry tomatoes, stir for a minute or two, then add: two large courgettes,

Create a stir: the last-minute addition of pesto to a minestrone gives the soup a final seasoning and a heady perfume

which have been cut into quarters lengthways then into quarter-moons; 200g green beans cut into 2½m lengths; and a large potato, peeled and cut into cubes. Stir to prevent sticking and so that everything glistens with oil, then add one and a half litres of water and a parmesan rind (if you have one). Raise the heat so the soup almost boils, then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, make the pesto. In a blender (or mortar), pulse (or pound) a garlic clove, 20g pine nuts or almonds, and a pinch of salt, until they form a rough paste. Add 50g flat-leaf parsley and basil leaves, then pulse/pound again until creamy. Add 50g pecorino, grana or parmesan and 100ml olive oil, and pulse again or stir in by hand.

In the last 10 minutes of the minestrone's cooking time, add two $400\mathrm{g}$ drained tins of white beans, and stir. The consistency should be dense but not without some broth, so add a little more water and salt if necessary.

If you are eating the minestrone straight away, leave it to sit for 10 minutes before serving. If you have prepared the minestrone in advance, not only will it sit for hours, but resting improves the flavour and texture.

That said, learn from my mistake: if you are experiencing hot weather and the rest is longer than an hour, that rest needs to take place in a cool spot, or in the fridge to avoid a spoiled, fizzy soup. The minestrone can then be reheated gently until warm rather than hot.

To serve, ladle the minestrone into wide bowls, pass around a bowl of pesto so everyone can add the amount they want, then swirl in at the last-minute for a burst of deep seasoning and green perfume.

Grace Dent 'Structured and very chic bedlam'

PHOTOGRAPHS: BECA B JONES/THE GUARDIAN:

A Turkish-Cypriot meyhane, which translates roughly as “wine house”, has slotted in upstairs at the Globe Tavern in Borough Market, south London. Any cab driver worth his salt will bend your ear over the fact that this is “where Bridget Jones lives”, which might be a bit confusing if you’ve booked in to eat kuzu şiş (lamb neck kebabs) and to knock back a couple of rakis with a fermented turnip juice chaser.

That Bridget Jones trivia, by the way, is completely true: the upstairs space at the Globe was used as the heroine's gaff in that famous film franchise. Now, however, when you climb the staircase to Kismet, an old, slightly eerie and flickering TV by the restaurant entrance begins to tell a very different tale. This is chef Keiran Mustafa's very personal tribute to his family's homeland and the community they built in London. Mustafa was the opening head chef at BiBi, to my mind one of the best restaurants in London, and before that he worked at industry stalwarts Chez Bruce and the Harwood Arms.

Mustafa's partner in this new venture is Dom Hamdy, the smart-cookie restaurateur behind Crispin, Bistro Freddie and Canal. The result is structured and very chic bedlam that's lovable and edgy

Kismet

The Globe Tavern, 8 Bedale Street, London SE1 (kismet. london; no phone). Open lunch Weds-Sun noon-2.30pm (3pm Sun); dinner Tues-Sat 5-10pm (9.30pm Tues & Weds). From about £40 a head à la carte, plus drinks and service

in equal measure. On a midweek lunchtime not long after opening, chaotic Turkish jazz gives way to Turkish techno on the speakers as the grill in the open kitchen roars and glasses of Karmen's Diren white wine at £8 a pop slide down rather too easily. Mustafa tells us that our table is where the weekly live music sets up. I haven't sat that close to a PA since I was on a cross-channel ferry eating chips beside the bingo caller, and I'm sure that Kismet in full swing will be just as choppy.

The dining space is split into two rooms, all dark wood and white tablecloths, with lace over the windows and walls the colour of a 70-a-day Rothmans smoker's lounge. Those walls are also festooned with Mustafa's childhood photos, including one of his mum as a waitress in a long-gone restaurant.

The menu, meanwhile, is soothing, filling and hearty, with all manner of Turkish favourites. There's girit ezme, or white cheese with walnut, dill and mint, and sigara boregi (feta rolled up in yufka pastry and deep-fried). There's a grill, too, of course, blasting out the fragrant smells of beef and lamb köfte and tavuk şiş (chicken

thigh kebab). The cooking leans heavily, if not decadently, on lashings of strained yoghurt, chilli butter, good olive oil and tahini - six of the nine cold meze are built on one or other of them. But don't expect a great deal of spicy heat because this is more about comfort and coddling. Kick back with a basket of warm, pillowy bread that's begging to be pulled through some atom (strained yoghurt) in a red pool of chilli butter. In fact, that very humble-sounding atom with bread might well be one of the best things being served anywhere in Borough Market right now. I ate two whole baskets to myself, which finally killed off my ambition to be Victoria's Secret's most elderly thong model. Damn it, give me warm carbs.

We ate monkfish straight off the mangal, which at £30 is the most expensive dish on the menu (the meze start at £6). To begin with, I was concerned that we'd never finish it, but no, it's properly great: expertly grilled, succulent, and served on yet more yoghurt and chilli butter. The lamb neck kuzu şiş was likewise incredibly juicy, and we ate it with hand-cut fried potatoes that were unmistakably shallow-fried - proper

'We asked for the bill without an ounce of regret for our overindulgence': Kismet's 'incredibly juicy' lamb neck kebab (above) comes with onion salad and a grilled pepper, while the warm bread 'is just begging to be pulled through the atom (strained yoghurt) and chilli butter dip' (left, below)

staying-at-your-gran's-house chips. Braised green beans were soft but fibrous, beautifully seasoned and the sort of beans that make you want to sell your house and move to the sun whenever you're on holiday. A £14 plate of fried liver with onion salad lent some iron to proceedings, with a side of velvety and not-remotely bitter braised swiss chard.

Over tiny glasses of tea and glossy, teeth-chatteringly sweet pistachio baklava, we picked at a pistachio ice-cream that was much, much less sweet than the pastries, and therefore balanced them beautifully. You must order both, and we asked for the bill without an ounce of regret for our overindulgence.

Kismet will not make my confused definition of a meyhane any easier, nor will the Turkish-Cypriot community be in full agreement over whether it's at all like one in Istanbul, either. What's undeniable, however, is that Mustafa and Hamdy have come up with something that's unique in its own right: the first genuinely cool, weird thing to have happened in Borough for ages. They're only signed up to be here for a year, so go before that telly gets turned off.

Good food for all of us

THE 25 BEST SHOWS TO WATCH THIS AUTUMN

WHAT'S ON

Harry Potter

Here is all the most magical TV to watch this autumn - from the return of Harry Potter to Nigella as the queen of Bake Off, plus comedy from the Alan Partridge crew, new shows from Sharon Horgan and David Attenborough - and the return of a certain Celebrity Traitors. Prepare to be hooked! By Kate Abbott and Stuart Heritage

They'll put a spell on you

The Split Up

Last Seen

Apple TV, 9 September Colin from Accounts' Patrick Brammall is back and totally changing tack with this intense drama about a one-time cop whose young daughter Mags disappeared more than a decade ago. When the remains of a young girl are found nearby, Ian Ridley (Brammall) is first on the scene - and his former colleagues in the police force know there's nothing they can do to stop him from doing some digging. But the truth about the victim is far murkier. A twisty six-parter that will keep you guessing.

Slow Horses

Apple TV, 16 September Jackson's Joes are being picked off one by one - and everyone who has ever worked at Slough House has been wiped from the system at MI5 HQ the Park, so no one will even know they're goners. The sixth season of the smash-hit drama about supposedly second-rate spies kicks off with a horrifying fire in a shipping container and a very violent funeral, and only ramps up from there. The usual suspects, from Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas to Jack Lowden, are still at it. Plus, the brilliant Lenny Rush joins the cast - and turns out to be a dab hand at spycraft.

Youth

HBO Max, 20 September "Has any man ever said: 'Have you met my girlfriend? She's sexy, she's fun, she's 60.' I need to meet someone now. I think I've got 10 years left as a sexual person, tops." Sharon Horgan's new comedy is as scabrous and hilarious as always. Things aren't going great for Alex (played by Horgan herself): her body is failing her, her son Ruari is veering off the rails (mooning at his school graduation) and her ex is moving abroad, leaving her even more of a single parent. Let's hope she's able to spice things up with some "new dick energy".

The Great British Bake Off

Channel 4, September

Chalmer 4, September Stale no more! Bake Off has been in serious need of a revamp for a while now - and who better to zhuzh it up than the queen of sass herself, Nigella Lawson. The grande dame of spoon-licking cookery TV joins as the new judge. Expect to be whisked away by her charm, withering putdowns and (fingers crossed) fantastic repartee with Paul Hollywood.

Kill Jackie

Prime Video, 2 October Well, this one looks bonkers. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a former international cocaine dealer who has spent 20 years hiding in plain sight as an ostentatiously wealthy art dealer. But her cover

is blown when she discovers that a group of elite assassins called the Seven Demons has been hired to kill her. Needless to say, she tries to kill them first.

Last One Laughing Halloween special

Prime Video, 23 October Last One Laughing is such an ingenious money-maker - a whole series spun out from putting some comedians in a room for less than a day! - that we were always going to get more of it. This Halloween special features Jack Dee, Phil Wang, Reece Shearsmith, Harriet Dyer and Tom Allen, alongside the returning Lou Sanders and Daisy May Cooper, and there's an intriguing new rule: competitors will be punished not just for laughing, but also for screaming.

Nocturne

Apple TV, 30 October Rowan Joffé has long been a writer worth paying attention to, most recently for Edward Berger's film Ballad of a Small Player. Nocturne sounds like it might cement his reputation once and for all. A drama about a homicide cop who relocates to Pennsylvania and finds himself having to deal with a serial killer, it stars Liev Schreiber and Zazie Beetz. Best of all, Stephen Graham plays the serial killer. Entertaining grisliness should ensue.

Blade Runner 2099

Prime Video, 25 November After two dazzling big-screen outings comes the inevitable TV adaptation. Set 80 years after the original, and 50 since the sequel, Blade Runner 2099 revolves round the aftermath of a Replicant uprising. Michelle Yeoh plays a dying Replicant Blade Runner. Hunter Schafer plays a human pretending to be a replicant. The amount of money thrown at this thing must be staggering, not least because the production design looks gorgeous. A must-see.

Rivals

Disney+, November

Where can TV's most rollicking bonkfest possibly go after part one of this second series ended harrowingly in the 1987 hurricane - and denied us the queer epiphany we'd all been waiting for? As we return to Rutshire, will Lizzie actually leave her abominable husband? Will Declan find out his wife Maud slept with his sworn enemy? Will Taggie ever move on from Rupert Campbell-Black? Expect sex, more sex, some gleefully evil regional TV wars and at least one funeral.

Harry Potter

HBO Max, Christmas Day Both anticipation and trepidation are high for the small-screen version of JK Rowling's wizarding classic. Security has had to be ramped up on set because of intense heat on stars such as Paapa Essiedu (who plays Severus Snape) and John Lithgow (Albus Dumbledore), and there have been calls for actors to quit the project. But the first teaser looks truly epic - and child actors have upped their game since the movies.

70 Up

ITV1, TBC

One of the most seminal documentaries ever made finally concludes. Since 1964, the Up series has followed the lives of several perfectly normal people at increments of seven years. Through the decades, the participants have fallen in love and endured hardships, and now they are almost at the end of the road. The final chapter - directed by Asif Kapadia after the death of Michael Apted - is bound to be poignant.

Apocalypse

Channel 4, TBC

A reality show/social experiment in which 16 participants/foolish guinea pigs are dropped in an actual ghost town in the US to see if they could survive the end of days. There will be no electricity or water or any mod cons, and they will be stuck there for a month. Think The Road for the influencer age. Sure to be utterly bananas.

Big Swiss

HBO Max, TBC

Jen Beagin's 2023 novel has all the hallmarks of a television adaptation - it's full of rich people with good taste, almost all of whom have endured some form of terrible trauma - and so it has come to pass. Jodie Comer will star as Flavia, a woman in a sexually unfulfilling marriage who embarks on an affair with a woman she meets at the dog park. However (possible spoiler, although probably not), the woman is secretly employed as her sex therapist's transcriber. It is a dynamic that cannot possibly hold.

Blue Lights

BBC One, TBC

The Bafta-winning show about the “peelers” of Blackthorn police station in Belfast always sets out its stall with a stunning set piece in the opener. Season four is no exception, as police are called to a gathering at a migrant centre where multiple far-right groups are converging and ready to attack. Somehow it gets even more gripping and politically on point every time.

Blue Planet III

BBC One, TBC

It was announced on David Attenborough's 100th birthday that he would be back to narrate the final part of this world-changing trilogy - and we got a sneak peek

Maya

of him in his home studio intoning about the mating rituals of a whale. Given that this follows his stunning feature-length film on the urgency of protecting our oceans to ensure human survival, and that it might well be the last time we hear his honeyed tones adorn something new, this will be totally unmissable.

The Celebrity Traitors

BBC One, TBC

We didn't think it was possible to trump the first lineup of celebrities entering the castle with Claudia - but this year's casting may just have done it. With superstar luvvies such as Jerry Hall, Richard E Grant and Michael Sheen, double act Rob and Romesh pitted against each other and some tantalising curveballs - what will Ross Kemp, Myha'la and Bella Ramsey possibly chat about? - it's sure to be another winner.

I Am Helen

Channel 4, TBC

Dominic Savage's semi-improvised I Am ... series has drawn some of the best female performers to its flame since it began, including Vicky McClure, Samantha Morton, Lesley Manville and Kate Winslet. Now it is the turn of Nicola Coughlan who (in a break from tradition) is starring in a two-part story. I Am Helen will explore themes of control and toxic masculinity in the setting of a modern relationship. Early reports suggest that it will deal heavily in the manosphere. If it manages to broach this as well as Adolescence did, it might be essential viewing.

It Gets Worse

Channel 4, TBC

A fresh comedy from Leo Reich, whose debut Edinburgh fringe show Literally Who Cares?! was such a barnstorming success that it immediately got picked up by HBO Max. It Gets Worse is a look at three young mates in London who are on the verge of getting evicted. But what's really staggering here is the sheer number of A-listers who have signed on - from Andrew "hot priest" Scott to Lena Dunham. This should be special.

Maya

Channel 4, TBC

Daisy Haggard's writing is always dark and very funny, and her new witness protection thriller Maya is no exception. Anna (Haggard) and her daughter Maya (Bella Ramsey, as wonderful and unrestrained as ever) are forced to leave their home with no notice and move to the back of beyond in Scotland to escape her abusive ex (played by a chilling Tobias Menzies). It's a moving look at survival and hope, with cliffhangers galore and gags about Frazzles crisps. What's not to love?

Pierre

Channel 4, TBC

Finally, David Harewood gets the starring vehicle he deserves. In Pierre, he plays a London duty solicitor described as “charming and funny, a glamorous character in an unglamorous profession”. However, he is forced to step up when he realises that the death of one of his clients might have been the result of a vast institutional cover-up. Pierre sounds like old-school television at its best; a show with something to say, and the smarts to wrap it in an irresistible character.

Pride and Prejudice

Netflix, TBC

"Miss Elizabeth Bennet? I'm all astonishment!" There's long-awaited, and then there's Dolly Alderton's update of Pride and Prejudice, which comes with sky-high expectations. Thankfully, Olivia Colman is downright

Blade Runner 2099 hilarious as the busybody Mrs Bennet, determined to marry off one of her five daughters to the swanky neighbour who just moved in next door. Emma Corrin stars as Elizabeth and Jack Lowden is heralding himself as the first “ginger” Mr Darcy. We’re promised even more spark than the Colin Firth classic from the 90s - though there will be no lake scene.

I Am Helen

The Reluctant Vampire

BBC One, TBC

"You don't pick up being a vampire ... it's not conversational French!" Valentine hates drinking blood, has no truck with violence and - horror of horrors - he has a reflection. But his vampire family still don't know he's actually a human. This BBC comedy from the Gibbons brothers (renowned for keeping Alan Partridge alive), based on a book by Eric Morecambe, has a high gag rate and a cracking cast. It includes Lenny Rush as the titular non-vamp, Sian Clifford and Tom Davis as his parents, Asim Chaudhry as Igon the family assistant and Bill Bailey and Ross Noble as a hilarious pair of gargoyles.

The Split Up

BBC One, TBC

Over its three series (and Christmas special), Abi Morgan's divorce drama The Split became one of the highlights of the annual schedule. Rather than ending, it has now morphed into The Split Up. This is a new, Manchester-set series about a powerful family struggling to decide who should inherit its prestigious divorce firm. Morgan is just executive producing this one, handing the reins to Ursula Rani Sarma. Ritu Arya, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Aysha Kala and Arian Nik star.

Time

BBC One, TBC

Jimmy McGovern's prison anthology has so far been absolutely gripping. And now, following runs led by Sean Bean and Jodie Whittaker, David Tennant gets a turn at the wheel. This story is set at a young offenders institution, and Tennant plays a custodial manager

concealing knowledge about a serious incident. As connective tissue, Siobhan Finneran returns as prison chaplain Marie-Louise O'Dell, now undergoing a crisis of faith, who clashes with Tennant over it.

Yaga

Sky, TBC

AKA what Heated Rivalry heart- throb Hudson Williams did next. He stars alongside Carrie-Anne Moss and Noah Reid in a raunchy and ritualistic take on the terrifying folklore tale of Baba Yaga. It should fall somewhere between Jodie Foster's True Detective: Night Country and a wildly freewheeling fairytale.

WHAT'S ON Television

Pick of the week Stolen Babies Wednesday, 9pm, BBC Two

Anne in Wales was sent away by her parents when she became pregnant after being raped (“I didn’t blame them, I blamed myself”). Joan in Sunderland wasn’t given anything for pain during labour as a reminder to not be a “bad girl” again. They tell their stories in this blood-boiling documentary, along with more women who were unmarried, pregnant and sent to so-called “mother and baby homes” between 1949 and 1976. People who worked in those places also speak, as do some of the grownup children who were adopted by mostly white, middle-class families. It brings their fight up to date as they demand an apology from the state. Remarkably, there are some joyful moments to hang on for. Hollie Richardson

Saturday

Pick of the day Celebrating James Bond at the Proms 7pm, BBC Two

Shake up a martini for this one! The next 007 should be confirmed by the end of the year, but in the meantime it's Nick Mohammed who has a licence to thrill with a night of Bond classics. You Only Live Twice, Nobody Does It Better and Diamonds Are Forever should all be on the bill, conducted by Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser with some top-secret guest singers. HR

Alan Carr's Celebrity Picture Slam 6.20pm, BBC One

Snaps, cackles and pop (stars): the zippy visual guess-'em-up gets a special charity edition featuring soap veterans (Charlie Brooks and Sue Cleaver), radio presenters (Richie Anderson and Jason Mohammed) and former chart-toppers (Kélé Bryan and Lee Latchford-Evans). Which duo will prevail? Graeme Virtue

Sandi Toksvig's Hidden Wonders 7pm, Channel 4

Surprisingly, Sandi Toksvig has never visited Hadrian's Wall. She puts that right in this episode of the enjoyable archaeology series. While she's in Northumberland, she ponders the lives of the soldiers guarding this outpost of the Roman empire and cleans a boot found in one of Vindolanda fort's defensive ditches. Phil Harrison

Hamza: African Birds of Prey, Sun

Trigger Point, Sun

Ghosts US

8.35pm, BBC Three

It may not be as adorable as the British original but, five seasons in, the US sitcom remake is still a vehicle for smart plots and quick gags. This week's triple bill includes an unseasonal two-part Christmas special. Before that, the visit of an obsessive history podcaster causes undead jazz singer Alberta (Danielle Pinnock) to reveal more of her life story. Jack Seale

Wham! 10 Days in China 9pm, BBC Two

In both cultural and political terms, it's hard to articulate exactly how much of an outlier George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley's 1985 trip to China really was. This fun and fascinating film tells the inside story, putting the tour into its sometimes fraught cold war context while also offering a charming insight into the friendship between the duo. PH

Kabul

9pm, BBC Four

These are the final episodes of this superb, albeit apocalyptically bleak series, and the consequences of the false promises made by the western allies are fully playing out on the ground. Gilles' humanitarian efforts are facing Taliban hostility and American indifference. Meanwhile, Zahara looks to have escaped but soon faces an impossible choice. Harrowing. PH

Sunday

Pick of the day

Hamza: African Birds of Prey 7pm, BBC One

“I’m like a kid who’s just been shown their Christmas present!” It’s always a delight to see Hamza Yassin in the wild. He starts this new series about incredible but endangered birds in Kenya, where the martial eagle - huge yellow eyes, terrifying talons, thighs of steel - blows him away. Then, he makes a case for why we should love vultures more, and somehow pulls it off. HR

Modern Classics at the Proms 8pm, BBC Four

Curated by Guardian columnist Tom Service, here is an exciting collection of new music at this year's Proms to make note of. As well as three world premieres, expect a captivating bassoon concerto, and chats with the big names of tomorrow, plus composers Thomas Adès and Gabriela Ortiz. HR

