1+ hour, 54+ min ago (659+ words) In the blink of an eye, the year is almost over. And that means only one thing: Christmas is upon us once more. Alongside all the playing of board games, eating of turkey and unwrapping of presents, there's one other thing that remains a mainstay in most British festive households: the telly. Nothing quite beats the feeling of sitting in front of the TV, sliding into a post-feast food coma and drowsily watching the year's collection of festive specials. With the BBC's festive offering newly released, what better time to round up our picks for the best shows to stream over December? From Taylor Swift to David Attenborough, here's what we're looking forward to putting on. Netflix, out December 3 BBC One, out December 7 Disney+, out December 10 Disney+, out December 12 Prime Video, out December 17 Is the title still accurate when she's…...

10+ hour, 38+ min ago (668+ words) Award-winning playwright Sir Tom Stoppard has died aged 88. The writer, known for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,Arcadia and the film Shakespeare In Love, died "peacefully" at his home in Dorset "surrounded by his family", United Agents said in a statement. The statement added: "He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of the English language. "It was an honour to work with Tom and to know him." Over his six-decade career, Sir Tom earned Tony and Olivier awards, as well as a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for his and Marc Norman's 1998 screenplay Shakespeare In Love, which starred Gwyneth Paltrow, Dame Judi Dench, and Joseph Fiennes. Born in Czechoslovakia, Sir Tom was forced to flee his home during the Nazi…...

13+ hour, 57+ min ago (900+ words) He had a lucrative second career as a writer or co-writer of original screenplays " Terry Gilliam's Brazil, an Indiana Jones and a Star Wars installment, Parade's End on TV and most famously Shakespeare in Love, for which he won an Oscar in 1998 - and as an anonymous polisher of others' dialogue. But he was essentially a creature of the stage and a highly visible part of the London social whirl: tall and dandyish with a cockade of dark hair and what one critic called a "huge moose jaw, always good for an apercu or an opinion. Stoppard once opined that if Shakespeare were alive today he'd be writing soap operas. Then he corrected himself: he'd be "rewriting them. Born Tom" Str'ussler in Zlin, Czechoslovakia in 1937, Stoppard was subject to multiple displacements by the Second World War, and for decades afterwards remained…...

1+ day, 6+ hour ago (598+ words) Former footballer Alex Scott has become the first star to be evicted from I'm A Celebrity" Get Me Out Of Here! after emotional farewell speeches around the campfire. The 41-year-old hugged her campmates who cheered her name when it was announced that she had received the fewest votes and was sent home. During her two weeks in the camp, Scott skydived from 12,000 feet and waded through offal. "My jungle experience has been a whole lot more than what I expected it to be," Scott said on Friday's episode of the ITV reality show. "It's been really special to connect with a group of people that have allowed me to just be me." Scott was up for eviction alongside TV personality Jack Osbourne, social media star Angryginge, rapper Aitch, Spandau Ballet star Martin Kemp, model Kelly Brook, and comedian Ruby Wax....

1+ day, 10+ hour ago (366+ words) Comedian Kevin Bridges has announced a huge 44-date UK tour. Bridges, 39, announced the tour on Instagram, and tickets will go on sale next week. The Here If You Need Me tour will kick off in Sheffield on August 14 2026, with the final show in Aberdeen on December 11. London councils confirm data accessed and copied in major cyber attack Fury in London pubs and shops as business rates soar by tens of thousands Radiohead achieve record attendance at The O2 with 22,355 fans on final night "Good to get away. Great to get home. Back in the game and here if you need me," he said. "Finally!!!" one fan wrote. "But I'm scared because the site's crashed so I hope there's chance to grab tickets." Ticket pre-sale will begin on Monday December 1, with general sale on Thursday December 4. As part of the tour, the…...

