Latest news with #AnnaMaxwellMartin
Daily Mirror
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Line of Duty star admits she's not allowed to return to the BBC series
Line of Duty star Anna Maxwell Martin has opened up about the BBC drama's return - and revealed that character Patricia Carmichael won't be back in any future series Line of Duty star Anna Maxwell Martin has ruled out the possibility of her returning for any future series of the hit BBC police drama. Since fans found out the identity of crime boss H in the highly-anticipated 2021 finale, they've been crying out for AC-12 to make their return to BBC One. Earlier this year, star Christina Chong revealed that the cast had been asked about their availability for later in the year - seemingly confirming that the show will return after four years away. However, there's one particular star who won't be reprising their role. Anna Maxwell Martin took on the role of hard-nosed anti-corruption officer Patricia Carmichael for series five and six, with the character becoming the interim leader of AC-12 when Superintendent Ted Hastings is suspended. At the BAFTA TV Awards last night, Anna revealed that there's no chance of her coming back to the show for a reason that is set to disappoint fans. "Sometimes you're not allowed to revise certain roles due to contracts with other streamers," she explained to the BBC. Earlier this year, Line of Duty's Martin Compston spoke out about the show returning for a seventh series. He told The Sun 's TV Mag: "We're always talking about possibilities and schedules and whatnot. "Everybody's got stuff going on at the minute, so I think anything, unfortunately, would be a way off. "Because we're all so close and we all want the best for the show, we wouldn't do it again just for the sake of it. If it was just about doing it for the sake of it, we'd have probably done another three series by now. "We really care about the quality of it. So if we come back, it would be for the right reasons." While last month, it was reported that filming on the show will begin in January 2026 after the cast were finally able to clear space in their calendars to commit to make the show. "The BBC almost immediately requested more episodes to continue the story, but the success of the show meant Vicky, Martin and Adrian were instantly snapped up for other projects," a source told The Sun. Line of Duty's sixth series followed anti-corruption team Kate Fleming, Steve Arnott and Ted Hastings as they finally tracked down H - with the bent copper controversially being revealed as bumbling cop Ian Buckells (Nigel Boyle).
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The best and worst looks at the Baftas: Billie Piper goes punk-rock and Claudia Winkleman wears leggings
The Bafta TV awards are not only a reason to celebrate the best of British television, but also an excuse for some glorious red carpet fashion. As the star's descended on London's Royal Festival Hall amid soaring temperatures for this year's ceremony, there was an eclectic mix of looks – from the impeccably elegant to the curiously accessorised. Anna Maxwell Martin may have attended due to her nomination for Leading Actress (for her turn in ITV1's Until I Kill You) but she also made a compelling bid for best-dressed. Her black dress with asymmetric ruffles, bows and peplum detailing (which resembles Roksanda's covetable designs) set the tone for one of the key trends of the night – texture. Another fine example of this came courtesy of Nicola Coughlan, who was nominated for her comedic role in Channel 4's Big Mood. The Bridgerton star's ensemble featured a glittering black lace skirt and floral off-the-shoulder top in the perfect shade of clotted cream. Then there was Marisa Abela, whose rich plum-hued look combined a corseted hourglass top and a textured skirt with flattering drapes. Other celebrities offered slightly more surprising looks, namely Billie Piper, who will likely divide commentators with her punk-rock princess aesthetic. The bubblegum pink off-the-shoulder gown featured a voluminous train that puffed out to reveal a pleated mini skirt beneath, paired with platform corset-lace shoes that appeared to nod to the late Vivienne Westwood. Perhaps even more divisive than the punky fairytale dress was what was worn beneath it – semi-opaque tights, despite London's 25-degree heat. Piper was not the only star to defy the mini-heatwave sweeping the UK; Emily Atack looked fresh in a white dress with gathered detail and Rivals-worthy power shoulders, but her black leather opera gloves must have been decidedly warm. Another unseasonable trend that cropped up on the red carpet was a festive favourite: velvet. Jessica Gunning looked glamorous in a black velvet off-the-shoulder gown with gilded gold details, while Emma King (who arrived with her husband Alex Hassell) made a strong case for wearing the material all year round in a black strapless dress with a cut-out and subtle peplum. As well as the wisdom of wintery accessories and the surprising appeal of summer