Vigil

9pm, BBC One

DCI Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) is off the hook as this twisty cop drama returns. She's now shacked up with DI Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) and it's Longacre who has been selected to investigate a diplomatically sensitive murder in the Arctic. However, as events spiral, Silva might be forced to abandon her supervisory role and get involved. PH

Trigger Point

9pm, ITV1

The magnificent Vicky McClure returns as flinty explosives officer Lana “Wash” Washington for a fourth series of this slick bomb disposal thriller. Judging by Wash’s fraught therapy sessions, her high-stress job is taking its toll. But when a C4-laden truck starts rolling toward central London, she dives into peril without hesitation. GV

The Terror: Devil in Silver 9pm, Sky Atlantic

The horror of this drama lies in the knowledge that, while the dysfunction of the mental institution is real, so is the distress and confusion of the inmates. The paranoia experienced by Pepper and Coffee is manifesting in ever more outlandish theories - another excuse for the fiendish Dr Walter to intervene again. PH

Love Cheats

10.15pm, Channel 4

10.13pm, Channer4 The fallout from Australian EDM DJ Olivia Nervo's relationship with businessman Matthew Pringle travelled as far as the Houses of Parliament as it was seen as a possible example of reproductive coercion. The second series of this documentary about romantic fraud and manipulation explores the case in all of its grimness. PH

Monday

Pick of the day Tea With Judi Dench Featuring Sir Ian McKellen

9pm, Sky Arts

Judi and her potty-mouthed parrot Sweetheart invite Ian McKellen over in the return of this charming show. Ian reminds her of when they first met, performing a play in 1967, and how Judi saved him from stage fright. From there on in it's a warm, naughty hour as they share anecdotes about Ann Summers knickers, ponder the future (Judi's eyesight is now very bad) and watch a clip of cinema flop Cats: "I was frightful in the film," says Judi. Pure gold with two icons. HR

Millionaire Hot Seat

7.30pm, ITV1

The new season of the accelerated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? opens with six new hopefuls (sadly there's no coughing major). The tighter format means that contestants don't have time to doubt themselves as they ascend up the Money Ladder. And if they get a multi-choice question wrong, they will be eliminated. Priya Elan

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

8pm, BBC One

Rebus star Richard Rankin narrates the annual bonanza at Edinburgh Castle, which takes on the theme A Call to Gather. Expect highland dancers, a ceremonial performance from the RAF's King's Colour Squadron, international music and, of course, lots of bagpipes. HR

Fred's Ultimate Hotels 8pm, Channel 4

Fred Sirieix embarks on a luxurious new travel series, starting in Marrakech. He checks into - and has a go at being the general manager of - the exclusive Royal Mansour hotel, where the personal service is impeccable and the hammams are opulent. Then he leaves the site to check out some souks and fly in a hot-air balloon. JS

My Life Is Murder 8pm, U&Alibi

A lawyer is killed at an elite pub quiz, which calls for investigator Alexa Crow and sidekick Madison to - you've guessed it - go undercover and schmooze with the wealthy suspects. They're a competitive bunch with a lot of

Tea With Judi Dench Featuring Sir Ian McKellen, Mon
history behind them, so the pair have got their work cut out before the night is over. HR

24 Hours in A&E 9pm, Channel 4

There's some brilliant detective work in Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham. Claire has arrived in the unit after collapsing during a run. Her case seems straightforward but doctor David has noticed something very troubling in the results of a routine blood test. As ever, impressive and affirming. PH

Tuesday

Pick of the day The Jury: 14 and on Trial for Murder 9pm, Channel 4

With trial by jury under threat, this is a timely moment for the return of this gripping series which reruns an actual criminal trial and follows the 12 jury members as they reach their verdict. This time, the case of brothers - one of whom is only 14 years old - accused of killing their stepfather causes instant polarisation. Debates around nature and nurture and punishment for its own sake emerge straight away. PH

Race Against the Tide 7.30pm, BBC Two

This good vibes sand-sculpting contest should really be called the Great British Scrape Off. With no eliminations last time, the six teams gather in St Andrews to tackle their latest challenge: smoothing a beach into something that evokes the beauty and motion of the ocean. GV

The Great British Sewing Bee 8pm, BBC One

A deerstalker fit for Sherlock Holmes. An outfit for a grownup Matilda made out of old school uniforms. A made-to-measure Regency dress inspired by the world of Jane Austen. It can only be literary icons week in the sewing competition. Who will make it to the next chapter? HR

Celebrity MasterChef 9pm, BBC One

This week, the competitors include plum-voiced pranker Max Fosh, who does lots of unintentional Partridge (“Bosh!”); Una from the Saturdays, who likes to talk about potatoes; and Paralympian Lauren Steadman, who says she forces everyone she cooks for to give her marks out of 10 for the food. Sounds relaxing. PE

The Game

9pm, Channel 5 The excellent Jason Watkins returns as embattled former detective

Huw Miller in the second series of this somewhat hysterical thriller. Huw and his wife Alice have retired to a remote coastal home but, inevitably, the past hasn't left them behind as letters start to arrive from Robson Green's imprisoned serial killer Patrick Harbottle. PH

Little Bird

9pm, Sky Atlantic

It's the concluding double bill of this deeply moving drama about the Sixties Scoop in Canada, when Indigenous children were taken from their families. After reuniting with her twin brother, Esther/Bezhig receives tragic news in the finale - and it brings the Birds back together after so many years. HR

Wednesday

Pick of the day 9/11: Days That Shocked the World 10pm, Channel 4

It is the 25th anniversary of one of this century's defining geopolitical events and this two-part documentary offers a straightforward but still striking commemoration of that terrible day. It hears from rescue workers, witnesses and survivors of the attack on New York but also explores the assault on the Pentagon and the fate of the fourth airliner, which crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The horror still startles but so does the courage of many of the initial responses. PH

Surviving Earth 8pm, Sky One

Two mating dinosaurs in Antarctica take the spotlight in this week's episode. How long before their time runs out and they feel the ripple effects from the seven-and-a-half-mile-long asteroid that has just landed in Mexico? Your enjoyment will very much depend on how much of the uncanny CGI you can stomach. PE

Bookish

8pm, U&Alibi

A suspicious death at a tailor's emporium is the latest two-part whodunnit for Mark Gatiss's tweedy postwar sleuth Gabriel Book. But why is the 75-year-old proprietor so keen to confess to murder? Meanwhile, Book's rascally apprentice Jack (Connor Finch) just happens to have acquired a snazzy new suit ... GV

Professor T

9pm, ITV1

After school inspector Tyrone Walsh is found murdered after a spate of burglaries, Professor T and co explore the possible motives: was Walsh's “cultural bias against alternative education” a factor in his murder? Meanwhile, Miss Snares investigates whether or not Dean is Jasper’s biological father. Ali Catterall

Reading Festival Highlights 2026 10.40pm, BBC One

The edited highlights of a star-studded and presumably quite messy weekend of music in a field just outside Reading. This year, the festival saw performances from Chase & Status, Dave, Florence + the Machine, Raye and, both touting excellent new material, Fontaines DC and Charli xcx. PH

Thursday

Pick of the day Taskmaster 9pm, Channel 4

Taskmaster is often funnier when one contestant has stagey contempt for the whole project. Step forward Richard Ayoade, who makes his intention to do the bare minimum very clear in this opener. A mere 22 seasons in, the show remains an effortlessly enjoyable way to spend an hour - the other comics making up the cohort are Chloe Petts, Isy Suttie, Nina Conti and Matt Lucas. PH

Renovation Rescue 8pm, Channel 4

This latest variation on the home improvement show continues with more renovation wrongs being righted by Vogue Williams and Luke Mabbott. They're in Nottingham, where they learn from Sylvia and Dave that even minimalist designs can go wrong. Worse still, Sylvia has been diagnosed with a serious health issue. PH

The Yorkshire Vet

Who knew bulls could get sunburn? Clearly, as the UK's temperature

Taskmaster, Thu
Live from the Lycett Arms, Fri

soars, nothing is off the table. The latest episode of this cheerfully entertaining series sees Shona Searson looking after a breeding animal who has forgotten to slap on the suncream. Meanwhile, Julian Norton is wary when a 12ft Burmese python arrives at the practice. PH

A House Through Time 9pm, BBC Two

David Olusoga wraps up the history of this beautiful Georgian home in Edinburgh from the 1930s through to the present day. Current residents Morag and Henrietta are delighted to hear it was once “a house of ill fame”, but there’s sadness as Olusoga traces the poverty and war, then the threat of demolition in the 1960s. Hannah Verdier

Fightland

9pm, Sky Atlantic

The pulp boxing/gangland thriller continues, with Duke (Howard Charles) in a tighter spot than ever, since his promoter/ drug dealer nemesis Kingsley (Nicholas Pinnock) has proved elusive. As he hurtles towards a potentially disastrous meeting with some tough Russians, drastic action is required. JS

Hit Point

9pm, U&Dave

The gritty west Lahndaan crime thriller continues as the two fugitives do a runner with the missing millions, while their dangerous rivals (including Peter Serafinowicz in a cuddly hat) close in to claim their share. Elsewhere, framed, innocent Kieran threatens to spill the beans, putting Leo's double life in jeopardy. What's a bent cop meant to do? AC

Friday

Pick of the day Live from the Lycett Arms 10pm, Channel 4

In a bid to celebrate and save pubs, Joe Lycett is opening an East End boozer. The goings-on inside the Lycett Arms will be broadcast live for an hour every Friday, as the new landlord welcomes celebrity managers and guests, as well as some familiar punters. This could go anywhere and it probably will - after all, Lycett has got a licence to serve alcohol since he completed training and an exam for it. Let the chaos begin! HR

Marin Alsop's Pick of the Proms 7pm, BBC Four

The American maestro - who was infamously namechecked in Cate Blanchett's Tár- talks about being the first female conductor who led the Last Night of the Proms in 2013 and discusses her favourite moment of this season: pianist Yunchan Lim's opening-night performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto. PE

You're Killing Me 8pm, U&Drama

Another fun murder mystery to solve with boomer Allie (Brooke Shields) and gen Z Andi (Amalia Williamson). When a car dealer is found dead in his garden, the crime-solving duo recognise similarities to a murder from Allie's first novel. Will it lead them to the killer? HR

The Marlow Murder Club 9pm, BBC Two

The two-part mystery that began last week concludes. And things are as hair-raising as they ever get in this cosy crime context: there's clearly going to be another murder unless the team can prevent it, so Tanika takes a gamble and recruits a group of civilian advisers. Will they be too late? PH

The Rainmaker 9pm, ITV1

Not just a doppelganger for OG Rainmaker Matt Damon, British actor Milo Callaghan also ably leads this highly watchable US legal drama. This week sees Rudy (Callaghan) discover some unlikely evidence for the wrongful death suit, before a courtroom showdown opposite ex-boss Leo (Mad Men's John Slattery). Hannah J Davies

Grimsburg

12.15am, Sky One

When useless nepo-baby Otis is forced into the, well, force after pressure from the mayor, a horrified Flute (Jon Hamm) concocts a series of ever-extreme schemes to “crush a rich kid’s dreams”. Meanwhile, a cold-ridden Harmony takes too much of Marvin’s “special cough syrup” and conjures up her son’s imaginary skeleton friend, Mr Flesh (Alan Tudyk). AC

WHAT'S ON Streaming

AIR FORCE T. 384 NO. 55 A.F. SERIAL NO. 64-13224

Pick of the week Turning Point: Generation 9/11 Netflix, from Wednesday

At the time, the 9/11 attacks felt like the most significant geopolitical moment of most of our lives. As this wide-ranging documentary shows, that initial impression has largely been confirmed. Twenty-five years later, the events retain their power to shock, but here they're taken as the starting point for an examination of modern America that encompasses gun control, community relations, conspiracy theories, national self-image and much more. It also doesn't forget that there remains personal tragedy, as demonstrated by the moving contribution of the daughter of the co-pilot of United 93, the "fourth plane", which was brought down by passengers and crew before it reached its target. Phil Harrison

Untold: Raygun – Breaking Badly Netflix, from Tuesday

In the social media era, humiliation often happens on a global scale. Take the case of Australian breakdancer Raygun, whose singular routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics prompted worldwide hilarity. This documentary hears from the woman herself, as well as some of her domestic competitors who are, at best, cagey about her abilities – euphemistic adjectives such as “quirky” and “interesting” feature heavily. What emerges is a sympathetic portrait of someone who was arguably overpromoted but also unfortunate enough to have a bad day with the eyes of the world upon them. PH

Diabolical: The Epstein Files

HBO Max, from Thursday

This documentary, made by ABC in Australia, marks the latest attempt to make sense of the vast (yet still frustratingly elusive) scandal that is the Epstein files. Via survivors, legal experts, journalists and politicians (including, intriguingly, former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene), it explores the catalogue of law enforcement failures and institutional dysfunction that allowed this seemingly vast web of moneyed depravity to operate unchecked for so long. Not pleasant viewing but perhaps another step towards a true reckoning. PH

The Gentlemen

Netflix, from Thursday

Guy Ritchie's modus operandi - stylised, cryptically comical, faintly nostalgic gangsterism - hasn't really changed in 30 years. The second season of this slick, superficial romp is business as usual. Theo James's Eddie Horniman, a smart, sexy, hard-as-nails member of the landed gentry, is still very much Ritchie's spirit animal. Eddie's crew are getting involved with Italian mafia types: buffoonish Cico Maldini, who we meet making a fool of himself on a partridge shoot, is the frontman for the much more serious boss, Marco Moretti, who represents big money but big risks too. PH

Chad Powers

Disney+, from Thursday

There are too many sports comedies doing the rounds but this eccentric tale of a disgraced American footballer rebuilding his career via prosthetics is one of the better ones, and is deserving of this second season. Chad's disguise is starting to slip and a few insiders know his secret, including coach Ricky with whom the interpersonal dynamics are complicated. When Chad takes a heavy onfield hit that rearranges his nose, a full unmasking seems possible. Glen Powell's lead performance is a masterpiece of revelation and concealment, and it carries the show. PH

La Mesías

Mubi, from Thursday

This Spanish drama begins with a man working on a film shoot who sees a viral video of a Christian singing group. He's so disturbed that he loses control of his bladder. The man is Enric - he endured a childhood shaped by religious fanaticism, and the group has unlocked something buried deep in his memories. He realises he needs to find his sister to solve the many mysteries of his youth. La Mesías is a thriller of sorts but it's a lyrical, rich and strange one, full of existential confusion, magical realist flourishes and earthy sensuality. PH

The Grand Tour

Prime Video, from Friday

Viewers expecting to see Clarkson, May and Hammond are in for a shock - the latest series of this petrolhead banter-fest introduces a trio of new hosts. YouTubers James Engelsman, Thomas Holland and Francis Bourgeois have taken the wheel, though we begin at Diddley Squat Farm to confirm an amicable passing of the torch. Given such a significant change and with a goofier, dorkier energy on show, fans will be reassured to learn that nothing else is radically different: there's a scary road trip through the Angolan desert, and a cringe encounter with Jenson Button. PH

Audio

Catchup TV

Departure-lounge thrills and skulduggery on the high seas

The Airport Chaplain Netflix ★★★★☆

I doubt the lives of real airport chaplains are anywhere near as frenetic as those of this show's protagonist, Tobias Wallace (Hugo Weaving). The Airport Chaplain wastes no time establishing Tobias as a gallant do-gooder determined to save the day. Trouble arises when Tobias's new boss arrives: terminal manager Mira Ansari-Cole (Shabana Azeez), who has not drunk the pastoral care Kool-Aid. As much as viewers may instinctively side with Tobias, most will surely see some merit in Mira's scepticism, which gives her an increasing desire to show him the door. Narratively, the structure feels scattered but Weaving is the glue binding the show together, exuding a great combination of gravitas and relatability. His presence has real oomph and dynamism. Luke Buckmaster

Rainbow Warrior Sky Documentaries ★★★★☆

This feature-length retelling of the events surrounding the July 1985 sinking of the titular Greenpeace flagship is full of granular recollections, delivered by elderly men with combative facial hair. When Rainbow Warrior chugged into Auckland's Marsden Wharf, it was met with whoops and banners. Its mission? To head to the South Pacific and monitor France's imminent neutron warhead tests. Oh no vous don't, replied the French government, preparing to put paid to the activists' aims with a plan of its own. It's very mid-period Bond, and interviews with French operatives claiming they would've gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those pesky New Zealanders and their hopeless penchant for justice and not blowing people up. Gasp-inducing stuff. Sarah Dempster

The Murder Detective Channel 4 ★★★☆☆

The killing of Lyra McKee, a journalist shot while observing a riot in Derry, Northern Ireland, on 18 April 2019, is a case that remains officially unsolved. The challenge faced by James W Newton in his three-part documentary is to turn an agonisingly unsatisfactory situation into satisfying journalism. He struggles. The programme is made with care and skill, but it is a bleak situation where not many insightful things can be said. Having been granted unprecedented access to a terror-related murder investigation, it concentrates on Jason Murphy, the detective hunting for the killer. More memorable are the scenes with McKee's grieving family but her work as a journalist is only briefly explored. Instead, it watches the police repeatedly bang their heads against the same wall. Jack Seale

Fightland Sky Atlantic/Now ★★☆☆

This is not a series that bursts with originality, passion or technical finesse. Howard Charles is Maduka "Duke" Kilroy, a boxer who, when we meet him, is in Las Vegas winning the world heavyweight championship. Later that evening, Duke is set on by goons, presumably hired by Kingsley Marshall (Nicholas Pinnock), Duke's manager - and London's top drug dealer - after discovering that his boy has double-crossed him. The fracas leaves Duke in prison. On his release, he returns to London, bent on revenge. Fightland wants its violence, sex, bling and bricks of powder, and isn't too fussed how it gets there. Except, it's not interested enough in any of those things. If we're going to do a sex-and-violence caper, let's get properly naughty. A featherweight contender. Jack Seale

Podcasts

Pick of the week

The Mindhunter

Audible, all episodes out now

Dark, drily funny and rather meta, this six-episode podcast manages a rare feat in the true-crime genre. Hosted by author and journalist Francisco Garcia (pictured above) and producer Brenna Daldorph, it explores the strange case of British criminal profiler Paul Harrison. His myriad identities in the world of both crime writing and regional football journalism intrigue Garcia - before a death hoax makes the story even juicier. Hannah J Davies

The Survivor Files With Elizabeth Smart Widely available, episodes weekly Elizabeth Smart - abducted at the age of 14 in Salt Lake City - and her guests show astonishing bravery in this series about overcoming abuse, attacks and kidnap. It begins with two episodes featuring Kara Robinson, whose account of her own abduction at the age of 15 is harrowing but also demonstrates huge inner resilience. HJD

Solita

Widely available, episodes weekly Women's solo travel is having a moment - cue this very fun show from Puerto Rican producer Julie Piñero and iHeart. As Julie joins the locals at a pub in Galway, can she reclaim the Spanish diminutive solita from its connotations of pity? There are also travel tales from the likes of comic Kenice Mobley, on her Parisian sexcapades. HJD

Who Run the World

Widely available, episodes weekly Part of the Listen to Girls initiative at south London's Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, this excellent

series puts 11- to 18-year-olds behind the mic to ask important questions on mental health, violence against women and girls, and more. Their episode with the Met police's Commander Clair Kelland is particularly powerful on concerns such as spiking and stalking. HJD

Black Box: The Chatbots Widely available, episodes weekly from Thursday

Michael Safi (pictured above) returns with the Guardian's hit AI investigation podcast, this time exploring claims that people have “awoken” super intelligence in chatbots. It is an engrossing listen as he speaks with those who believe they have made huge discoveries

- and as a result developed intense paranoia. Hollie Richardson

Radio

Nemone

Mon, 7am, 6 Music

From a small community festival to Europe's largest street gathering, Notting Hill Carnival retains its strong protest roots and indomitable energy as it celebrates its 60th anniversary. 6 Music kicks off its coverage with three hours of Carnival-worthy tunes from Nemone, featuring a guest mix by Ezra Collective saxophonist James Mollison. Other highlights throughout the themed day include “Tub of Dub” with Craig Charles at 1pm, while at 4pm Zakia Sewell has music curated by the indie sleaze evangelist Master Peace. Hannah J Davies

A 9/11 Story

Mon, 1.45pm, Radio 4 A documentary strand that most recently tackled the Lockerbie air disaster now turns to a little-known aspect of the 9/11 attacks. San Diego, early 2000: two young Saudis arrive in the city having never visited the US before, with almost no English and little idea of how to exist in US society. A kindly Arabic-speaking neighbour helps them out. His story is told in parallel with that of mother of three Terry Strada: on 11 September 2001, she receives a terrible phone call. Jack Seale

Beryl Cook: Artist Or Entertainer? Tue, 4pm, Radio 4

It has been 50 years since a painting by Plymouth B&B landlady Beryl Cook appeared on the cover of the Sunday Times Magazine. Her colourful, joyous work quickly became loved by the public - but critics dismissed her as mere whimsy for decades. Art critic Louisa Buck heads to an overdue retrospective at the Box in the city to remember and celebrate the paintings and the woman behind them. Hollie Richardson

What Did the Normans Ever Do for Us?