1+ day, 18+ hour ago (718+ words) Peter Kay acknowledged his recent dramatic weight loss during a rare television appearance. The comedian, 52, previously admitted to struggling with binge-eating and had tried "everything" to shed the pounds. He looked significantly slimmer during an appearance on The One Show on Thursday while promoting his 2026 Peter Kay Live, Better Late Than Never tour. Fans declared that he looked totally unrecognisable, with one even joking on social media: "Who shrunk Peter Kay?" The stand-up comic addressed his new look during an appearance on Good Morning Britain with hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shepard. "Oh, here we go!" Kay remarked as he looked at the image, before quipping: "Lost some weight since that happened." He went on to explain that all profits from the tour will go to twelve cancer charities. The comic is finishing his years-long Better Late Than Never tour…...

1+ day, 22+ hour ago (183+ words) People visit Laryn to cavort, to sing, to admire the crowd, a cacophony of characters. It's a haven or a mess, depending, a bar jauntily off the beaten track. You could pass it 100 times and not go in. Then one day you might and what awaits are new companions and the supreme and oft-unbeatable lunacy of karaoke. What else is there to do but put on your dainty boots? 9 Ascot Parade, Clapham Park Road, SW4, @laryncafebar Josh Barrie On the Sauce at Smokey Kudu: Peckham star prawn again in Marylebone Josh Barrie On the Sauce at Bunga 90: The one where you time travel The Ned, 27 Poultry, EC2R 8AJ, thened.com Arsenal injury update: Viktor Gyokeres, Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz latest news and return dates Arsenal injury update: Gyokeres, Trossard, Havertz latest return dates Italian influencer Chiara Ferragni could face prison time over Christmas…...

2+ day, 18+ hour ago (521+ words) Comedian Peter Kay made a TV appearance on BBC's The One Show, announcing that all profits from his 2026 Better Late Than Never tour dates will go to twelve cancer charities - with fans commenting on his change in appearance. The comic is finishing his years-long Better Late Than Never tour with arena shows in Newcastle, Nottingham, Glasgow, Dublin, Birmingham, Belfast, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and London. Speaking to The One Show on Wednesday, he said: "It's finishing next year, and I am announcing the last lot of shows, but all the profits are going to cancer charities." The charities benefitting are Children With Cancer UK, Teenage Cancer Trust, Kidney Cancer UK, Blood Cancer UK, Bowel Cancer UK, Prostate Cancer UK, DKMS UK, Ovarian Cancer Action, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Anthony Nolan, The Brain Tumour Charity and Breast Cancer UK. Kay said: "Unfortunately,…...

2+ day, 19+ hour ago (342+ words) By now you may have realised that your usual Christmas Carol Correspondent is away, and so it falls to me to review London's 2025 Dickens double bill. Unlike my erstwhile colleague, I rather rate Dickens' literary output (while condemning his attitude to women) but have a general suspicion of Mark Gatiss: his collaborations with Steven Moffat, which saw the pair commit crimes of adaptation against Sherlock and Dracula, appears to have imbued both with an overconfidence in their own cleverness and a love of a limp last-minute plot twist. Nevertheless, a few years after Jack Thorne revived A Christmas Carol for the Old Vic, fellow screenwriter Gatiss took a stab at making it a more grim and spooky affair. A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic 2025: The ultimate ghostly tale to warm even the coldest cockles Neil Morrissey to star in…...

3+ day, 7+ hour ago (563+ words) The Prince of Wales has told comic actor John Cleese his children have just discovered his hit 1970s sitcom Fawlty Towers and "love it. William revealed they were having "a lot of family laughs watching the shows together when he joined Cleese at the Tusk'Conservation Awards honouring workers safeguarding Africa's habitat and animals. The future King is royal patron of the Tusk Trust wildlife charity, which stages the annual awards to honour leading conservationists and rangers working in Africa, and before the ceremony he chatted to trust ambassadors Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood and Cleese. Among the guests at the event at the Savoy Hotel in central London were Zara Tindall and husband Mike, and William's cousins Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza Spencer. In a speech to guests the prince warned this generation must not stand by while "wildlife and biodiversity…...