Thu, 9am, Radio 4

A day dedicated to a piece of embroidery that is pure Radio 4 magic, with a celebration of the Bayeux tapestry (pictured above), which is going on display at the British Museum next week. It starts with Katie Razzall asking how William the Conqueror's victory in 1066 can still be felt today, with later highlights including Today coming live from the museum and Michael Rosen discussing the Norman influence on the English language. Hannah Verdier

WHAT'S ON Film

Pick of the week Harvest Friday, 11.05pm, BBC Two

Athina Rachel Tsangari's adaptation of Jim Crace's novel looks like a homage to 1970s British folk horror films - complete with Wicker Man-style animal masks and rituals. But the evils turns out to be more economic and social than supernatural. In an unnamed rural Scottish village, the diffident Master Kent (Harry Melling) rules benignly over the agricultural workers, including his former servant, the reserved Walter (Caleb Landry Jones). But then Kent's cousin (Frank Dillane) arrives with plans to enclose the common land and raise sheep. The inequities of power, and the way the dispossessed can blame outsiders for their lot, come to the fore in a brooding, earthy tragedy. Simon Wardell

The Whisper Man

Out now, Netflix

This is the first novel by bestselling British crime writer Alex North to be made into a film but, with the Russo brothers producing, it surely won't be the last. The eight-year-old son of widowed author Tom (Adam Scott) has been abducted, in a way reminiscent of serial killer the Whisper Man. However, the murderer was caught years ago by Tom's estranged detective father Peter (Robert De Niro). So is a copycat at work or did Peter arrest the wrong person? Michelle Monaghan co-stars as a new cop on the case in a thriller by up-and-coming director James Ashcroft. SW

Black Panther

Saturday, 8pm, Channel 4 Despite being created in 1966, it took until 2018 for the Marvel comic character of Wakanda's African king T'Challa to reach the big screen. Still, it was worth the wait, as director Ryan Coogler and star Chadwick Boseman delivered a Black superhero with charisma and complexity. The plot, revolving round a challenge for the throne, explores self-determination, colonialism and power politics with a sideline in Bond-style action - globetrotting to Korea, Q-like gadgetry courtesy of Letitia Wright's Princess Shuri, and a helpful CIA agent (Martin Freeman). SW

Lee

Saturday, 9pm, Sky Atlantic Lee Miller's life was one of many great adventures. And it's her later career as a war photographer that director Ellen Kuras and star Kate Winslet focus on in their fierce film. Winslet - in a role she was born to play - is the magnetic, forthright Lee, a woman who won't take no for an answer. When the second world war breaks out, she nabs a job taking pictures for Vogue, and gets herself front and centre for the London blitz, the liberation of Europe and, chillingly, the discovery of the Nazi death camps - snapping away in fury and shock at the inhumanity she sees. SW

The Fifth Element

Monday, 7pm, Sky Sci-Fi

Monday, 7ph, Sky Sci TT Given that the first ever sci-fi film was French (Méliès' A Trip to the Moon), it's a pity there have been so few great ones from that nation since. But Luc Besson's hyperactive 1997 movie is a real contender. Bruce Willis plays a cabbie in 23rd-century New York who finds himself in an end-of-days race against time when he meets the "ultimate warrior", Leeloo (Milla Jovovich), who was created to defeat an evil entity. Featuring costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier, it's got flair and wit to spare. SW

Little Big Man

Wednesday, 11.45am, 5Action Arthur Penn's revisionist western about the “sole white survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn” may have Dustin Hoffman as its hero, but it is the Native Americans he meets, befriends and lives with who are at the film’s warm, melancholy heart. Hoffman’s 121-year-old Jack Crabb relates his picaresque history, from being orphaned after a Pawnee attack and raised by Cheyenne tribal leader Old Lodge Skins (a deadpan Chief Dan George) to surviving in a “civilised” white world of adulterers, snake oil salesmen and, most horrifically, genocidal soldiers epitomised by General Custer. SW

Anora

Thursday, Netflix

Sean Baker's brilliant indie drama, and surprise Oscar winner, showcases the writer-director's ability to immerse us fully in the lives of society's most marginal characters. His focus here is the titular Brooklyn stripper and sex worker, played by Mikey Madison from Better Things. When a Russian oligarch's son, Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), falls impetuously in love with her, Anora seizes the chance of a better life. But she is up against some formidable in-laws ... Veering skilfully from slapstick comedy to gritty drama, it's a superbly acted, manic treasure. SW

Sport

Test Cricket England v Pakistan Sat, 10.15am, Sky Sports Cricket The third day of the second Test from Lord's.

Premier League Football Liverpool v Nottingham Forest Sat, 11am, TNT Sports 1 Tottenham v Newcastle is at 5pm on Sky Sports Main Event.

Men's Cycling La Vuelta a España Sat, 3.15pm, TNT Sports 1 Stage eight from Puçol to Xeraco.

Premier League Football Chelsea v Brighton Sun, 1pm, Sky Sports Main Event Man United v Ipswich is at 4.30pm.

Tennis

US Open

Sun, 11pm, Sky Sports Main Event Day one from Flushing Meadows.

Snooker British Open Mon, 12.30pm, Channel 5 The first round from the Centaur in Cheltenham.

Women's One-Day Cricket England v Ireland Tue, 12.30pm. Sky Sports Cricket The first in the series from Leicester. The second is on Thu in Derby.

Championship Football Stoke v Norwich Tue, 7.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event From the Bet365 Stadium.

Women's Super League Football London City v Man United Fri, 6pm, Sky One The season kicks off at Copperjax Community Stadium, with London's star signings including two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas (pictured above).

Sign up for the What's On newsletter: our free TV email

The best reviews, news and features direct to your inbox every Monday

Sandi Toksvig's Hidden Wonders, Channel 4

BBC One

6.0 Breakfast (T) 10.0 Saturday Kitchen (T) 11.30 Anna Haugh's Big Irish Food Tour (T) (R) 12.0 Bargain Hunt (T) (R) 12.45 The Football Interview (T) 1.0 News (T) 1.10 Weather (T) 1.15 Money for Nothing (T) (R) 2.0 Homes Under the Hammer (T) (R) 3.0 Escape to the Country (T) (R) 3.45 Final Score (T) 5.15 News (T) 5.25 Regional News (T) 5.30 Weather (T) 5.35 The Hit List (T) 6.20 Alan Carr's Celebrity Picture Slam (T) 7.10 FILM Paddington 2 (Paul King, 2017) (T)

BBC Two

6.15 CBeebies 6.40 CBBC 9.0 Gardeners' World (T) (R) 10.0 This Wild Life (T) (R) 10.30 FILM Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944) (T) 11.55 The Great British Sewing Bee (T) (R) 12.55 Race Against the Tide (T) (R) 1.25 FILM Beaches (Garry Marshall, 1988) (T) 3.20 FILM Evil Under the Sun (Guy Hamilton, 1982) (T) 5.15 Super League Live (T) Wakefield v York (kick-off 5.30pm).

ITV1

6.0 FILM For Your Eyes Only (John Glen, 1981) (T) 8.25 Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen (T) 9.25 News (T) 9.30 James Martin's Saturday Morning (T) 12.0 EFL Live (T) Middlesbrough v West Brom (kick-off 12.30pm). 2.55 FILM Never Say Never Again (Irvin Kershner, 1983) (T) 5.25 News and Weather (T) 5.45 Local News and Weather (T) 6.0 The Chase Celebrity Special (T) (R) 7.0 The Voice UK (T)

Channel 4

6.0 Cheers (T) (R) 7.45 Everybody Loves Raymond (T) (R) 9.10 Superhero Tri 2026 (T) 9.55 Frasier (T) (R) 11.25 The Simpsons (T) (R) 1.50 Four in a Bed (T) (R) 4.25 George Clarke's Amazing Spaces (T) (R) 5.30 Grand Designs (T) (R) 6.30 News (T) 7.0 Sandi Toksvig's Hidden Wonders (T)

Channel 5

Milkshake! 9.0 Entertainment News (T) 9.10 The King's Guard: Serving the Crown (T) (R) 10.0 Westminster Abbey: Behind Closed Doors (T) (R) 1.0 The Royals: Uncensored (T) 2.0 Coastal Adventures With Helen, Jules & JB (T) (R) 4.0 Passage to India: A Yorkshire Vet Special (T) (R) 5.0 Tommy Cooper: 30 Funniest Moments (T) (R) 6.55 News (T) 7.0 Cycling: Vuelta a España 2026 (T)

BBC Four

7.0 Today at the Test (T) (R) England v Pakistan. Action from the third day of the second test at Lord's.

8.50 The Weakest Link (T) (R) With Donna Preston, Nikita Kuzmin, Jon Culshaw, Jamelia, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Zoe Lyons. 9.35 Ghosts (T) (R) Mary walks Julian through her journey of self-discovery and Thomas realises he must go "cold turkey" on his Alison addiction.

10.05 News (T) Weather 10.25 Match of the Day (T) Includes Liverpool v Nottingham Forest and Tottenham v Newcastle. 11.35 Raye @ Reading Festival 2026 (T) The singer-songwriter performs in the second headline slot. 12.50 Weather for the Week Ahead (T) 12.55 News (T)

7.30 Celebrating James Bond at the Proms (T) A concert at the Royal Albert Hall in which Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser conducts the BBC Concert Orchestra in music from the James Bond franchise. 9.0 Wham! 10 Days in China (T) Documentary about the pop group's two concerts in China in 1985.

10.25 Wham! At the BBC (T) (R) Andrew Ridgeley, Pepsi Demacque-Crockett and Shirlie Kemp present archive performances by the group. 11.35 TOTP 1985: Big Hits (T) (R) Memorable hits of the year. 12.35 Today at the Test (T) (R) 1.35 FILM Compartment No 6 (2021) Drama. 3.20 Sign Zone: Ludwig (T) (R)

8.15 The 1% Club (T) (R) Quiz hosted by Lee Mack. 9.15 News (T) Weather 9.30 FILM Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013) (T) An alien living in secret on Earth uses his extraordinary powers to defend the human race from a genocidal invasion. Sci-fi adventure, starring Henry Cavill and Amy Adams.

12.0 English Football League Highlights (T) Action from the latest matches, including Norwich v Burnley, Middlesbrough v West Brom and Watford v West Ham in the Championship. 1.20 Shop on TV 3.0 The Summit (T) (R) 3.50 Unwind With ITV (T) 5.05 Fern Britton: Inside the Vet's (T) (R)

8.0 FILM Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018) (T) T'Challa, the new ruler of a hidden African nation, faces a challenge for his throne in the form of his embittered cousin, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens. Comic-book adventure, starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan and Lupita Nyong'o.

10.45 FILM Terminator: Dark Fate (Tim Miller, 2019) (T) Sci-fi thriller, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. 1.0 White Ant (T) 1.15 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA (T) (R) 2.05 FILM Hope (Maria Sødahl, 2019) Drama, starring Andrea Bræin Hovig. 4.10 The Simpsons (T) (R) 5.40 Superhero Tri 2026 (R)

8.0 Andrew, Fergie & the Scandal of SouthYork (T) (R) The controversy surrounding Sunninghill Park in Berkshire. 9.0 9/11: The Unseen Footage (T) The story of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks told through footage discovered in the archives of the news agency Reuters almost 25 years later.

10.30 FILM Kinky Boots (Julian Jarold, 2005) (T) Comedy drama, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Joel Edgerton.

12.35 George Michael: The Man & the Music (T) (R) 1.05 Cruise TV (T) (R) 2.05 GPs: Behind Closed Doors (T) (R) 2.55 Friends (T) (R) 4.35 Amazing Railway Adventures (T) (R) 5.35 Paw Patrol (T) (R)

8.0 Life on Earth (T) (R) Predators and prey on the plains of east Africa. 8.55 Planet Earth: An Elephant's Tale (T) (R) A newborn calf's struggles in Kenya. 9.0 Kabul (T) The Americans capture an Isis emir. 9.55 Kabul (T) Zahara learns about the attack at Kabul airport. Last in the series.

10.50 To the Manor Born (T) (R) DeVere brings his grocery business to the manor. 11.15 Keeping Up Appearances (T) (R) Hyacinth plans an event. 11.45 Timeshift: The Great British Seaside Holiday (T) (R) 12.30 Ray Mears and Ewan McGregor: Extreme Jungle (T) (R) 1.30 Life on Earth (T) (R) 2.25 Timeshift (T) (R)

Other channels

BBC Three

7.0pm Doctor Who 7.45
Doctor Who 8.35 Ghosts
US 8.55 Ghosts US 9.15
Ghosts US 9.35 Mrs
Brown's Boys New Year Special 2025 10.05 Mrs
Brown's Boys New Year Special 10.35 Nighty Night 11.05 Nighty Night 11.35 Schitt's Creek 11.55 Schitt's Creek 12.20 Schitt's Creek 12.40 Schitt's Creek 1.05 Schitt's Creek 1.25 Schitt's Creek 1.50 Confessions of a Steroid Gang 2.20 Doctor Who 3.05 Doctor Who

U&Dave

6.0am Teleshopping
7.15 Eddie Eats America
7.40 Top Gear Patagonia Special 10.15 Top Gear Botswana Special
11.20 Top Gear: India Special 1.20 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 2.0 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 2.40 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 3.20 Would I Lie to You? 4.0 Would I Lie to You? 4.40 Would I Lie to You? The Unseen Bits 5.20 Would I Lie to You? At Christmas 6.0 Pete Wicks: For Dogs' Sake 7.0 Gavin & Stacey 7.40 Gavin & Stacey 8.20 Gavin & Stacey 9.0 Gavin & Stacey 9.40 I'm Alan Partridge 10.20

I'm Alan Partridge 11.0 I'm Alan Partridge 11.40 Not Going Out 12.20 Not Going Out 12.55 Not Going Out 1.35 Have I Got a Bit More News for You 2.40 Live at the Apollo 3.25 QI 4.0 Teleshopping

E4

6.0am Lego Masters Australia 7.05 Below Deck Down Under 8.0 Below Deck Down Under 8.55 The Simpsons 9.25 The Simpsons 9.55 The Simpsons 10.25 The Simpsons 10.55 The Simpsons 11.20 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 12.25 FILM Antz (1998) 2.0 The Simpsons 2.30 The Simpsons 3.0 The Simpsons 3.30 The Simpsons 4.0 The Simpsons 4.35 FILM Home Alone (1990) 6.45 FILM The Devil Wears Prada (2006) 9.0 Celebrity Gogglebox 10.0 Gogglebox 11.05 Gogglebox 12.05 First Dates 1.10 Below Deck 2.05 Below Deck 3.50 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 4.40 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 5.35 Modern Family

Film4

11.0am FILM Togo (2019) 1.15 FILM Spies in Disguise (2019) 3.15

FILM Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) 5.55 FILM The Greatest Showman (2017) 8.0 FILM Murder on the Orient Express (2017) Mystery, starring Kenneth Branagh. 10.15 FILM Ghost Rider (2007) 12.30 FILM Bone Tomahawk (2015)

PBS America

6.0am Teleshopping
8.0 Weathered: Earth's
Extremes 8.35 World
of Stonehenge 9.40
World of Stonehenge
10.50 World of
Stonehenge 11.55
World of Stonehenge
1.0 The Normans
2.15 The Normans
3.35 The Normans
4.55 The Normans
6.10 Athens: Birth of
Democracy 7.20 World of
Stonehenge 8.30 World
of Stonehenge 9.40
World of Stonehenge
10.50 World of
Stonehenge 12.0 Athens:
Birth of Democracy
1.15 Weathered:
Earth's Extremes 2.0
Teleshopping

Sky One

6.0am FILM Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) 7.45 The Simpsons 8.10 The Simpsons 8.35 The Simpsons 9.0 Surviving Earth 10.0 Premier

League Weekend 11.30 The Simpsons 12.0 Gillette Labs Soccer Saturday: Build-Up 3.0 Gillette Labs Soccer Saturday 5.0 Football's Funniest Moments 7.0 Live MVP Boxing 11.0 FILM The Expendables (2010) 1.0 Chris Ramsey: Live from London 2.0 The Force: North East 3.0 Road Wars 4.0 Road Wars 5.0 Highway Patrol 5.30 Highway Patrol

Sky Arts

6.0am André Rieu: The Flying Dutchman 7.15
André Rieu: The Flying Dutchman 8.30 Tales of the Unexpected 9.0
Tales of the Unexpected 9.30 Tales of the Unexpected 10.0 Tales of the Unexpected 10.30
Tales of the Unexpected 11.0 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 12.0
The Alfred Hitchcock

Murder on the Orient Express, Film4

Hour 1.0 Grand Ole
Opry: Opry Live 2.0
Discovering: Christopher Plummer 3.0 Portrait
Artist of the Decade
4.30 Freddie Mercury: The Tribute Concert
6.15 Johnny Cash: A Legend in Concert 7.0
The Music of Buddy Holly and the Crickets 9.0
FILM Chaplin (1992)
11.45 Dire Straits: Alchemy 1983 1.45 Eric Clapton: Concert By the Lake - Band Du Lac 4.05
Discovering: Eagles 4.35
Discovering: Meat Loaf 5.0 Classic Albums

Sky Atlantic

6.0am Urban Secrets
7.0 Urban Secrets 8.0
The White Lotus 9.10
The White Lotus 10.15
The White Lotus 11.30
The White Lotus 12.45
The White Lotus 2.0
The Five-Star Weekend
2.55 The Five-Star Weekend 3.55 The Five-Star Weekend 4.40
The Five-Star Weekend 5.40 The Five-Star Weekend 6.30 The Five-Star Weekend 7.15 The Five-Star Weekend 8.0 The Five-Star Weekend 9.0 FILM Lee (2023) 11.05 Fightland 12.05 Fightland 1.05 Fightland 2.05 Task 3.10 Gomorrah: The Origins 4.15 Gomorrah: The Origins 5.10 Fish Town

Radio

Radio 3

6.30am Breakfast 9.0 Saturday Morning. Nicky Spence chats to fellow opera stars Aigul Akhmetshina and Sarah Walker. 12.0 Earlier ... With Jools Holland. With percussionist and film producer Ray Cooper. 1.0 Key Changes: Radio 3's Essential History of Classical Music. A look at how the waltz gripped Vienna in 1814. 2.0 Record Review. Emily MacGregor picks her five favourite recordings of music by Prokofiev. 4.0 BBC Proms 2026. Live from Theatr Clwyd in Mold, Iwan Davies conducts the Sinfonia Cymru in a programme exploring the connections between music and literature on the theme of Welsh myth and legend. 5.30 This Classical Life. Jess Gillam chats to baritone Gerald Finley. (R) 6.30 Music Planet 7.30 BBC Proms 2026. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conducts the Oslo Philharmonic and violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja in ∅yvind Torvund's Symphonic Poem No 1: Forest Morning, Stravinsky's Violin Concerto and excerpts from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. 10.0 New Generation Artists.

Violinist Hana Chang and pianist Arthur Hinnewinkel play Grieg's Violin Sonata No 2. 10.30 New Music Show. Includes a performance by Mimi Doulton at Spitalfields festival. 12.30 Through the Night

Radio 4

6.0am News and Papers 6.07 Open Country (R) 6.30 Farming Today This Week 6.57 Weather 7.0 Today 9.0 A Century in a Click: 100 Years of the Photobooth (R) 9.30 What's Up Docs? (R) 10.0 You're Dead to Me. Greg Jenner is joined by Dr John Lee and comedian Erika Ehler to learn all about the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties in medieval Korea. (10/13) 10.30 Soul Music. Reflections on Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. (3/5) 11.0 Radical (R) 11.30 From Our Own Correspondent 12.0 News 12.04 Money Box 12.30 The People Have Spoken (R) 12.57 Weather 1.0 News 1.10 Any Questions? (R) 2.05 Any Answers? 2.45 The Archers (R) 3.0 I Must Have Loved You. Drama, by Michael Chaplin, featuring the songs of Sting. As she walks the banks of the Tyne, aspiring musician

Jess knows she cannot possibly leave the place – but how can she possibly stay? (R) 4.30 Weekend Woman's Hour 5.0 Saturday PM 5.30 Dough (R) 5.54 Shipping Forecast 5.57 Weather 6.0 News 6.15 Loose Ends. Clive Anderson presents the show from the Edinburgh festival, with guests Sophie Duker, John Kearns, Len Pennie and Paul Leonard-Morgan, Clive Anderson, Jenni Fagan, Kanan Gill and the Real Kyle McCarren. 7.0 Profile 7.15 This Cultural Life (R) 8.0 Archive on 4. Nelufar Hedayat revisits the chaotic 2021 evacuation of Afghanistan. 9.0 The Moral Maze (R) 10.0 News 10.15 The Food Programme (R) 11.0 Edinburgh Comedy Awards Gala 2026. Catherine Bohart hosts a showcase of nominated acts. 12.0 News 12.15 Take Four Books (R) 12.48 Shipping Forecast 1.0 As World Service 5.30 News 5.34 Shipping Forecast 5.43 Bells on Sunday 5.45 In Touch (R)

Radio 4 Extra

6.0am Leviathan '99 7.15 For the Young: Once Upon a Time: The Pedlar's Dream 7.30 Jazz Score 8.0 The Glamour

9.30 Trumpton Riots Again: It's Friday, It's Five to Five and It's ... 10.0 The Grumbleweeds 10.30 Frank Muir Goes Into 11.0 Leviathan '99 12.15 For the Young: Once Upon a Time: The Pedlar's Dream 12.30 Jazz Score 1.0 The Glamour 2.30 Trumpton Riots Again: It's Friday, It's Five to Five and It's ... 3.0 The Grumbleweeds 3.30 Frank Muir Goes Into 4.0 The Master and Margarita (1/4) 5.0 Leviathan '99 6.15 For the Young: Once Upon a Time: The Pedlar's Dream 6.30 Jazz Score 7.0 The Glamour 8.30 Trumpton Riots Again: It's Friday, It's Five to Five and It's ... 9.0 The Grumbleweeds 9.30 Frank Muir Goes Into 10.0 Comedy Club: Any Bloke (6/6) 10.30 Ken Cheng: Chinese Comedian (4/4) 10.45 Ida Barr: Artificial Hip Hop (4/4) 11.0 Fred at the Stand (1/4) 11.30 Radio Active (8/8) 12.0 The Master and Margarita (1/4) 1.0 Leviathan '99 2.15 For the Young: Once Upon a Time: The Pedlar's Dream 2.30 Jazz Score 3.0 The Glamour 4.30 Trumpton Riots Again: It's Friday, It's Five to Five and It's ... 5.0 The Grumbleweeds 5.30 Frank Muir Goes Into

Three Thousand Years of Longing, Channel 4

BBC One

6.0 Breakfast (T) 8.50 Match of the Day (T) (R) 10.0 Prayer and Reflection (T) (R) 10.30 Sunday Morning Live (T) 11.30 Money for Nothing (T) (R) 12.15 Bargain Hunt (T) (R) 1.0 News (T) 1.10 Weather (T) 1.15 Songs of Praise (T) 1.50 FILM The Croods 2: A New Age (2020) (T) 3.15 Zog (T) (R) 3.35 Planet Earth III: Wonders of Nature (T) (R) 4.35 Homes Under the Hammer (T) (R) 5.35 News (T) 5.50 Regional News and Weather (T) 6.0 Countryfile (T) 7.0 Hamza: African Birds of Prey (T)

BBCTwo

6.30 A to Z of TV Gardening (T) (R) 7.15 Glorious Gardens from Above (T) (R) 8.0 Countryfile (T) (R) 9.0 Best of Weatherman Walking (T) 9.30 Beechgrove Garden (T) 10.0 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites (T) 11.30 Caribbean Food Made Easy (T) (R) 12.0 FILM Ben-Hur (William Wyler, 1959) (T) 3.25 The Big Deal With Steph McGovern (T) (R) 4.25 Fake Or Fortune: What Happened Next? (T) (R) 5.25 FILM The Italian Job (Peter Collinson, 1969) (T) 7.0 Today at the Test (T)

ITV1

6.0 The Voice UK (T) (R) 7.0 James Martin's Saturday Morning (T) (R) 9.25 ITV News (T) 9.30 Love Your Weekend With Alan Titchmarsh (T) (R) 11.25 The Joy of Pets (T) 12.30 Gary Barlow's Food and Wine Tour: New Zealand (T) 1.0 News and Weather (T) 1.15 ITV Racing: Live from Goodwood (T) 4.0 Celebrity Lingo (T) (R) 4.30 FILM Jurassic World (Colin Trevorrow, 2015) (T) 6.35 News and Weather (T) 6.45 Local News and Weather (T) 7.0 Force of Nature (T)

Channel 4

6.20 Cheers (T) (R) 7.15 Everybody Loves Raymond (T) (R) 8.30 Frasier (T) (R) 10.0 Sunday Brunch (T) 1.0 The Simpsons (T) (R) 2.25 Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids (T) (R) 3.30 FILM The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean, 1957) (T) 6.35 News (T) 7.0 Gogglebox (T)

Channel5

6.0 Milkshake! 9.05

Entertainment News (T) 9.15 Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun (T) (R) 9.40 Super Dogs With Extraordinary Jobs (T) (R) 11.35 FILM Clifford the Big Red Dog (Walt Becker, 2021) (T) 1.40 Cruising the Islands of the Med With Jane McDonald (T) (R) 3.30 The Great Flood of 1968 (T) (R) 5.0 Britain's Favourite Ads of the 70s & 80s (T) (R) 6.50 News (T) 7.0 Cycling: Vuelta a España 2026 (T)

BBC Four

7.0 The Golden Age of Canals (T) (R) The changing face of Britain's canals after the second world war.

8.0 Antiques Roadshow (T) (R) Fiona Bruce presents the show from Wollaton Hall in Nottingham. 9.0 Vigil (T) New series. Silva and Longacre investigate the murder of a British citizen in the Arctic and get caught in an escalating political crisis. Thriller, with Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie.

10.0 News (T)
10.25 Regional News (T) Weather
10.30 Match of the Day (T) With Chelsea v Brighton and Man United v Ipswich.
11.40 Chase & Status @ Reading Festival 2026 (T) The drum'n'bass duo headline the final day.
12.55 Weather for the Week Ahead (T) 1.0 News (T)

8.0 Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps (T) (R) Celebrities of differing faiths and beliefs begin a pilgrimage through the Austrian and Swiss Alps. 9.0 Rob and Rylan's Passage to India (T) (R) Rob Rinder and Rylan Clark set out on a journey around India. They begin in New Delhi.

10.0 FILM The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) (T) Gangster drama, starring Marlon Brando, James Caan and Al Pacino.

12.50 Saving Lives at Sea (T) (R) 1.50 Sign Zone: Murder Trial - Death of a Dog Walker (T) (R) 2.50 Buried With Michael Sheen (T) (R) 3.50 This Is BBC Two (T)

8.0 Emmerdale (T) Caleb and Ruby are left rattled. 8.30 Coronation Street (T) Nina bids farewell to her friends. 9.0 Trigger Point (T) New series. Lana and her team track a suspicious lorry through London as they work to make sure it does not reach its destination. Thriller, with Vicky McClure.

10.0 News (T) Weather

10.15 Unbelievable Moments Caught on Camera (T) (R) A selection of extraordinary eyewitness footage filmed by members of the public.

11.10 Trigger Point (T) (R)

12.10 Shop on TV 3.0 The Rainmaker (T) (R) 3.50 Unwind With ITV (T) 5.05 Motorsport UK (T) (R)

8.0 Richard E Grant's Very Modern Odyssey (T) On Corfu, Richard learns about the island's embattled past. 9.0 24 Hours in Police Custody: The Ambush (T) Part one of two. The inside story of the case of a 17-year-old boy who was left critically injured on the roadside after suffering catastrophic head injuries.

10.15 Love Cheats (T) New series. 11.15 Gogglebox (T) (R)

12.15 FILM Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) (T) Romantic fantasy. 2.0 Kitchen Nightmares USA (T) (R) 2.50 The Simpsons (T) (R) 3.45 Jamie: Eat Yourself Healthy (T) (R) 4.40 Come Dine With Me (T) (R) 5.30 House of Craft (T) (R)

8.0 Inside the Four Seasons: Park Lane (T) Head of housekeeping Ivan faces a setback. Last in the series. 9.0 Rich House, Poor House (T) (R) A wealthy couple who own a manor house and wedding venue swap with a single mother of two living in a council flat who dreams of starting a tea shop.

10.0 The Most Embarrassing TV Moments (T) (R)

12.05 The Rise & Fall of John Leslie (T) (R) 1.0 Cruise TV (T) (R) 2.0 GPs: Behind Closed Doors (T) (R) 2.50 Friends (T) (R) 4.35 Amazing Railway Adventures With Nick Knowles (T) (R) 5.25 Entertainment News (T) 5.35 Paw Patrol (T) (R)

8.0 Modern Classics at the Proms (T) Tom Service presents a showcase of new music from the festival, including performances from the National Youth Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

10.0 Dame Maureen Lipman Remembers: Absurd Person Singular (T)

10.15 Absurd Person Singular (T) (R) Alan Ayckbourn's comedy drama.

12.10 Alan Ayckbourn: The Levin Interviews (T) (R) 12.40 Modern Classics at the Proms (T) (R) 2.40 The Golden Age of Canals (T) (R)

Other channels

BBC Three

7.0pm EastEnders
7.30 EastEnders 8.0
EastEnders 8.30
EastEnders 9.0 Top Gear
10.0 The Split: Barcelona
11.0 The Split: Barcelona
12.0 FILM Arthur
the King (2024) 1.40
Confessions of a Steroid Gang 2.10 Confessions of a Steroid Gang 2.40 Top Gear 3.40 Rocket Fuel

U&Dave

6.0am Teleshopping
7.20 Eddie Eats America
7.45 Top Gear: India
Special 9.40 Top
Gear: Polar Challenge
10.40 Top Gear: Burma
Special 1.20 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone
Fishing 2.0 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone
Fishing 2.40 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone
Fishing 3.20 Would I Lie to You? 4.0 Would I Lie to You? 4.40 Would I Lie to You? 5.20 Would I Lie to You? 6.0 Tropic of Capricorn 7.0 Guy
Martin: Proper Jobs 8.0 Pete Wicks: For Dogs'
Sake 9.0 Have I Got a Bit More News for You 10.0 QI 10.40 Mock the Week
12.0 Live at the Apollo
1.0 QI XL 2.0 Parks and Recreation 2.25 Parks and Recreation 2.50 Parks and Recreation 3.15 Parks and Recreation

E4

6.0am Hollyoaks Omnibus 7.10 Modern Family 7.40 The Simpsons 8.05 The Simpsons 8.35 The Simpsons 9.05 The Simpsons 9.40 The Simpsons 10.05 The Simpsons 10.40 The Simpsons 11.10 FILM Home (2015) 1.10 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 2.05 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 3.05 FILM Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) 5.40 Cruising Paradise: Above and Below Deck 6.40 Lego Masters Australia 8.0 Kitchen Nightmares USA 9.0 Celebrity Gogglebox 10.0 Sarah Millican: Late Bloomer 11.05 FILM Scream (2022) 1.25 Gogglebox 2.30 Below Deck 3.15 Below Deck 4.05 Modern Family 4.30 Hollyoaks Omnibus

Film4

11.0am FILM It Came from Outer Space (1953) 12.45 FILM Patrick (2018) 2.35 FILM Turner & Hooch (1989) 4.40 FILM Entrapment (1999) 6.55 FILM Sister Act (1992) 9.0 FILM A Few Good Men (1992) 11.45 FILM Darkman (1990) 1.35 FILM The Frighteners (1996)

PBS America

6.0am Teleshopping
8.0 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 8.35 The World After Stonehenge
9.40 The World After Stonehenge 10.50 The World After Stonehenge
11.55 The World After Stonehenge 1.0 1066: A Year to Conquer England
2.20 1066: A Year to Conquer England
3.40 1066: A Year to Conquer England
5.0 Pocahontas: Beyond the Myth
6.05 The World After Stonehenge 7.15 The World After Stonehenge
8.20 The World After Stonehenge
9.30 The World After Stonehenge
10.40 Pocahontas: Beyond the Myth
12.0 Remaking the Middle East
1.15 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 2.0 Teleshopping

Sky One

6.Oam FILM Epic
Tails (2022) 7.45
Terry Pratchett's
Going Postal 9.45
David Attenborough's
Galapagos 10.45
David Attenborough's
Galapagos 11.45
David Attenborough's
Galapagos 12.45 David
Attenborough's Natural
History Museum Alive 2.15 Best Medicine 3.10
FILM The Secret Garden (2020) 5.0 The

Simpsons 5.30 The Simpsons 6.0 The Simpsons 6.30 The Simpsons 7.0 Rob & Romesh vs Bollywood 8.0 Rob & Romesh vs Hollywood Stunts 9.0 FILM Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) 11.30 Queen: Live at Wembley Stadium 1.45 The Walking Dead: Dead City 2.40 The Force: North East 3.35 Road Wars 4.30 Road Wars 5.0 Highway Patrol 5.30 Highway Patrol

Sky Arts

6.0am Turandot
8.30 Tales of the Unexpected 9.0 Tales of the Unexpected 9.30 Tales of the Unexpected 10.0 Tales of the Unexpected 10.30 Tales of the Unexpected 11.0 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 12.0 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 1.0

FILM Moulin Rouge (1952) 3.15 FILM

(1952) 3.15 FILM Murder By Decree (1978) 5.25 The Beach Boys: Endless Harmony 7.40 California Dreamin': The Songs of the Mamas and the Papas 9.0 Cliff Richard and the Shadows: The Final Reunion 11.45 Grand Ole Opry: Opry Live 12.45 Iconic Women of Country 2.0 Tea With Judi Dench Featuring Sir Ian McKellen 3.0 Elvis Presley: The Early Years 4.0 Elvis Presley: A Legend in Concert 5.0 Classic Albums

Sky Atlantic

6.0am Urban Secrets
7.0 Urban Secrets 8.0
The White Lotus 9.20
The White Lotus 10.55
House of the Dragon
12.15 House of the
Dragon 1.35 House of the
Dragon 2.45 House of
the Dragon 4.0 House of
the Dragon 5.15 House of
the Dragon 6.30 House
of the Dragon 7.45 House
of the Dragon 9.0 The
Terror: Devil in Silver
10.0 The Terror: Devil in
Silver 11.0 The Iris Affair
12.05 Gomorrah: The
Origins 1.05 Gomorrah:
The Origins 2.10
Gomorrah: The Origins
3.15 Gomorrah: The
Origins 4.15 Fish Town
5.05 The Guest Wing

Radio

Radio 3

6.30am Breakfast 9.0 Sunday Morning 12.0 Private Passions. Michael Berkeley is joined by politics professor Lea Ypi. (R) 1.30 Music Map. Sara Mohr-Pietsch explores Mendelssohn's Symphony No 4. 3.0 The Colours in Sound, With Caroline Shaw. A look at how composers evoke physical feelings in their music. (R) 4.0 Jazz Record Requests 5.0 The Early Music Show. Performances from the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition. 6.0 Choral Evensong. From St John's College, Cambridge. (R) 7.0 BBC Proms 2026. Live from the Royal Albert Hall, Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust, with Jakob Lehmann conducting John Osborn (Faust), Véronique Gens (Marguerite), Gerald Finley (Méphistophélès), Thomas Dolié (Brander), Maîtrise de Radio France, Chœur de Radio France and Les Siècles. 10.0 Night Tracks (R) 11.30 Unclassified (R) 12.30 Through the Night

Radio 4

6.0am News 6.05 Heart and Soul (R) 6.35 On Your Farm. Rose Ferraby visits Gallows Hill Farm on the National Trust's Wallington Estate in Northumberland to find out how tenancies have changed. 6.57 Weather 7.0 News 7.0 Sunday Papers 7.10 Sunday 7.54 Radio 4 Appeal: Mesothelioma UK 7.57 Weather 8.0 News 8.0 Sunday Papers (R) 8.10 Sunday Worship 8.48 Witness History (R) 8.58 Tweet of the Day 9.0 Broadcasting House 10.0 The Reunion. Key players in the first episode of TV hospital drama Casualty are reunited. (2/5) 11.0 The Archers: Omnibus (R) 12.15 Profile (R) 12.30 Just a Minute (R) 12.57 Weather 1.0 The World This Weekend 1.30 The Dictators' Survival Guide. Celia Hatton investigates why China's most senior military general, Zhang Youxia, has mysteriously disappeared. 2.0 Gardeners' Question Time (R) 2.45 New Storytellers (R) 3.0 Midnight Cowboy. Colin Bytheway's dramatisation of James Leo Herlihy's novel. Joe glimpses how good life could be, and has a choice to make. With Brandon Bassir and Chase Brown. (2/2) 4.0 Take Four Books.

Colson Whitehead discuss his latest book, Cool Machine, and three other influential titles. 4.30 Brain of Britain (6/17) 5.0 Witness History (R) 5.10 All Kinds of Minds (R) 5.54 Shipping Forecast 5.57 Weather 6.0 News 6.15 Pick of the Week 7.0 The Archers 7.15 Bouncing Off the Walls: A Prison Soundscape. Ric Renton considers the significance of sound in prison. 7.45 Just One Thing With Michael Mosley (R) 8.0 Word of Mouth (R) 8.30 Last Word (R) 9.0 Money Box (R) 9.26 Radio 4 Appeal: Mesothelioma UK (R) 9.30 From Our Own Correspondent (R) 9.59 Weather 10.0 The Westminster Hour 11.0 Great Lives. Jessica Fostekew on Boudica. (R) 11.30 Hoax (R) 11.45 Short Works. A Fight Almost Breaks out in the Waiting Room But Subsides Like a Wave, by Claire Carroll. (R) 12.0 News 12.15 Crossing Continents (R) 12.45 Bells on Sunday (R) 12.48 Shipping Forecast 1.0 As World Service 5.0 News 5.04 Last Word (R) 5.32 Weather 5.34 Shipping Forecast 5.43 Prayer for the Day 5.45 Farming Today

Radio 4 Extra

6.0am Man in the Moon
6.45 The Offing (1/10)
7.0 Poetry Extra 7.30
The Impressionists 8.0
A Kestrel for a Knave By Barry Hines 9.0 The Billy Cotton Band Show 9.30
Kind Hearts and Coronets
11.0 Man in the Moon
11.45 The Offing (1/10)
12.0 Poetry Extra 12.30
The Impressionists 1.0
A Kestrel for a Knave By Barry Hines 2.0 The Billy Cotton Band Show 2.30
Kind Hearts and Coronets
4.0 The Green Isle of the Great Deep (1/2)
5.0 Man in the Moon
5.45 The Offing (1/10)
6.0 Poetry Extra 6.30
The Impressionists 7.0
A Kestrel for a Knave By Barry Hines 8.0 The Billy Cotton Band Show 8.30
Kind Hearts and Coronets
10.0 Comedy Club: Clare in the Community (2/6) 10.30 Hamish and Dougal: You'll Have Had Your Tea (3/6) 10.45 Elastic Planet (3/6)
11.0 Ed Reardon's Week (1/6) 11.30 Party (3/4)
12.0 The Green Isle of the Great Deep (1/2)
1.0 Man in the Moon
1.45 The Offing (1/10)
2.0 Poetry Extra 2.30
The Impressionists 3.0
A Kestrel for a Knave By Barry Hines 4.0 The Billy Cotton Band Show 4.30
Kind Hearts and Coronets

BBC One

6.0 Breakfast (T) 9.30 Morning Live (T) 10.45 Rip Off Britain: Rogues (T) 11.30 Homes Under the Hammer (T) (R) 12.15 Bargain Hunt (T) 1.0 News (T) 1.20 Regional News and Weather (T) 1.30 Money for Nothing (T) 2.15 The Travelling Auctioneers (T) (R) 2.45 Escape to the Country (T) (R) 3.45 Garden Rescue (T) 4.30 The Answer Run (T) (R) 5.15 Pointless (T) 6.0 News (T) 6.20 Regional News and Weather (T) 6.30 Celebrity Escape to the Country (T) (R) 7.30 EastEnders (T)

BBC Two

6.20 Beechgrove Garden (T) (R) 6.50 Sign Zone: Celebrity MasterChef (T) (R) 7.50 Match of the Day (T) (R) 9.0 News (T) 1.0 Richard Osman's House of Games (T) (R) 1.30 The Edge (T) (R) 2.15 Weatherman Walking (T) (R) 2.45 Animal Park Summer (T) (R) 3.30 Serengeti III (T) (R) 4.30 Vintage Antiques Roadshow (T) (R) 5.15 Flog It! (T) (R) 6.0 Richard Osman's House of Games (T) (R) 6.30 Great British Railway Journeys (T) (R) 7.0 Today at the Test (T)

ITV1

6.0 Good Morning Britain (T) 10.0 This Morning (T) 1.45 News and Weather (T) 1.50 Local News and Weather (T) 2.0 Dickinson's Real Deal (T) (R) 3.0 Lingo (T) (R) 4.0 Deal Or No Deal (T) (R) 5.0 Tipping Point (T) (R) 6.0 Local News and Weather (T) 6.10 News and Weather (T) 6.30 The Chase Celebrity Special (T) (R) 7.30 Millionaire Hot Seat (T)

Channel 4

6.30 The King of Queens (T) (R) 7.45 Everybody Loves Raymond (T) (R) 9.10 Frasier (T) (R) 11.10 Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back (T) (R) 12.05 Find It, Fix It, Flog It (T) (R) 1.05 The Great House Giveaway (T) (R) 2.10 Countdown (T) 3.0 A Place in the Sun (T) (R) 4.0 The Great B&B Challenge (T) (R) 5.0 Chateau DIY (T) (R) 6.0 A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now? (T) 7.0 News (T) 7.30 Kirstie and Phil's Love It Or List It: Brilliant Builds (T) (R)

Channel 5

6.0 Milkshake! 9.0

Entertainment News (T) 9.15 Jeremy Vine (T) 11.30 Storm & Alexis (T) 12.30 Live Snooker: British Open 2026 (T) 5.30 Motorhoming With Merton & Webster (T) (R) 6.25 News (T) 6.30 Britain's Greatest Bridges (T) (R) 6.45 Live Snooker: British Open 2026 (T)

BBC Four

7.0 The Architecture the Railways Built (T) (R) Snowdon's summit station. 7.45 The Flying Gardener (R) Chris Beardshaw visits Kent.

8.0 The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (T) Jennifer Reoch and JJ Chalmers introduce the Massed Pipes and Drums and an array of international talent in the 2026 tattoo. 9.0 Vigil (T) After the kidnap of a government minister, Amy starts connecting the dots between his policies and his abduction.

10.0 News (T)

10.20 Regional News (T) Weather
10.30 Have I Got News for You (R) Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts.
11.0 FILM Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994) (T) Romantic comedy, starring Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, John Hannah and Kristin Scott Thomas.
12.55 Weather (T) 1.0 News (T)

8.0 Only Connect (T) Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts. 8.30 University Challenge (T) Birmingham v Leicester. 9.0 Surviving 9/11 (T) (R) The stories of 13 people caught up in the events of 9/11, featuring accounts of the two-hour period when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

10.30 FILM The Godfather Part II

(Francis Ford Coppola, 1974) (T) Michael Corleone's plans are threatened by a traitor within the family, while flashbacks reveal his father Vito's rise to power. Gangster drama, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

1.40 Sign Zone Countryfile (T) (R) 2.35 Emergency 24/7 (T) (R)

8.0 Emmerdale (T) DS Ramsden announces her plan. 8.30 Coronation Street (T) Debbie goes to work wearing her slippers. 9.0 Trigger Point (T) Lana and her team spring into action after the previous attack, with clues leading them to a boatyard, but the bombers stay one step ahead.

10.0 News (T) Weather

10.20 FILM Superman Returns (2006) (T) Comic-book adventure, starring Brandon Routh and Kevin Spacey.

12.50 Shop on TV 3.0 The Staircase (T) (R) 4.05 Unwind With ITV (T) 5.10 Dermot's Taste of Ireland (T) (R) 5.35 Gary Barlow's Food and Wine Tour: New Zealand (T) (R)

8.0 Fred's Ultimate Hotels (T) New series. Fred Sirieix meets the people behind the world's most spectacular hotels. In the first episode, he stays at the Royal Mansour in Marrakech. 9.0 24 Hours in A&E (T) A patient has significant burns to her leg after spilling a kettle of boiling water.

10.0 Love Cheats (T) A conman who told tales of tragedy.

12.55 The Murder Detective (T) (R) 12.55 The Murder Detective (T) (R) 1.55 Secret Lives of Gypsy Wives (T) (R) 2.50 FILM Sick of Myself (Kristoffer Borgli, 2023) 4.25 Kirstie's House of Craft (T) (R) 4.40 Hollyoaks (T) (R)

8.0 Street Cops: Catching the Yobs (T) Rod and Adam team up with armed officers to track down youths linked to a machete incident.

9.0 Fare Dodgers: At War With the Law (T) Investigators Joey, Ela and new recruit Weronika track a suspect believed to have avoided more than £1,400 in fares.

10.0 Police: Suspect No 1 (T) (R) 11.05 Traffic Cops (T) (R)

12.05 Motorway Cops: Catching Britain's Speeders (T) (R) 1.30 Cruise TV (T) (R) 2.30 GPs: Behind Closed Doors (T) (R) 3.20 Amazing Railway Adventures (T) (R) 4.15 Jane McDonald's Yorkshire (T) (R) 5.0 Entertainment News (T) 5.15 Ben and Holly (T) (R)

8.0 Archaeology: A Secret History (T) (R) Discoveries in the 18th and 19th centuries overturned previous beliefs. 9.0 Mastermind: 1977 (T) (R) Specialist subjects include Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Francis Drake. 9.30 Call My Bluff (T) (R) With Patrick Lichfield, Anna Ford and Derek Jacobi.

10.0 Close to Vermeer (T) (R) Behind the scenes of a big exhibition in Amsterdam.

11.20 Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered (T) (R)

12.20 Nature and Us: A History Through Art (T) (R) 1.20 The Flying Gardener (T) (R) 1.35 Close to Vermeer (T) (R) 2.50 Archaeology: A Secret History (T) (R)

Other channels

BBC Three

7.0pm Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out 7.25
FILM Paddington 2 (2017) 9.0 The Great British Sewing Bee 10.0 Silent Witness 11.0 Silent Witness 12.0 Confessions of a Teenage Fraudster 12.45 Confessions of a Teenage Fraudster 1.30 Confessions of a Teenage Fraudster 2.15 Football's New Generation 3.25 Paddy & Molly: Show No Mersey

U&Dave

6.0am Teleshopping 7.0 Eddie Eats America 7.35 Top Gear Nepal Special 9.05 Top Gear Vietnam Special 10.50 Gavin & Stacey 11.25 Gavin & Stacey 12.05 Gavin & Stacey 12.45 Gavin & Stacey 1.25 Gavin & Stacey 2.0 Gavin & Stacey 2.40 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 4.0 Hairy Bikers' Best of British 5.0 Rick Stein's Road to Mexico 6.0 Rick Stein's Road to Mexico 7.0 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 8.20 Would I Lie to You? The Unseen Bits 9.0 Have I Got a Bit More News for You 10.0 QI XL 11.0 Taskmaster 12.0 Mock the Week 12.40 Would I Lie to You? At Christmas 1.20 Would I Lie to You? The

Unseen Bits 2.0 QI XL 3.0 Richard Osman's House of Games 3.30 Parks and Recreation 4.0 Teleshopping

E4

6.0am Hollyoaks 6.55 Rude(ish) Tube Shorts 7.0 Couples Come Dine With Me 8.0 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 9.0 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 10.0 America's Funniest Home Videos 11.0 America's Funniest Home Videos 12.0 The Simpsons 12.30 The Simpsons 1.0 The Simpsons 1.30 The Simpsons 2.0 The Goldbergs 2.30 The Goldbergs 3.0 Modern Family 3.30 Modern Family 4.0 Modern Family 4.30 Modern Family 5.0 The Simpsons 5.30 The Simpsons 6.0 The Simpsons 6.30 The Simpsons 7.0 Hollyoaks 7.30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 8.0 Ladies of London: The New Reign 9.0 Below Deck Down Under 10.0 Gogglebox 11.0 First Dates 12.05 Naked Attraction 1.10 Below Deck Down Under 2.10 Ladies of London: The New Reign 3.0 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 3.55 The Simpsons 4.20 The Goldbergs 5.10 The Goldbergs 5.35 Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Film4

11.0am FILM Harvey (1950) 1.10 FILM Midway (2019) 3.50 FILM Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) 6.0 FILM Titanic (1997) 9.45 FILM Drive-Away Dolls (2024) 11.30 FILM Carol (2015) 1.50 FILM Proxima (2019)

PBS America

6.0am Teleshopping 8.0 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 8.50 Pocahontas: Beyond the Myth 9.55 The Great Fire: London Burns 10.55 The Great Fire: Death and Destruction 11.55 The Great Fire: A City Rebuilt 1.0 The Great Fire: London Burns 2.0 The Great Fire: Death and Destruction 3.05 The Great Fire: A City Rebuilt 4.05 Impossible Peace 5.15 Impossible Peace 6.20 Impossible Peace 7.30 Impossible Peace 8.35 Impossible Peace 9.40 Impossible Peace 10.50 Impossible Peace 12.0 Impossible Peace 1.10 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 2.0 Teleshopping

Sky One

6.0am FILM Playmobil: The Movie (2019) 7.45 Terry Pratchett's Going Postal 9.45 The Simpsons 10.15 The

Simpsons 10.45 The Simpsons 11.15 The Simpsons 11.45 The Simpsons 12.15 Agatha Raisin 2.15 Agatha Raisin 4.15 FILM Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)

6.0 FILM Chicken Run (2000) 7.45 Attenborough and the Giant Elephant 9.0

FILM Venom (2018) 11.10 Rob Beckett: Giraffe 12.55 Grimm 1.50 Evil 2.45 The Force: North East 3.40 Road Wars 4.30 Road Wars 5.0 Highway Patrol 5.30 Highway Patrol

Sky Arts

6.0am Musical

Masterpieces 7.0 Battle of the Irish Dancers 8.0 Artist of the Year: Masterclass 8.30 Artist of the Year: Masterclass 9.0 Tales of the Unexpected 10.0 Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Carol, Film4

11.0 Discovering:

11.0 Discovering: Charles Laughton 12.0 FILM The African Queen (1951) 2.0 André Rieu in Dublin 4.30 André Rieu: Live in Maastricht III 7.0 FILM Six Minutes to Midnight (2020) 9.0 Tea With Judi Dench Featuring Sir Ian McKellen 10.0 Discovering: Ian McKellen 11.0 André Rieu: Live in Bahrain 12.30 Kinky Boots 2.40 Art Traffickers: Treasures Stolen from the Tombs 3.40 National Trust: National Treasures 5.0 Inside Art: Bristol Street Art at M Shed

Sky Atlantic

6.0am Fish Town 7.0 The Last of Us 8.15 The Last of Us 9.20 The Last of Us 10.25 The Last of Us 11.30 The Last of Us 12.30 The Last of Us 1.45 The Last of Us 2.45 Possession 3.45 Possession 4.45 Possession 5.45 Possession 6.45 Possession 7.45 House of the Dragon 9.0 House of the Dragon 10.15 House of the Dragon 11.15 House of the Dragon 12.20 House of the Dragon 1.30 House of the Dragon 2.40 House of the Dragon 3.50 House of the Dragon 5.05 The Guest Wing

Radio

Radio 3

6.30am Breakfast 9.30 Proms Marathon Monday. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen play Haydn, Schumann and Bruch. 11.0 Proms Marathon Monday. The Hallé in music by Ravel, Rachmaninov and Nadia Boulanger. 1.0 Proms Marathon Monday. London Philharmonic Orchestra perform R Strauss's An Alpine Symphony. 2.15 Proms Marathon Monday. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and cellist Pablo Ferrández play Elgar's Cello Concerto. 3.45 Proms Marathon Monday. The Royal Northern Sinfonia in works by Bacewicz, Mendelssohn and Mozart. 5.15 Proms Marathon Monday. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform Rossini's Stabat Mater. 7.0 BBC Proms 2026. Live from the Royal Albert Hall, Sarah Hicks conducts the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Youth Music Theatre and special guests in Alan Menken's music for Disney films. 9.30 Classical Mixtape 10.0 Night Tracks (R) 11.30 'Round Midnight 12.30 Through the Night

Radio 4

6.0am Today 9.0 The Great Crime Mystery. Public perceptions of the crime rate. (3/3) 9.30 How Did We Get Here: No World Order. Tristan Redman and guests discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (6/6) 10.0 Woman's Hour 11.0 All Kinds of Minds. What happens when neurodivergent children struggle at school. (2/3) 11.45 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (R) 12.0 News 12.04 You and Yours 12.57 Weather 1.0 The World at One 1.45 A 9/11 Story Personal stories of the 11 September attacks. (1/10) 2.0 The Archers (R) 2.15 Fags, Mags and Bags (R) 2.45 New Storytellers (R) 3.0 Great Lives. Ruby Tandoh picks Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall series. (4/9) 3.30 You're Dead to Me (R) 4.0 The Dictators' Survival Guide (R) 4.30 Soul Music (R) 5.0 PM 5.57 Weather 6.0 News 6.30 Unspeakable. Phil Wang and Susie Dent challenge guests to create a new dictionary, starting with Jessie Cave, Armando Iannucci and Chloe Petts. (1/6) 7.0 The Archers 7.15 Front Row. Samira Ahmed and guests explore the

origins of television in the UK. (R) 8.0 The Briefing Room (R) 8.30 Inside Science (R) 9.0 The Great Crime Mystery (R) 9.30 How Did We Get Here: No World Order (R) 9.59 Weather 10.0 The World Tonight 10.45 Book at Bedtime: A Working Mother. By Agnes Owens. (1/5) 11.0 There's Something I Need to Tell You (R) 11.30 Everything Is Fake and Nobody Cares (R) 12.0 News 12.30 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (R) 12.48 Shipping Forecast 1.0 As World Service 5.0 News 5.04 The Dictators' Survival Guide (R) 5.32 Weather 5.34 Shipping Forecast 5.43 Prayer for the Day 5.45 Farming Today

Radio 4 Extra

6.0am Five Red Herrings (6/8) 6.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (6/8) 7.0 The Adventures of John and Tony (3/4) 7.30 Dad's Army (16/20) 8.0 55 and Over (2/4) 8.30 Flush (1/5) 8.45 The Offing (2/10) 9.0 Just a Minute (6/6) 9.30 The Secret History of a School (1/10) 9.45 Daily Service 10.0 Sounds Natural 10.30 Down and Out Debaters 11.0 Five Red Herrings (6/8) 11.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (6/8)

12.0 The Adventures of John and Tony (3/4) 12.30 Dad's Army (16/20) 1.0 55 and Over (2/4) 1.30 Flush (1/5) 1.45 The Offing (2/10) 2.0 Quote - Unquote 2.30 Trevor's World of Sport (1/6) 3.0 To Sir With Love (1/2) 4.0 Sounds Natural 4.30 Down and Out Debaters 5.0 Five Red Herrings (6/8) 5.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (6/8) 6.0 The Adventures of John and Tony (3/4) 6.30 Dad's Army (16/20) 7.0 55 and Over (2/4) 7.30 Flush (1/5) 7.45 The Offing (2/10) 8.0 Quote - Unquote 8.30 Trevor's World of Sport (1/6) 9.0 To Sir With Love (1/2) 10.0 Just a Minute (6/6) 10.30 Truly, Madly, Bletchley (4/6) 10.45 Quando, Quando, Quando (4/6) 11.0 The People Have Spoken (3/3) 11.30 The in Crowd (5/5) 12.0 Sounds Natural 12.30 Down and Out Debaters 1.0 Five Red Herrings (6/8) 1.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (6/8) 2.0 The Adventures of John and Tony (3/4) 2.30 Dad's Army (16/20) 3.0 55 and Over (2/4) 3.30 Flush (1/5) 3.45 The Offing (2/10) 4.0 Quote - Unquote 4.30 Trevor's World of Sport (1/6) 5.0 To Sir With Love (1/2)

BBC One

6.0 Breakfast (T) 9.30 Morning Live (T) 10.45 Rip Off Britain: Scams (T) 11.30 Homes Under the Hammer (T) (R) 12.15 Bargain Hunt (T) (R) 1.0 News (T) 1.35 Regional News and Weather (T) 1.45 News (T) 2.0 Money for Nothing (T) 2.45 Escape to the Country (T) (R) 3.45 Garden Rescue (T) (R) 4.30 The Answer Run (T) (R) 5.15 Pointless (T) 6.0 News (T) 6.30 Regional News and Weather (T) 7.0 The One Show (T) 7.30 EastEnders (T)

BBCTwo

6.30 Bargain Hunt (T) (R) 7.15 Money for Nothing (T) (R) 8.0 Sign Zone: The Great British Sewing Bee (T) (R) 9.0 News (T) 12.15 Politics Live (T) 1.0 House of Games (T) (R) 1.30 The Edge (T) (R) 2.15 Weatherman Walking (T) (R) 2.45 Animal Park (T) (R) 3.30 Serengeti III (T) (R) 4.30 Vintage Antiques Roadshow (T) (R) 5.10 Flog It! (T) (R) 6.0 Richard Osman's House of Games (T) (R) 6.30 Great British Railway Journeys (T) (R) 7.0 Nigellissima (T) (R) 7.30 Race Against the Tide (T)

ITV1

6.0 Good Morning Britain (T) 10.0 This Morning (T) 1.30 News and Weather (T) 1.55 Local News and Weather (T) 2.0 Dickinson's Real Deal (T) (R) 3.0 Deal Or No Deal (T) (R) 4.0 Tipping Point (T) (R) 5.0 The Chase (T) (R) 6.0 Local News and Weather (T) 6.30 News and Weather (T) 7.30 Millionaire Hot Seat (T)

Channel 4

6.30 The King of Queens (T) (R) 7.45 Everybody Loves Raymond (T) (R) 9.10 Frasier (T) (R) 11.10 Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back (T) (R) 12.05 News (T) 12.10 Find It, Fix It, Flog It (T) (R) 1.10 The Great House Giveaway (T) (R) 2.10 Countdown (T) 3.0 A Place in the Sun (T) (R) 4.0 The Great B&B Challenge (T) (R) 5.0 Chateau DIY (T) (R) 6.0 A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now? (T) 7.0 News (T)

Channel5

D Milkshake! 9.10 Entertainment News (T) 9.15 Jeremy Vine (T) 11.30 Storm & Alexis (T) 12.30 Live Snooker: British Open 2026 (T) 5.30 News (T) 6.25 Car Pound Cops (T) (R) 7.0 Cycling: Vuelta a España 2026 (T)

BBC Four

8.0 The Great British Sewing Bee The sewers have to make a Sherlock Holmes-style deerstalker, transform school uniforms for a grownup Matilda and channel their inner Jane Austen. 9.0 Celebrity MasterChef (T) With Sue Cleaver, Melvin Odoom, Una Healy, Lauren Steadman and Max Fosh.

10.0 News (T)

10.30 Regional News (T) Weather
10.40 FILM Creed (Ryan Coogler, 2015) (T) The son of a boxer turns to former champion Rocky Balboa for help following in his father's footsteps. Boxing drama, starring Michael B Jordan and Sylvester Stallone.
12.45 Weather (T) 12.50 News (T)

8.0 Saving Lives at Sea (T) The Newbiggin crew race to the rescue of three children who have been swept out to sea on a small inflatable dinghy. 9.0 Emergency 24/7 (T) A pensioner arrives with life-threatening burns after his shed exploded, and a young father with a brain clot needs an urgent procedure.

10.0 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (T) (R)

11.05 FILM The Godfather Part III (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990) (T) Crime drama sequel, starring Al Pacino.

1.30 Sign Zone Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story (T) (R) 2.20 Celebrity MasterChef (T) (R)

8.0 Emmerdale (T) Nicola has a breakthrough. 8.30 Coronation Street (T) Gemma tries to remain strong for Bernie. 9.0 The Sugar Daddy Murder: True Crime Presents (T) A look at the murder of Peter McMahon in 2012, whose ex-partner Sharon Swinhoe killed him for financial gain.

10.0 News (T) Weather

10.45 FILM Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013) (T) An alien living in secret on Earth defends the human race from a genocidal invasion. Fantasy, starring Henry Cavill.

1.0 Shop on TV 3.0 The Staircase (T) 4.10 Unwind With ITV (T) 5.10 Cotswold Kitchen (T) (R)

8.0 The Dog House (T) (R) The Bodleys face double trouble when they meet cockapoo twins Milo and Mable. 9.0 The Jury: 14 and on Trial for Murder (T) New series. A dramatic restaging of a real-life murder trial, in which two brothers, one aged 14, are charged with killing their stepfather.

10.0 9/11: 102 Minutes That Changed America (T) (R)

12.30 The Never Ending Murder (T) (R) 1.25 The Never Ending Murder (T) (R) 2.20 The Never Ending Murder (T) (R) 3.10 The Never Ending Murder (T) (R) 4.05 Couples Come Dine With Me (T) (R) 5.0 A Place in the Sun (T) (R) 5.30 Sunday Brunch (T) (R)

8.0 Motorway Cops: Catching Britain's Speeders (T) On patrol in Stoke-on-Trent, PC Chris Bagnall hunts down a stolen black BMW on cloned plates linked to a burglary. 9.0 The Game (T) New series. A year on from the attack, Huw Miller's daughter receives letters from jailed serial killer Patrick.

10.0 9/11: The Unseen Footage (T) (R) The story of the attack.

11.30 The Day Diana Died (T) (R) 1.05 Car Pound Cops (T) (R) 1.30 Cruise TV (T) (R) 2.30 GPs: Behind Closed Doors (T) (R) 3.20 The Highland Vet (T) (R) 4.15 Yorkshire With Jane McDonald (T) (R) 5.0 Entertainment News (T) 5.15 Ben and Holly (T) (R)

7.0 The Architecture the Railways Built (T) (R) The timber-framed Barmouth Bridge in north Wales. 7.40 The Flying Gardener (R) Chris Beardshaw visits Devon.

8.0 To the Manor Born (T) (R) Richard neglects to invite Audrey to the Hunt Ball. 8.30 Keeping Up Appearances (T) (R) Hyacinth agrees to meet a VIP at the station. 9.0 How the Celts Saved Britain (T) (R) The ways in which the Celts saved Britain from cultural oblivion during the so-called dark ages.

10.0 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (T) (R) The explosion of colour. 11.0 I Am Martin Parr (T) (R) A profile of the photographer.

12.05 The Brits Who Designed the Modern World (T) (R) 1.05 The Flying Gardener (T) (R) 1.20 Britain in Focus (T) (R) 2.20 How the Celts Saved Britain (T) (R)

Other channels

BBC Three

7.0pm The Catch Up
7.05 Deadly 60 7.30
Deadly 60 8.0 Top
Gear 9.0 Scamanda
9.45 Scamanda 10.25
Scamanda 11.05
Scamanda 11.45 Daddy
Issues 12.10 Daddy Issues
12.35 Daddy Issues
1.05 Daddy Issues 1.25
Daddy Issues 1.55 Daddy
Issues 2.20 Yaxlont
2.35 Scamanda 3.15
Scamanda

U&Dave

6.0am Teleshopping
7.25 Top Gear 8.20
Border Force: America's Gatekeepers 9.20
Border Force: America's Gatekeepers 10.20 Rick Stein's Road to Mexico 11.20 Yukon Gold 12.20
Top Gear 1.20 Top Gear 2.20 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 3.0 Speed With Guy Martin 4.0 Hairy Bikers' Best of British 5.0 Rick Stein's Road to Mexico 6.0 Rick Stein's Road to Mexico 7.0 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 7.40 Would I Lie to You? At Christmas 8.20 Would I Lie to You? 9.0 Have I Got a Bit More News for You 10.0 QI XL 11.0 Taskmaster 12.0 Mock the Week 12.40 Would I Lie to You? At Christmas 1.20 Would I Lie to You? 2.0 QI XL

3.0 Mock the Week 3.35 Parks and Recreation 4.0 Teleshopping

E4

6.0am Hollyoaks
6.30 Hollyoaks 6.55
Rude(ish) Tube Shorts
7.0 Couples Come Dine
With Me 8.0 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA
9.0 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 10.0 America's Funniest Home Videos
11.0 America's Funniest Home Videos
12.0 The Simpsons
12.30 The Simpsons
1.0 The Simpsons 1.30 The Simpsons 2.0 The Goldbergs 2.30 The Goldbergs 3.0 Modern Family 3.30 Modern Family 4.0 Modern Family 4.30 Modern Family 5.0 The Simpsons
5.30 The Simpsons 6.0 The Simpsons 6.30 The Simpsons 7.0 Hollyoaks
7.30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 8.0 Ladies of London: The New Reign 9.0 Below Deck Down Under 10.0 Gogglebox 11.05 First Dates 12.05 Naked Attraction 1.10 Below Deck Down Under 2.10 Ladies of London: The New Reign 3.0 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 3.55 The Simpsons
4.20 The Goldbergs
4.45 The Goldbergs 5.10 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 5.35 Modern Family

Film4

11.0am FILM Mysterious Island (1961) 1.05
FILM Spies in Disguise (2019) 3.10 FILM Send Me No Flowers (1964) 5.15 FILM Spartacus (1960) 9.0 FILM The Rock (1996) 11.45
FILM Journeyman (2017) 1.35 FILM Pixie (2020)

PBS America

6.0am Teleshopping
8.0 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 8.50 Secrets of the Royal Palaces
9.50 Ancient Apocalypse
10.55 France: The Post War Recovery 12.0 Cleopatra 1.0 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 2.10 Ancient Apocalypse 3.20 France: The Post War Recovery 4.30 Cleopatra 5.30 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 6.30 Ancient Apocalypse 7.35 France: The Post War Recovery 8.50 Cleopatra 9.50 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 10.50 Ancient Apocalypse 12.0 France: The Post War Recovery 1.15 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 2.0 Teleshopping

Sky One

6.0am Mornings With Ridge and Frost 8.0 Stargate SG-1 9.0 Stargate SG-1 10.0 La Brea 11.0 The Simpsons

11.30 The Simpsons 12.0 Africa's Hunters 1.0 Hawaii Five-0 3.0 S.W.A.T 5.0 The Simpsons 6.0 Superstore 7.0 Deadline Day 7.30 Gillette Labs Soccer Special 10.0 Deadline Day 12.0 The 'Burbs 1.0 Grimm 2.0 Evil 3.0 Hawaii Five-0 4.0 S.W.A.T 5.0 S.W.A.T

Sky Arts

6.0am Punchdrunk: Behind the Mask 7.0 Backstage With the London Philharmonic Orchestra 8.0 Artist of the Year: Masterclass 9.0 Tales of the Unexpected 10.0 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 11.0 Discovering: Karl Malden 12.0 Gil Scott-Heron - Pieces of a Man 1.0 Tales of the Unexpected 1.30 Tales of the Unexpected 2.0 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 3.0 Stories from

Pixie, Film4
[Unreadable]

the National Portrait Gallery 4.0 Discovering: Anthony Hopkins 5.0 Best of Portrait Artist of the Year 2023 6.0 Tales of the Unexpected 6.30 Tales of the Unexpected 7.0 Tea With Judi Dench Featuring Sir Ian McKellen 8.0 Chaplin: The Birth of the Tramp 9.15 Art Traffickers: Treasures Stolen from the Tombs 10.15 Wonderland: From JM Barrie to JRR Tolkien 11.15 The Movies 12.15 Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive 2.25 Inside Art: Picasso/Ingres at the National Gallery 2.50 Art Traffickers: Treasures Stolen from the Tombs 3.45 National Trust: National Treasures 5.0 Stories from the National Portrait Gallery

Sky Atlantic

6.0am Fish Town 8.0
Billions 10.15 The Last
of Us 12.45 Homicide:
Life on the Street 2.45
Billions 4.55 The White
Lotus 6.25 The Last of
Us 9.0 Little Bird 10.0
Little Bird 11.0 Das Boot
12.10 The Five-Star
Weekend 1.10 The
Five-Star Weekend 2.05
Gomorrah: The Origins
3.10 Gomorrah: The
Origins 4.15 The Guest
Wing 5.05 The Guest
Wing

Radio

Radio 3

6.30am Breakfast 9.30 Essential Classics 1.0 Classical Live. From the Proms, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met Orchestra in R Strauss's Ein Heldenleben. Plus, from the Montpellier festival, pianist Bertrand Chamayou plays excerpts from Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words: Andante Con Moto, Op 19/1; Andante Espressivo, Op 19/2; and Agitato, Op 38/5. 4.0 Composer of the Week: Élisabeth Jacquet De La Guerre (R) 5.0 In Tune 7.0 Classical Mixtape 7.30 BBC Proms 2026. Live from the Royal Albert Hall, Jakub Hrůša conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and pianist Lukáš Vondráček in Vítězslava Kaprálová's Suita Rustica, Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor and Janáček's Sinfonietta. 10.0 Night Tracks (R) 11.30 'Round Midnight 12.30 Through the Night (R)

Radio 4

6.0am Today 9.0 Invisible Hands. David Dimbleby tells the story of Pat Buchanan. (6/6) 9.30 Michael Sheen Gets Into Character (R) 10.0 Woman's Hour

11.0 Add to Playlist (R) 11.45 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (R) 12.0 News 12.04 Call You and Yours 12.57 Weather 1.0 The World at One 1.45 A 9/11 Story. A woman whose husband was in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. (2/10) 2.0 The Archers (R) 2.15 Downstream. Comedy drama, by Nick Warburton. The arrival of old employee Don elicits two very different responses from the Platter siblings. (3/3) 3.0 History's Secret Heroes. Helena Bonham Carter tells the story of the Cockleshell Heroes, AKA Operation Frankton, a 1942 raid on Bordeaux harbour. (2/10) 3.30 Heart and Soul. Rajeev Gupta speaks to ex-US special forces soldier David Eubank. (8/10) 4.0 Beryl Cook: Artist Or Entertainer? A look at the life and career of the painter. 4.30 What's Up Docs? The pros and cons of sticking to a routine. 5.0 PM 5.57 Weather 6.0 News 6.30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (4/6) 7.0 The Archers 7.15 Front Row (R) 8.0 Medical Emergency. A look at the high suicide rate among doctors. 8.40 In Touch 9.0 Crossing Continents.

Ellie House reports on the US's increasingly interconnected surveillance network. (5/9) 9.30 Scam Secrets (R) 9.59 Weather 10.0 The World Tonight 10.45 Book at Bedtime: A Working Mother. By Agnes Owens. (2/5) 11.0 Half-Life (R) 11.30 Today in Parliament 12.0 News and Weather 12.30 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (R) 12.48 Shipping Forecast 1.0 As World Service 5.0 News 5.04 Yesterday in Parliament 5.32 Weather 5.34 Shipping Forecast 5.43 Prayer for the Day 5.45 Farming Today

Radio 4 Extra

6.0am Five Red Herrings (7/8) 6.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (7/8) 7.0 Yes Minister (8/8) 7.30 The Milligan Papers (4/6) 8.0 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen? (4/5) 8.30 Flush (2/5) 8.45 The Offing (3/10) 9.0 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (3/6) 9.30 The Secret History of a School (2/10) 9.45 Daily Service 10.0 A Good Read (1/8) 10.30 The School on the Moor 11.0 Five Red Herrings (7/8) 11.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (7/8) 12.0 Yes Minister (8/8) 12.30 The Milligan Papers (4/6)

1.0 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen? (4/5) 1.30 Flush (2/5) 1.45 The Offing (3/10) 2.0 It's Not What You Know (2/4) 2.30 Life in London (4/6) 3.0 To Sir With Love (2/2) 4.0 A Good Read (1/8) 4.30 The School on the Moor 5.0 Five Red Herrings (7/8) 5.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (7/8) 6.0 Yes Minister (8/8) 6.30 The Milligan Papers (4/6) 7.0 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen? (4/5) 7.30 Flush (2/5) 7.45 The Offing (3/10) 8.0 It's Not What You Know (2/4) 8.30 Life in London (4/6) 9.0 To Sir With Love (2/2) 10.0 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (3/6) 10.30 Pick-Ups (3/6) 11.0 Tina C's Global Depression Tour (1/6) 11.15 2000 Years of Radio (3/6) 11.30 Chain Reaction (5/6) 12.0 A Good Read (1/8) 12.30 The School on the Moor 1.0 Five Red Herrings (7/8) 1.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (7/8) 2.0 Yes Minister (8/8) 2.30 The Milligan Papers (4/6) 3.0 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen? (4/5) 3.30 Flush (2/5) 3.45 The Offing (3/10) 4.0 It's Not What You Know (2/4) 4.30 Life in London (4/6) 5.0 To Sir With Love (2/2)

BBC One

6.0 Breakfast (T) 9.30 Morning Live (T) 10.45 Rip Off Britain (T) 11.30 Homes Under the Hammer (T) (R) 12.15 Bargain Hunt (T) (R) 1.0 News (T) 1.35 Regional News and Weather (T) 1.45 News (T) 2.0 Money for Nothing (T) 2.45 Escape to the Country (T) (R) 3.45 Garden Rescue (T) 4.30 The Answer Run (T) (R) 5.15 Pointless (T) 6.0 News (T) 6.30 Regional News and Weather (T) 7.0 The One Show (T) 7.30 EastEnders (T)

BBC Two

6.30 Bargain Hunt (T) (R) 7.15 Money for Nothing (T) (R) 8.0 Sign Zone: Great Continental Railway Journeys (T) (R) 9.0 News (T) 11.15 Politics Live (T) 1.0 House of Games (T) (R) 1.30 The Edge (T) (R) 2.15 Weatherman Walking (T) (R) 2.45 Animal Park (T) (R) 3.30 Dogs in the Wild: Meet the Family (T) (R) 4.30 Vintage Antiques Roadshow (T) (R) 5.15 Flog It! (T) (R) 6.0 House of Games (T) (R) 6.30 Great British Railway Journeys (T) (R) 7.0 Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (T) (R)

ITV1

6.0 Good Morning Britain (T) 10.0 This Morning (T) 1.30 News and Weather (T) 1.55 Local News and Weather (T) 2.0 Dickinson's Real Deal (T) (R) 3.0 Deal Or No Deal (T) (R) 4.0 Tipping Point (T) (R) 5.0 The Chase (T) (R) 6.0 Local News and Weather (T) 6.30 News and Weather (T) 7.30 Millionaire Hot Seat (T)

Channel 4

6.30 The King of Queens (T) (R) 7.45 Everybody Loves Raymond (T) (R) 9.10 Frasier (T) (R) 11.10 Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back (T) (R) 12.05 News (T) 12.10 Find It, Fix It, Flog It (T) (R) 1.10 The Great House Giveaway (T) (R) 2.10 Countdown (T) 3.0 A Place in the Sun (T) (R) 4.0 The Great B&B Challenge (T) (R) 5.0 Chateau DIY (T) (R) 6.0 A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now? (T) 7.0 News (T)

Channel 5

Milkshake! 9.05 Entertainment News (T) 9.15 Jeremy Vine (T) 11.30 Storm & Alexis (T) 12.30 Live Snooker: British Open 2026 (T) 5.30 News (T) 6.25 Car Pound Cops (T) (R) 7.0 Cycling: Vuelta a España 2026 (T)

BBC Four

7.0 Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain (T) (R) Norman engineering techniques. 7.30 Villages By the Sea (T) (R) Seaton Sluice in Northumberland.

8.0 The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn (T) New series. The experts revisit people who have been reunited with cherished mementos, starting with a cowboy hat with links to a rock star. 9.0 Celebrity MasterChef (T) The amateur cooks have to prepare the ultimate takeaway for Angry Ginge.

10.0 News (T)

10.30 Regional News (T) Weather 10.40 Reading Festival Highlights 2026 (T) Music by Charli xcx, Florence + the Machine, Fontaines DC and Raye. 11.40 The Hit List (T) (R) Three pairs compete in the quiz to name as many hit songs and artists as possible. 12.25 Weather (T) 12.30 News (T)

8.0 Inside the Factory (T) (R) Paddy McGuinness explores the surprising process of turning potato starch into 500m packs of Quavers cheese curls every year. 9.0 Stolen Babies (T) The story of forced adoption and its lasting effects, a practice sanctioned by the UK state from 1949 until 1976.

10.30 Newsnight (T) Weather 11.05 Couples Therapy (T) Shay confronts Clinton's online infidelities.

11.30 Couples Therapy (T) Nessa and Drea work to break a familiar cycle.

12.05 A House Through Time (T) (R) 1.05 Sign Zone: Celebrity MasterChef (T) (R) 2.05 The Mother of All Cons (T) (R)

8.0 Emmerdale (T) An arrival shocks the villagers, and Vinny tells Kev his plan. 8.30 Coronation Street (T) Idris confronts Ronnie for stealing his car. 9.0 Professor T (T) A school inspector is murdered in his home, and a number of items are stolen, which links the case to a spate of burglaries.

10.30 Local News (T) Weather 10.45 WhatsApp Obsession: The Murder of Stephanie Hansen (T) (R) Documentary. 11.40 British Touring Corp

11.40 British Touring Car Championship Highlights (R)

12.55 Shop on TV 3.0 Force of Nature (T) (R) 3.55 Breaking Dad (T) (R) 4.15 Unwind With ITV (T) 5.35 Pictionary (T) (R)

8.0 Kirstie and Phil's Love It Or List It: Brilliant Builds (T) A look back at seemingly unresolvable property problems in Hamilton and Milton Keynes. 9.0 The Jury: 14 and on Trial for Murder (T) Fourteen-year-old defendant Daniel describes growing up in an abusive household.

10.0 9/11: Days That Shocked the World (T) Rescuers and survivors describe the events. 12.0 Emergency Helicopter Medics (T) (R) 1.0 Kitchen Nightmares USA (T) (R) 1.50 FILM Minari (Lee Isaac Chung, 2020) 3.50 Sunday Brunch (T) (R) 4.05 Jamie: Eat Yourself Healthy (T) (R) 5.0 Come Dine With Me (T) (R)

8.0 Call the Bailiffs: Time to Pay Up (T) Agents Mark and Sam pursue a company ordered to repay money unlawfully deducted from a former employee's wages.

9.0 The Game (T) Patrick intensifies his psychological assault on Huw and Margot when Jackie breaks into Margot's flat.

10.0 A&E: Crash Scene Emergency (T) (R)

11.0 Ambulance: Code Red (T) (R) 12.0 A&E After Dark (T) (R) 12.55 Car Pound Cops (T) (R) 1.30 Cruise TV (T) (R) 2.30 GPs: Behind Closed Doors (T) (R) 3.20 The Highland Vet (T) (R) 4.15 Yorkshire With Jane McDonald (T) (R) 5.15 Ben and Holly (T) (R)

8.0 Rome: A History of the Eternal City (T) (R) Rome's rise from the neglect of the 14th century into the seat of the papacy. Last in the series. 9.0 Rome's Invisible City (T) (R) Alexander Armstrong explores the underground treasures that made Rome the powerhouse of the ancient world.

10.0 I, Claudius (T) (R) Messalina begins a rebellion. 10.50 I, Claudius (T) (R) The emperor is urged to remarry. 11.45 The Australian Wars (T) (R) 12.45 Rome's Invisible City (T) (R) 1.45 Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain (T) (R) 2.15 Villages By the Sea (T) (R) 2.45 Rome: A History of the Eternal City (T) (R)

Other channels

BBC Three

7.0pm The Catch Up
7.05 Deadly 60 7.30
Deadly 60 8.0 Top
Gear 9.0 Top Gear 10.0
Guy Montgomery's
Guy Mont-Spelling Bee
Australia 11.35 RuPaul's
Drag Race UK: Meet the
Queens 12.0 The Young
Offenders 12.30 The
Young Offenders 1.0 The
Young Offenders 1.35
The Young Offenders
2.05 The Young
Offenders 2.35 The
Young Offenders 3.05
Zoners 3.20 Scamanda

U&Dave

6.0am Teleshopping 7.25 Top Gear 8.20 Border Force: America's Gatekeepers 9.20 Border Force: America's Gatekeepers 10.20 Rick Stein's Road to Mexico 11.20 Yukon Gold 12.20 Top Gear 1.20 Top Gear 2.20 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 3.0 Speed With Guy Martin 4.0 Hairy Bikers' Best of British 5.0 Rick Stein's Road to Mexico 6.0 Rick Stein's Road to Mexico 7.0 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 7.40 Would I Lie to You? 8.20 Would I Lie to You? 9.0 QI XL 10.0 Have I Got a Bit More News for You 11.0 Taskmaster 12.0 Mock the Week 12.40 Would I

Lie to You? 1.20 Would I Lie to You? 2.0 QI XL 3.0 Richard Osman's House of Games 3.30 Parks and Recreation 4.0 Teleshopping

E4

6.0am Hollyoaks 6.55 Rude(ish) Tube Shorts 7.0 Couples Come Dine With Me 8.0 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 10.0 America's Funniest Home Videos 12.0 The Simpsons 2.0 The Goldbergs 3.0 Modern Family 5.0 The Simpsons 7.0 Hollyoaks 7.30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 8.0 Ladies of London: The New Reign 9.0 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 10.0 Gogglebox 11.0 First Dates Valentine's 12.05 Naked Attraction 1.10 Gogglebox 2.10 Ladies of London: The New Reign 3.0 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 3.55 The Simpsons 4.20 The Goldbergs 5.10 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 5.35 Modern Family

Film4

11.0am FILM The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) 1.25 FILM Rosaline (2022) 3.15 FILM The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952) 5.0 FILM The Gunfighter (1950) 6.45

FILM Uncharted (2022) 9.0 FILM Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) 10.50 FILM Daredevil (2003) 12.55 FILM The Missionary (1982)

PBS America

6.0am Teleshopping
8.0 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 8.50 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 9.45 Ancient Apocalypse 10.55 France: The Post War Recovery 12.0 Cleopatra 1.0 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 2.10 Ancient Apocalypse 3.15 France: The Post War Recovery 4.25 Cleopatra 5.25 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 6.25 Ancient Apocalypse 7.35 France: The Post War Recovery 8.40 Cleopatra 9.40 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 10.40 Ancient Apocalypse 12.0 France: The Post War Recovery 1.10 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 2.0 Teleshopping

Sky One

6.0am Mornings With Ridge and Frost 8.0 Stargate SG-1 10.0 La Brea 11.0 The Simpsons 12.0 Africa's Hunters 1.0 Hawaii Five-0 3.0 S.W.A.T 5.0 The Simpsons 6.0 Superstore 7.0 The Simpsons 8.0 Surviving Earth 9.0 FILM The Expendables

2 (2012) 11.0 Rob & Romesh vs Hollywood Stunts 12.0 Grimm 1.0 Evil 2.0 The Force: North East 3.0 Hawaii Five-0 4.0 S.W.A.T 5.0 S.W.A.T

Sky Arts

6.0am Mozart's Women: A Musical Journey 7.30 The Joy of Painting 8.0 Artist of the Year: Masterclass 8.30 Artist of the Year: Masterclass 9.0 Tales of the Unexpected 9.30 Tales of the Unexpected 10.0 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 10.30 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 11.0 Discovering: Anthony Hopkins 12.0 The Who Sell Out: Classic Albums 1.0 Tales of the Unexpected 1.30 Tales of the Unexpected 2.0 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 3.0 Stories from the National Portrait Gallery 4.0 Discovering:

Faye Dunaway 5.0 Portrait Artist of the Year 2024 6.0 Tales of the Unexpected 6.30 Tales of the Unexpected 7.0 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 7.30 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 8.0 Michael Flatley: Lord of the Dance - Dangerous Games 9.50 The Nineties 10.50 Art's Wildest Movement: Mannerism 11.50 Mary Cassatt: Painting the Modern Woman 1.0 Klimt and the Kiss 2.15 Inside Art: Barbara Hepworth 2.45 Art Traffickers: Treasures Stolen from the Tombs 3.45 National Trust: National Treasures 5.0 Stories from the National Portrait Gallery

Sky Atlantic

6.0am Fish Town 8.0 Billions 10.15 The Last of Us 12.30 Homicide: Life on the Street 1.25 Homicide: Life on the Street 2.20 Billions 3.25 Billions 4.30 The White Lotus 5.35 The White Lotus 6.45 The Last of Us 7.50 The Last of Us 9.0 The Terror: Devil in Silver 10.0 The Terror: Devil in Silver 11.0 Task 12.10 The Five-Star Weekend 1.05 The Five-Star Weekend 2.0 Fightland 3.05 Gomorrah: The Origins 4.10 The Guest Wing

Radio

Radio 3

6.30am Breakfast 9.30 Essential Classics 1.0 Classical Live. From the Proms, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met Orchestra in Mahler's Symphony No 4 in G major. Plus, from the International Baroque Festival, Beaune, D Scarlatti's Salve Regina, with Le Concert d'Astrée conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm. 3.0 Choral Evensong 4.0 Composer of the Week: Élisabeth Jacquet De La Guerre (R) 5.0 In Tune 6.30 BBC Proms 2026. Live from the Royal Albert Hall, Kirill Petrenko conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in London. Elgar's "Enigma" Variations and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 4 in F minor. 8.30 New Generation Artists. The Novo Quartet play Smetana's From My Life and pianist Lukas Sternath performs Liszt's Funérailles. 10.15 BBC Proms 2026. The Gesualdo Six and Colin Currie Group perform choral music by De Machaut, Pérotin, Ockeghem, Von Bingen, Dunstable, Owain Park and Des Prez, ending with Reich's Tehillim. 11.45 'Round Midnight 12.30 Through the Night

Radio 4

6.0am Today 9.0 Sideways. Matthew Syed explores what it means to pursue knowledge. (8/8) 9.30 Breakin' the Cycle: The Final Act. Lewis Albrow reveals how D was arrested and imprisoned. (6/6) 10.0 Woman's Hour 11.0 Medical Emergency (R) 11.40 This Week in History 11.45 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (R) 12.0 News 12.04 You and Yours 12.57 Weather 1.0 The World at One 1.45 A 9/11 Story. FBI special agent Danny Gonzalez chases leads in San Diego. (3/10) 2.0 The Archers (R) 2.15 Broken Colours. Thriller, by Matthew Broughton. Jess's new boyfriend Dan has vanished into thin air. With Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin. (2/5) (R) 3.0 Money Box (1/8) 3.30 Glasgow: Satellite City. Shiona McCallum reports on how the city has transformed itself into Europe's largest producer of small satellites. 4.0 NatureBang (R) 4.15 The Media Show 5.0 PM 5.57 Weather 6.0 News 6.30 Best Medicine. The guests talk about team sports, the senses, dog blood donors and board games. Kiri Pritchard-McLean hosts. (6/6)

7.0 The Archers 7.15 Front Row (R) 8.0 The Moral Maze (3/6) 9.0 Invisible Hands (R) 9.30 Michael Sheen Gets Into Character (R) 9.59 Weather 10.0 The World Tonight 10.45 Book at Bedtime: A Working Mother. By Agnes Owens. (3/5) 11.0 Nora Meadows' Week of Wellness (R) 11.15 The Skewer. Topical comedy show from Jon Holmes. (1/5) 11.30 Today in Parliament 12.0 News and Weather 12.30 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (R) 12.48 Shipping Forecast 1.0 As World Service 5.0 News 5.04 Yesterday in Parliament 5.32 Weather 5.34 Shipping Forecast 5.43 Prayer for the Day 5.45 Farming Today

Radio 4 Extra

6.0am Five Red Herrings (8/8) 6.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (8/8) 7.0 Men of Intelligence (2/6) 7.30 The Missing Hancocks (1/5) 8.0 You Heard It Here First (3/6) 8.30 Flush (3/5) 8.45 The Offing (4/10) 9.0 Best Medicine (5/6) 9.30 The Secret History of a School (3/10) 9.45 Daily Service 10.0 Mercury 11.0 Five Red Herrings (8/8) 11.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (8/8)

12.0 Men of Intelligence (2/6) 12.30 The Missing Hancocks (1/5) 1.0 You Heard It Here First (3/6) 1.30 Flush (3/5) 1.45 The Offing (4/10) 2.0 The Ultimate Choice (5/6) 2.30 Getting Nowhere Fast (5/6) 3.0 Conversation from the Engine Room 4.0 Mercury 5.0 Five Red Herrings (8/8) 5.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (8/8) 6.0 Men of Intelligence (2/6) 6.30 The Missing Hancocks (1/5) 7.0 You Heard It Here First (3/6) 7.30 Flush (3/5) 7.45 The Offing (4/10) 8.0 The Ultimate Choice (5/6) 8.30 Getting Nowhere Fast (5/6) 9.0 Conversation from the Engine Room 10.0 Comedy Club: Best Medicine (5/6) 10.30 Delve Special (2/4) 11.0 Welcome to Wherever You Are (4/4) 11.30 Lucy Porter's Lucky Dip 12.0 Mercury 1.0 Five Red Herrings (8/8) 1.30 Kill the Pharaoh! (8/8) 2.0 Men of Intelligence (2/6) 2.30 The Missing Hancocks (1/5) 3.0 You Heard It Here First (3/6) 3.30 Flush (3/5) 3.45 The Offing (4/10) 4.0 The Ultimate Choice (5/6) 4.30 Getting Nowhere Fast (5/6) 5.0 Conversation from the Engine Room

Renovation Rescue, Channel 4

BBC One

6.0 Breakfast (T) 9.30 Morning Live (T) 10.45 Rip Off Britain (T) 11.30 Homes Under the Hammer (T) (R) 12.15 Bargain Hunt (T) (R) 1.0 News (T) 1.35 Regional News and Weather (T) 1.45 News (T) 2.0 Money for Nothing (T) 2.45 Escape to the Country (T) (R) 3.45 Garden Rescue (T) (R) 4.30 The Answer Run (T) (R) 5.15 Pointless (T) 6.0 News (T) 6.30 Regional News and Weather (T) 7.0 The One Show (T) 7.30 EastEnders (T)

BBC Two

6.30 Garden Rescue (T) (R) 7.15 Money for Nothing (T) (R) 8.0 Sign Zone: Gardeners' World (T) (R) 9.0 News (T) 12.15 Politics Live (T) 1.0 Richard Osman's House of Games (T) (R) 1.30 The Edge (T) (R) 2.15 Weatherman Walking (T) (R) 2.45 Animal Park (T) (R) 3.30 Dogs in the Wild: Meet the Family (T) (R) 4.30 Vintage Antiques Roadshow (T) (R) 5.15 Flog It! (T) (R) 6.0 Richard Osman's House of Games (T) (R) 6.30 Great British Railway Journeys (T) (R) 7.0 Escape to the Country (T) (R)

ITV1

6.0 Good Morning Britain (T) 10.0 This Morning (T) 1.30 News and Weather (T) 1.55 Local News and Weather (T) 2.0 Dickinson's Real Deal (T) (R) 3.0 Deal Or No Deal (T) (R) 4.0 Tipping Point (T) (R) 5.0 The Chase (T) (R) 6.0 Local News and Weather (T) 6.30 News and Weather (T) 7.30 Millionaire Hot Seat (T)

Channel 4

6.30 The King of Queens (T) (R) 7.45 Everybody Loves Raymond (T) (R) 9.10 Frasier (T) (R) 11.10 Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back (T) (R) 12.05 News (T) 12.10 Find It, Fix It, Flog It (T) (R) 1.10 The Great House Giveaway (T) (R) 2.10 Countdown (T) 3.0 A Place in the Sun (T) (R) 4.0 The Great B&B Challenge (T) (R) 5.0 Chateau DIY (T) (R) 6.0 A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now? (T) 7.0 News (T)

Channel5

6.0 Milkshake! 9.05

Milkshake: 5.03 Entertainment News (T) 9.15 Jeremy Vine (T) 11.30 Storm & Alexis (T) 12.30 Live Snooker: British Open 2026 (T) 5.30 News (T) 6.25 Car Pound Cops (T) (R) 7.0 Cycling: Vuelta a España 2026 (T)

BBC Four

7.0 Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain (T) (R) The castles of north Wales. 7.30 Villages By the Sea (T) (R) The Welsh village of Porthgain.

8.0 Dragons' Den (T) Pitches include alcohol-liberated wine, a new retail venue and all-natural, plant-based ice-cream. 9.0 Ludwig (T) John gets sidetracked while gathering intel for Lucy's upcoming assignment by the murder of an influencer in the heart of Cambridge.

10.0 News (T)

10.30 Regional News (T) Weather 10.40 FILM Creed II (Steven Caple Jr, 2018) (T) Adonis Creed faces off against Viktor, the son of Ivan Drago. Drama, starring Michael B Jordan and Sylvester Stallone.

12.40 The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn (T) (R) 1.40 Weather (T) 1.45 News (T)

8.0 The Big Deal With Steph McGovern (T) The contestants are split into teams, with one half travelling to Berlin, while the rest stay in London. 9.0 A House Through Time (T) Featuring the Ruggs family, who were witnesses to the first German attack on mainland Britain in 1939.

10.0 Red Dwarf (T) (R) Rimmer forces the crew to spend 12 weeks in quarantine.

10.30 Newsnight (T) Weather 11.05 Emergency 24/7 (T) (R)

12.05 FILM Respect (Liesl Tommy, 2021) (T) Biopic of soul singer Aretha Franklin, starring Jennifer Hudson. 2.25 Sign Zone: Vigil (T) (R) 3.20 This Is BBC Two (T)

8.0 Emmerdale (T) Bear talks to Sarah, and Kim is concerned. 8.30 Coronation Street (T) Debbie experiences a brush with the past on a visit to the salon. 9.0 Long Lost Family (T) New series. Decades after painful family separations, Avril and Marie seek answers. Presented by Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell.

10.0 News (T) Weather 10.30 Local News (T) Weather 10.45 The Late Debate (T)

11.15 Unbelievable Moments Caught on Camera (T) (R) A Miami estate agent rescues a woman from alligators.

12.10 Shop on TV 3.0 The Staircase (T) (R) 4.05 Unwind With ITV (T) 5.05 The Chase Around the World (T) (R)

8.0 Renovation Rescue (T) In Nottinghamshire, Sylvia and Dave need help after having sunk £250,000 into what is still a building site three years on.

9.0 Taskmaster (T) New series. Richard Ayoade, Isy Suttie, Matt Lucas, Nina Conti and Chloe Petts compete in the comic competition.

10.0 Celebrity Gogglebox (T) (R) 11.0 24 Hours in Police Custody: The Ambush (T) (R)

12.15 Crime Scene Cleaners (T) (R) 1.10 Kitchen Nightmares USA (T) (R) 2.0 FILM Our Friend (2021) (T) Fact-based drama. 4.05 Jamie: Eat Yourself Healthy (T) (R) 5.0 Couples Come Dine With Me (T) (R) 5.50 Countdown (T) (R)

8.0 The Yorkshire Vet (T) Shona Searson attends to Pedro the bull, who has a bad case of sunburn, while a 12ft Burmese python with a serious eye problem arrives.

9.0 Benidorm Is Murder (T) A farewell party takes a deadly turn when a guest is stabbed to death during a blackout. Last in the series.

10.0 Killer at the Crime Scene (R) 11.05 Killed By Our Daughter: The McCullough Murders (T) (R)

12.20 Street Cops (T) (R) 1.30 Cruise TV (T) (R) 2.30 GPs: Behind Closed Doors (T) (R) 3.20 The Highland Vet (T) (R) 4.15 Yorkshire With Jane McDonald (T) (R) 5.15 Ben and Holly (T) (R) 5.35 Paw Patrol (R) 5.50 Mixmups (R)

8.0 FILM The Italian Job (1969) (T) A crook recruits a gang to steal \$4m in gold bullion in central Turin. Crime comedy, starring Michael Caine, Noël Coward and Benny Hill.

9.35 Talking Pictures: The Godfather Trilogy (T) (R) Celia Imrie goes through the BBC's archives to tell the story behind the films.

10.20 FILM The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) (T) Gangster drama, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. 1.10 Talking Pictures: 70s Legends Part I (T) (R) 2.0 Talking Pictures: The Godfather Trilogy (T) (R) 2.45 Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain (T) (R) 3.15 Villages By the Sea (T) (R)

Other channels

BBC Three

7.0pm The Catch Up
7.05 Deadly 60 8.0 The Cruise 9.0 Amanda & Alan's Italian Job 10.0 RuPaul's Drag Race UK
11.15 Smoggie Queens
2.10 Paddy & Molly: Show No Mersey 2.40 RuPaul's Drag Race UK

U&Dave

6.0am Teleshopping
7.25 Top Gear 8.20
Border Force: America's Gatekeepers 9.20
Border Force: America's Gatekeepers 10.20 Rick Stein's Road to Mexico 11.20 Yukon Gold 12.20
Top Gear 1.20 Top Gear 2.20 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 3.0 Speed With Guy Martin 4.0 Hairy Bikers' Best of British 5.0 Rick Stein's Road to Mexico 6.0 Rick Stein's Secret France 7.0 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 7.40 Would I Lie to You? 8.20 Would I Lie to You? At Christmas 9.0 Hit Point 10.0 Have I Got a Bit More News for You 11.0 Taskmaster: Champion of Champions 12.0 Mock the Week 12.40 Would I Lie to You? 1.20 Would I Lie to You? At Christmas 2.0 Hit Point 3.05 Richard Osman's House of Games 3.35 Judge Romesh 4.0 Teleshopping

E4

6.0am Modern Family
6.55 Rude(ish) Tube
Shorts 7.0 Couples
Come Dine With Me
8.0 Ramsay's Kitchen
Nightmares USA 10.0
America's Funniest
Home Videos 12.0
The Simpsons 2.0 The Goldbergs 3.0 Modern Family 5.0 The Simpsons 7.30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 8.0 Ladies of London: The New Reign 9.0 Gogglebox 10.0 Sarah Millican: Late Bloomer 11.0 First Dates: Valentine's 12.05 Naked Attraction's Best Naughty Bits 1.10 Gogglebox 2.10 Ladies of London: The New Reign 3.0 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA 3.55 The Simpsons 4.20 The Goldbergs 5.10 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 5.35 Modern Family

Film4

11.0am FILM Lifeboat (1944) 12.55 FILM The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) 2.55 FILM Guadalcanal Diary (1943) 4.45 FILM Canyon Passage (1946) 6.35 FILM Charlotte Gray (2001) 9.0 FILM 12 Years a Slave (2013) 11.40 FILM Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) 2.15 FILM Crawlspace (2022)

PBS America

6.0am Teleshopping 8.0 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 8.35 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 9.35 Ancient Apocalypse 10.40 Forgotten Allies: The Search for Burma's Lost Heroes 11.45 Ancient Egypt: Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings 1.0 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 2.0 Ancient Apocalypse 3.05 Forgotten Allies: The Search for Burma's Lost Heroes 4.10 Ancient Egypt: Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings 5.25 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 6.25 Ancient Apocalypse 7.35 Forgotten Allies: The Search for Burma's Lost Heroes 8.35 Ancient Egypt: Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings 9.55 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 10.55 Ancient Apocalypse 12.0 Forgotten Allies: The Search for Burma's Lost Heroes 1.0 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 2.0 Teleshopping

Sky One

6.0am Mornings With Ridge and Frost 8.0 Stargate SG-1 10.0 La Brea 11.0 The Simpsons 12.0 Africa's Hunters 1.0 Hawaii Five-0 3.0 S.W.A.T 5.0 The Simpsons 6.0 Superstore

7.0 The Simpsons 8.0 Rob & Romesh vs Crufts 9.0 An Idiot Abroad 3 10.0 Rob Beckett: Giraffe 11.45 Never Mind the Buzzcocks 12.30 The Paper 1.05 The Paper 1.35 Road Wars 2.0 New Zealand Spy 2.30 New Zealand Spy 3.0 Hawaii Five-0 4.0 S.W.A.T 5.0 S.W.A.T

Sky Arts

6.0am Nutcracker
7.45 Artist of the Year: Masterclass 8.15 Artist of the Year: Masterclass 8.45 Tales of the Unexpected 9.20 Tales of the Unexpected 9.55 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 10.30 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 11.0 Discovering: Faye Dunaway 12.0 Classic Albums 1.0 Tales of the Unexpected 1.30 Tales of the Unexpected 2.0 The Alfred Hitchcock

Hour 3.0 Stories from the National Portrait Gallery 4.0 Discovering: Vincent Price 5.0 Portrait Artist of the Year 2024 6.0 Tales of the Unexpected 6.30 Tales of the Unexpected 7.0 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 7.30 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 8.0 Discovering: John Hurt 9.0 Spymasters: The Great Spy Writers 10.0 The Myth of Marilyn Monroe 11.0 The Directors 12.0 Sean Connery vs James Bond 1.15 Discovering Romance on Film 2.45 Art Traffickers: Treasures Stolen from the Tombs 3.45 National Trust: National Treasures 5.0 Stories from the National Portrait Gallery

Sky Atlantic

6.0am Fish Town 8.0
Billions 10.15 The Last of Us 12.30 Homicide: Life on the Street 2.20
Billions 4.30 The White Lotus 5.35 The White Lotus 6.45 The Last of Us 7.50 The Last of Us 9.0 Fightland 10.0
Dune: Prophecy 11.15
All Her Fault 12.20 The Five-Star Weekend 1.20
The Five-Star Weekend 2.05 Gomorrah: The Origins 3.10 Gomorrah: The Origins 4.10 Urban Secrets

Radio

Radio 3

6.30am Breakfast 9.30 Essential Classics 1.0 Classical Live. From the Proms, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conducts the Oslo Philharmonic in excerpts from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. Plus, the BBC Young Musician winner, pianist Ryan Wang, plays J Strauss/Adolf Schulz-Evler's Arabesque on Themes from the Beautiful Blue Danube. 4.0 Composer of the Week: Élisabeth Jacquet De La Guerre (R) 5.0 In Tune 7.0 BBC Proms 2026. Live from the Royal Albert Hall, Kirill Petrenko conducts the Berlin Philharmonic and violinist Augustin Hadelich in Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D and Scriabin's Symphony No. 3 in C minor, "The Divine Poem". 10.0 Night Tracks 11.30 'Round Midnight 12.30 Through the Night

Radio 4

6.0am Today 9.0 What Did the Normans Ever Do for Us? Katie Razzall asks why the Norman conquest still matters today. 10.0 Woman's Hour 11.0 The Food Programme. Dr Annie Gray investigates how the Norman conquest has influenced the way modern Britons eat and drink. 11.45 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (R) 12.0 News 12.04 Scam Secrets. A look at email security. (6/8) 12.32 Dough. How weightloss jabs could be making gyms less relevant. (2/5) 12.57 Weather 1.0 The World at One 1.45 A 9/11 Story: A Chance Meeting. The hijackers' neighbour is questioned at Scotland Yard. (4/10) 2.0 The Archers (R) 2.15 Edith Swan-Neck and the Bayeux Tapestry. Jonathan Myerson's dramatisation of the making of the Bayeux tapestry, with Hattie Morahan and Rosie Sheehy. 3.0 Open Country. Alison Mitchell witnesses a cricket match on a sandbank in the Solent. (3/7) 3.27 Radio 4 Appeal: Mesothelioma UK (R) 3.30 Word of Mouth. The impact of the Norman invasion on the English language. (2/6) 4.0 You're Dead to Me. Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Erin Goeres and comedian Alison Spittle to learn all about the events of 1066. (11/13) 4.30 The Power of the Bayeux Tapestry. George Parker explores the political history of the artwork. 5.0 PM 5.57 Weather 6.0 News 6.30

Icklewick FM (R) 7.0 The Archers 7.15 Front Row 8.0 NatureBang (R) 8.15 The Media Show (R) 9.0 Loose Ends (R) 9.45 The Cows Are Mad (R) 9.59 Weather 10.0 The World Tonight 10.45 Book at Bedtime: A Working Mother. By Agnes Owens. (4/5) 11.0 Radical 11.30 Today in Parliament 12.0 News and Weather 12.30 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (R) 12.48 Shipping Forecast 1.0 As World Service 5.0 News 5.04 Yesterday in Parliament 5.32 Weather 5.34 Shipping Forecast 5.43 Prayer for the Day: 5.45 Farming Today

Radio 4 Extra

6.0am To Serve Them All My Days (1/5) 6.45 The Outside Child (1/5) 7.0 Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful (3/6) 7.30 The Burkiss Way 8.0 The Train at Platform 4 (4/4) 8.30 Flush (4/5) 8.45 The Offing (5/10) 9.0 Icklewick FM (5/6) 9.30 The Secret History of a School (4/10) 9.45 Daily Service 10.0 Great Lives (8/9) 10.30 Camel Country 11.0 To Serve Them All My Days (1/5) 11.45 The Outside Child (1/5) 12.0 Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful (3/6) 12.30 The Burkiss Way 1.0

The Train at Platform 4 (4/4) 1.30 Flush (4/5) 1.45 The Offing (5/10) 2.0 Dilemma (4/6) 2.30 Snap (3/4) 3.0 Mr Betjeman's Class 3.45 Short Works 4.0 Great Lives (8/9) 4.30 Camel Country 5.0 To Serve Them All My Days (1/5) 5.45 The Outside Child (1/5) 6.0 Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful (3/6) 6.30 The Burkiss Way 7.0 The Train at Platform 4 (4/4) 7.30 Flush (4/5) 7.45 The Offing (5/10) 8.0 Dilemma (4/6) 8.30 Snap (3/4) 9.0 Mr Betjeman's Class 9.45 Short Works 10.0 Comedy Club: Icklewick FM (5/6) 10.30 A Look Back at the Nineties (4/5) 11.0 Hearing With Hegley (1/8) 11.15 Irish Micks and Legends (1/4) 11.30 Rigor Mortis (1/6) 12.0 Great Lives (8/9) 12.30 Camel Country 1.0 To Serve Them All My Days (1/5) 1.45 The Outside Child (1/5) 2.0 Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful (3/6) 2.30 The Burkiss Way 3.0 The Train at Platform 4 (4/4) 3.30 Flush (4/5) 3.45 The Offing (5/10) 4.0 Dilemma (4/6) 4.30 Snap (3/4) 5.0 Mr Betjeman's Class 5.45 Short Works

BBC One

6.0 Breakfast (T) 9.30 Morning Live (T) 10.45 Rip Off Britain: Holidays (T) 11.30 Homes Under the Hammer (T) (R) 12.15 Bargain Hunt (T) 1.0 News (T) 1.35 Regional News and Weather (T) 1.45 News (T) 2.0 Sister Boniface Mysteries (T) 2.45 Escape to the Country (T) (R) 3.45 Garden Rescue Revisited (T) (R) 4.30 The Answer Run (T) (R) 5.15 Pointless (T) 6.0 News (T) 6.30 Regional News and Weather (T) 7.0 The One Show (T) 7.30 The Travelling Auctioneers (T) (R)

6.0 Good Morning Britain (T) 10.0 This Morning (T) 1.30 News and Weather (T) 1.55 Local News and Weather (T) 2.0 Dickinson's Real Deal (T) (R) 3.0 Deal Or No Deal (T) (R) 4.0 Tipping Point (T) (R) 5.0 The Chase (T) (R) 6.0 Local News and Weather (T) 6.30 News and Weather (T) 7.30 Millionaire Hot Seat (T)

ITV1

BBC Two

10.30 Regional News (T) Weather 10.40 RuPaul's Drag Race UK (T) (R) A new cast of queens take part as RuPaul kicks off the race, and Thandiwe Newton joins the judging panel.

8.0 Celebrity MasterChef (T) The remaining four pair up to serve a three-course meal in just 90 minutes.
9.0 Would I Lie to You? (T) (R) With John Cooper Clarke, Lucia Keskin, Kadiff Kirwan and Sara Pascoe.
9.30 Mrs Brown's Boys (T) (R) Cathy tries to impress her psychologist boyfriend.

6.30 Garden Rescue (T) (R) 7.15 Money for Nothing (T) (R) 8.0 Sign Zone: A House Through Time (T) (R) 9.0 News (T) 12.15 Politics Live (T) 1.0 House of Games (T) (R) 1.30 The Edge (T) (R) 2.15 Weatherman Walking (T) (R) 2.45 Animal Park (T) (R) 3.30 Dogs in the Wild: Meet the Family (T) (R) 4.30 Vintage Antiques Roadshow (T) (R) 5.05 Flog It! (T) (R) 6.0 Richard Osman's House of Games (T) (R) 6.30 Great British Railway Journeys (T) (R) 7.0 Iolo's Anglesey (T) (R) 7.30 Beechgrove Garden (T)

BBC Four

10.0 News (T)

12.0 Alan Carr's Celebrity Picture Slam (T) (R) 12.50 Weather for the Week Ahead (T) 12.55 News (T)

Channel 5

8.0 Gardeners' World (T) Monty Don celebrates a rewarding summer fruit harvest, and Carol Klein delves into the secret world of leaves. 9.0 The Marlow Murder Club (T) Part two of two. Judith, Becks and Suzie are brought in to help the police investigation, and uncover a link between the murders.

10.25 Air Fryer: The Secret Genius of Modern Life (T) Prof Hannah Fry takes a look at the history of the air fryer. 10.30 Newsnight (T) Weather 11.05 FILM Harvest (Athina Rachel Tsangari, 2024) (T) Drama, starring Caleb Landry Jones. 1.10 Sign Zone The Big Deal With Steph McGovern (T) (R) 2.10 Vigil (T) (R)

Mitslake: 9.05 Entertainment News (T) 9.15 Jeremy Vine (T) 11.30 Storm & Alexis (T) 12.45 Live Snooker: British Open 2026 (T) 4.0 Car Pound Cops (T) (R) 4.30 Wetherspoons vs Toby Carvery: Which Is Better? (T) (R) 5.30 News (T) 6.25 Love Nature (T) (R)

6.0 Milkshake! 9.05

8.0 Emmerdale (T) Sarah is left wracked with guilt. 8.30 Coronation Street (T) Shona leaves Harper unattended in the car. 9.0 The Rainmaker (T) Rudy and Deck have a tense encounter with a witness, and make a crucial discovery about their client. Legal drama, with Milo Callaghan.

10.45 It'll Be Alright on the Night (T) (R) Tom Allen presents.

11.40 Sorry, I Didn't Know (T) (R) With Stephen Bailey, Ola Labib, Dinesh Nathan and Susan Wokoma.

Channel 4

12.10 Shop on TV 3.0 The Staircase (T) (R) 4.10 Long Lost Family (R) 5.0 Unwind With ITV (T)

6.30 The King of Queens (T) (R) 7.45 Everybody Loves Raymond (T) (R) 9.10 Frasier (T) (R) 10.40 Frasier (T) (R) 11.10 Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back (T) (R) 12.05 News (T) 12.10 Find It, Fix It, Flog It (T) (R) 1.10 The Great House Giveaway (T) (R) 2.10 Countdown (T) 3.0 A Place in the Sun (T) (R) 4.0 The Great B&B Challenge (T) (R) 5.0 Chateau DIY (T) (R) 6.0 A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now? (T) 7.0 News (T)

8.0 Jimmy Doherty's Big Bear Rescue (T) (R) When a pack of 12 arctic wolves need a new home, Jimmy and his team set out to build a vast bespoke enclosure.

9.0 Gogglebox (T) New series. The armchair critics share their opinions on what they have been watching on TV during the week.

11.05 Joe Lycett: More, More, More! How Do You Lycett? How Do You Lycett? (T) (R)

12.10 Taskmaster (T) (R) 1.05 FILM Attack the Block (2011) (T) Sci-fi comedy thriller. 2.35 Kitchen Nightmares USA (T) (R) 3.25 Travel Man (T) (R) 3.50 Four in a Bed (T) (R)

10.0 Live from the Lycett Arms (T) New series. Chatshow.

6.30 Live Snooker: British Open 2026 (T) Coverage of the evening session on day five, held at the Centaur in Cheltenham, featuring the concluding two quarter-finals.

10.0 Police: Night Shift 999 (T) (R) 11.05 Piers Morgan: Uncensored (T) Opinion-led news.

12.55 Car Pound Cops: Give Me My Car Back! (T) (R) 1.30 Cruise TV (T) (R) 2.30 GPs: Behind Closed Doors (T) (R) 3.20 The Highland Vet (T) (R) 4.15 Yorkshire With Jane McDonald (T) (R) 5.15 Ben and Holly (T) (R)

7.0 Marin Alsop's Pick of the Proms (T) The conductor's favourite performances from past BBC Proms.

8.0 Top of the Pops (R) Two editions from 2000, with B*Witched, Destiny's Child, Steps and Angie Stone. 9.0 Top of the Pops (T) (R) From 1986, including the Communards, Bon Jovi and Boris Gardiner. 9.30 Top of the Pops (T) (R) With Marillion, Alyson Williams and Prince. From 1989.

10.0 Bee Gees at the BBC and Beyond (T) (R) A compilation of classic performances by the sibling pop trio from the BBC archives.

11.0 Barry Gibb: Glastonbury 2017 (T) (R) A festival show.

12.10 TOTP2: Bee Gees Special (T) (R) 12.55 Top of the Pops (R) Four editions. 3.0 Bee Gees at the BBC and Beyond (R)

Other channels

BBC Three

7.0pm Athletics: Diamond League Brussels 9.0 The Catch Up 9.05 Ann Droid 9.35 Ann Droid 10.05 Not Going Out 10.30 Not Going Out 11.0 Man Like Mobeen 12.35 Ideal 3.35 RuPaul's Drag Race UK: Meet the Queens

U&Dave

6.0am Teleshopping
7.25 Top Gear 8.20
Border Force: America's Gatekeepers 9.20
Border Force: America's Gatekeepers 10.20 Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes 11.20 Yukon Gold 12.20 Top Gear 1.20 Top Gear 2.20 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 3.0 Speed With Guy Martin 4.0 Hairy Bikers' Best of British 5.0 Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes 6.0 Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes 7.0 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 7.40 Would I Lie to You? 8.20 Would I Lie to You? 9.0 QI XL 10.0 Magnum PI 11.0 Magnum PI 11.55 Mock the Week 12.35 Would I Lie to You? 1.15 Would I Lie to You? 1.55 QI XL 2.55 Richard Osman's House of Games 3.30 Judge Romesh 4.0 Teleshopping

E4

6.0am Modern Family
6.30 Modern Family
6.55 Rude(ish) Tube
Shorts 7.0 Couples
Come Dine With Me
8.0 Ramsay's Kitchen
Nightmares USA 9.0
Ramsay's Kitchen
Nightmares USA 10.0
America's Funniest Home
Videos 11.0 America's
Funniest Home Videos
12.0 The Simpsons
2.0 The Goldbergs 3.0
Modern Family 5.0 The
Simpsons 7.30 Brooklyn
Nine-Nine 8.0 Ladies
of London: The New
Reign 9.0 FILM Black
Panther (2018) 11.45
FILM Scream (2022)
2.0 Ladies of London:
The New Reign 2.55
The Simpsons 3.20 The
Goldbergs 4.10 Brooklyn
Nine-Nine 4.35 Modern
Family 5.0 Ramsay's
Kitchen Nightmares USA

Film4

11.0am FILM Warlock (1959) 1.30 FILM Magnificent Obsession (1954) 3.40 FILM The Caine Mutiny (1954) 6.15 FILM A Few Good Men (1992) 9.0 FILM Ready Or Not (2019) 10.50 FILM Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) 1.30 FILM Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)

PBS America

6.0am Teleshopping
8.0 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 8.35 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 9.35 The Real Truth 10.40 Pearl Harbor: The Heroes Who Fought Back 11.45 Ancient Egypt: Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings 1.0 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 2.0 The Real Truth 3.05 Pearl Harbor: The Heroes Who Fought Back 4.10 Ancient Egypt: Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings 5.25 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 6.30 The Real Truth 7.35 Pearl Harbor: The Heroes Who Fought Back 8.40 Ancient Egypt: Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings 10.0 Secrets of the Royal Palaces 10.55 The Real Truth 12.0 Pearl Harbor: The Heroes Who Fought Back 1.05 Weathered: Earth's Extremes 2.0 Teleshopping

Sky One

6.0am Mornings With Jones and Melbourne 8.0 Stargate SG-1 9.0 Stargate SG-1 10.0 La Brea 11.0 The Simpsons 11.30 The Simpsons 12.0 Africa's Hunters 1.0 Hawaii Five-0 2.0 Hawaii Five-0 3.0 S.W.A.T 4.0 S.W.A.T

5.0 The Simpsons
5.30 The Simpsons
6.0 Live WSL 9.0 New Zealand Spy 9.30 New Zealand Spy 10.0 Rose Matafeo: On and on and On 11.15 The F1 Show 12.15 Grimsburg 12.45 Grimsburg 1.15 Grimsburg 1.45 Grimm 2.35 Road Wars 3.05 Hawaii Five-0 4.0 S.W.A.T 5.0 S.W.A.T

Sky Arts

6.0am Michael
Flatley: Lord of the Dance - Dangerous Games 7.50 Artist of the Year: Masterclass 8.20 Artist of the Year: Masterclass 8.50 Tales of the Unexpected 9.25 Tales of the Unexpected 10.0 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 10.30 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 11.0 Discovering: Vincent Price 12.0 Classic Albums 1.0 Tales of the

Ready Or Not, Film4

Unexpected 1.30 Tales of the Unexpected 2.0 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 3.0 Stories from the National Gallery 4.0 Discovering: Judi Dench 5.0 Portrait Artist of the Year 2024 6.0 Tales of the Unexpected 6.30 Tales of the Unexpected 7.0 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 7.30 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 8.0 Guy Garvey: From the Vaults 9.0 ELO Live at Wembley 1978 10.25 The Eagles: Live from the LA Forum 1.20 Elton John: Million Dollar Piano 3.45 National Trust: National Treasures 5.0 Stories from the National Gallery

Sky Atlantic

6.0am Fish Town 7.0
Fish Town 8.0 Billions
9.05 Billions 10.15 The Last of Us 11.20 The Last of Us 12.30 Homicide: Life on the Street 1.25
Homicide: Life on the Street 2.20 Billions 3.25 Billions 4.30 The White Lotus 5.35 The White Lotus 6.45 The Last of Us 7.50 The Last of Us 9.0
FILM Lee (2023) 11.05 The Iris Affair 12.05 The Iris Affair 1.05 The Five-Star Weekend 1.50 The Five-Star Weekend 2.50 Gomorrah: The Origins 4.05 Urban Secrets 5.05 Urban Secrets

Radio

Radio 3

6.30am Breakfast 9.30 Essential Classics 1.0 Classical Live. From the Proms, Kirill Petrenko conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 4 in F minor. Plus, from the Montpellier festival, pianist Bertrand Chamayou with more excerpts from Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words: Allegro Agitato, Op 85/2; Allegretto Tranquillo: Venetian Boat Song, Op 30/6; Moderato, Op 67/5; and Allegro Leggiero, Op 67/2. 4.0 Composer of the Week: Élisabeth Jacquet De La Guerre (R) 5.0 In Tune 7.0 BBC Proms 2026. Live from the Royal Albert Hall. Andrew Manze conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and violinist Simone Lamsma in Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme By Thomas Tallis, Britten's Violin Concerto, Carmel Smickersgill's A Brick Thrown With Love and Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 9 in E minor. 10.0 Late Junction (R) 11.30 'Round Midnight. More highlights from the 'Round Midnight Prom. 12.30 Through the Night

Radio 4

6.0am Today 9.0 The Reunion (R) 10.0 Woman's Hour 11.0 This Cultural Life 11.45 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (R) 12.0 News 12.04 Rare Earth. How people and nature can work together as the planet changes. (4/6) 12.57 Weather 1.0 The World at One 1.45 A 9/11 Story. The FBI continues its investigation in secret. (5/10) 2.0 The Archers (R) 2.15 Central Intelligence. Fact-based espionage drama, by Greg Haddrick. The US public are losing faith in Vietnam, and President Johnson faces pressure from every side. (9/10) 2.45 Living on the Edge (R) 3.0 Gardeners' Question Time 3.45 Short Works. Rooted, by Catrin Kean. 4.0 Last Word 4.30 Sideways (R) 5.0 PM 5.57 Weather 6.0 News 6.30 The News Quiz. Andy Zaltzman presents the topical comedy panel game, with panellists including Alasdair Beckett-King, Coco Khan and Kyrah Gray. (1/8) 7.0 The Archers 7.15 Add to Playlist. With Anne Dudley and Jon Boden at the Crossed Wires festival in Sheffield. (4/6) 8.0 Any Questions? Topical

discussion from Fusilier Museum and Learning Centre, Bury. 8.55 This Week in History (R) 9.0 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics. A look at the murder of Regilla in 160 AD. (6/7) 9.30 Breakin' the Cycle (R) 9.59 Weather 10.0 The World Tonight 10.45 Book at Bedtime: A Working Mother. By Agnes Owens. (5/5) 11.0 Americast 11.30 Today in Parliament 12.0 News 12.30 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (R) 12.48 Shipping Forecast 1.0 As World Service 5.30 News 5.34 Shipping Forecast 5.43 Prayer for the Day 5.45 Living on the Edge (R)

Radio 4 Extra

6.0am To Serve Them All My Days (2/5) 6.45 The Outside Child (2/5) 7.0 Flying the Flag (4/8) 7.30 Beyond Our Ken (7/20) 8.0 Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel (2/2) 8.30 Flush (5/5) 8.45 The Offing (6/10) 9.0 Wing It 9.30 The Secret History of a School (5/10) 9.45 Daily Service 10.0 Soul Music (3/6) 10.30 Roger Law and the Giant Pot 11.0 To Serve Them All My Days (2/5) 11.45 The Outside Child (2/5) 12.0 Flying the Flag (4/8) 12.30

Beyond Our Ken (7/20) 1.0 Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel (2/2) 1.30 Flush (5/5) 1.45 The Offing (6/10) 2.0 Booked (1/6) 2.30 Spending My Inheritance (1/6) 3.0 Mr Betjeman Regrets 3.45 Short Works 4.0 Soul Music (3/6) 4.30 Roger Law and the Giant Pot 5.0 To Serve Them All My Days (2/5) 5.45 The Outside Child (2/5) 6.0 Flying the Flag (4/8) 6.30 Beyond Our Ken (7/20) 7.0 Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel (2/2) 7.30 Flush (5/5) 7.45 The Offing (6/10) 8.0 Booked (1/6) 8.30 Spending My Inheritance (1/6) 9.0 Mr Betjeman Regrets 9.45 Short Works 10.0 Edinburgh Comedy Awards Nominee Gala 2026 11.0 I've Never Seen Star Wars (3/6) 11.30 The Show What You Wrote (3/4) 12.0 Soul Music (3/6) 12.30 Roger Law and the Giant Pot 1.0 To Serve Them All My Days (2/5) 1.45 The Outside Child (2/5) 2.0 Flying the Flag (4/8) 2.30 Beyond Our Ken (7/20) 3.0 Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel (2/2) 3.30 Flush (5/5) 3.45 The Offing (6/10) 4.0 Booked (1/6) 4.30 Spending My Inheritance (1/6) 5.0 Mr Betjeman Regrets 5.45 Short Works

Cravings calling the shots? Support your metabolism, naturally.

Metabolaid® helps quiet cravings and supports appetite control by promoting natural feelings of fullness.

with code GRM30

In studies, people taking Metabolaid® felt up to 60% fuller and 50% more satisfied after meals.*

Feiolix® provides natural fibre to support digestion and help you feel more comfortable.

Chromium helps maintain normal blood glucose levels for steadier daily energy and appetite.

30% OFF

Subscribe to Metabolic Thrive+ for just £14 (normally £25), change or cancel anytime. Prefer to try it once? £17.50 to get started.

FutureYouHealth.com or freephone 0800 808 5740 quoting code

GRM30

Metabolic Thrive+ contains chromium, which contributes to normal macronutrient metabolism and the maintenance of normal blood glucose levels. Introductory offer valid for new UK customers only. 30% off one time purchase or subscription applies to new customers only. Subscription order reverts to 20% off thereafter (delivered every 28 days). Offer expires 31st October 2026 and cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotions. Cancel any time, without obligation. See FutureYouHealth.com/GRM30 for full terms and conditions.

*Based on a 12-week clinical study using 500mg Metabolaid® daily. Individual results may vary and are not guaranteed.

Metabolic Thrive+

Our science, your wellbeing

FutureYou CAMBRIDGE

Metabolic Thrive+ MetoboAid®, Feiolix® & Chromium

An innovative natural complex with chromium designed to support your metabolism and blood sugar management.

Food supplement

28 vegan co