velvet, another sartorial question raised on the night was – can you wear leggings on a red carpet? The answer is an emphatic yes if you happen to be Claudia Winkleman, who ripped up the rulebook and arrived in black leggings dressed up with a sharp black blazer and white pointed stilettos. Whether or not they were the signature Spanx style the presenter frequently dons for The Traitors, the look was pleasingly rebellious. And in any case, it was heartening to see that she didn't upstage Baftas host Alan Cumming, who also brought a touch of vampy Traitors style to the red carpet in a kilt over tailored trousers, a jacket with exaggerated lapels and what looked like white tailored wings. Speaking of tailoring, there were plenty of brilliant men's looks on the red carpet, especially from the cast of Rivals. Hassell knocked it out of the park in kick-flare tailored trousers and a marron neck-tie that brought a touch of playful chic, while David Tennant donned a check suit with burgundy piping – plus a flamboyant silk shirt. Danny Dyer looked dapper in a tuxedo with a navy blue lapel, plus his new signature moustache. And it wasn't just the men who showcased the power of a great suit. If there's one key trend that has cropped up time and again on the 2025 red carpets, it's women in power suits (see Nicole Kidman going full Annie Hall at the Critics Choice Awards for a notable example). The Baftas red carpet – more specifically Jessie J in a subtly oversized burgundy suit and tie – suggested that the look is here to stay. All in all, there were plenty of talking points on a glorious May day. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The best and worst looks at the Baftas: Billie Piper goes punk-rock and Claudia Winkleman wears leggings
The Bafta TV awards are not only a reason to celebrate the best of British television, but also an excuse for some glorious red carpet fashion. As the star's descended on London's Royal Festival Hall amid soaring temperatures for this year's ceremony, there was an eclectic mix of looks – from the impeccably elegant to the curiously accessorised. Anna Maxwell Martin may have attended due to her nomination for Leading Actress (for her turn in ITV1's Until I Kill You) but she also made a compelling bid for best-dressed. Her black dress with asymmetric ruffles, bows and peplum detailing (which resembles Roksanda's covetable designs) set the tone for one of the key trends of the night – texture. Another fine example of this came courtesy of Nicola Coughlan, who was nominated for her comedic role in Channel 4's Big Mood. The Bridgerton star's ensemble featured a glittering black lace skirt and floral off-the-shoulder top in the perfect shade of clotted cream. Then there was Marisa Abela, whose rich plum-hued look combined a corseted hourglass top and a textured skirt with flattering drapes. Other celebrities offered slightly more surprising looks, namely Billie Piper, who will likely divide commentators with her punk-rock princess aesthetic. The bubblegum pink off-the-shoulder gown featured a voluminous train that puffed out to reveal a pleated mini skirt beneath, paired with platform corset-lace shoes that appeared to nod to the late Vivienne Westwood. Perhaps even more divisive than the punky fairytale dress was what was worn beneath it – semi-opaque tights, despite London's 25-degree heat. Piper was not the only star to defy the mini-heatwave sweeping the UK; Emily Atack looked fresh in a white dress with gathered detail and Rivals -worthy power shoulders, but her black leather opera gloves must have been decidedly warm. Another unseasonable trend that cropped up on the red carpet was a festive favourite: velvet. Jessica Gunning looked glamorous in a black velvet off-the-shoulder gown with gilded gold details, while Emma King (who arrived with her husband Alex Hassell) made a strong case for wearing the material all year round in a black strapless dress with a cut-out and subtle peplum. As well as the wisdom of wintery accessories and the surprising appeal of summer velvet, another sartorial question raised on the night was – can you wear leggings on a red carpet? The answer is an emphatic yes if you happen to be Claudia Winkleman, who ripped up the rulebook and arrived in black leggings dressed up with a sharp black blazer and white pointed stilettos. Whether or not they were the signature Spanx style the presenter frequently dons for The Traitors, the look was pleasingly rebellious. And in any case, it was heartening to see that she didn't upstage Baftas host Alan Cumming, who also brought a touch of vampy Traitors style to the red carpet in a kilt over tailored trousers, a jacket with exaggerated lapels and what looked like white tailored wings. Speaking of tailoring, there were plenty of brilliant men's looks on the red carpet, especially from the cast of Rivals. Hassell knocked it out of the park in kick-flare tailored trousers and a marron neck-tie that brought a touch of playful chic, while David Tennant donned a check suit with burgundy piping – plus a flamboyant silk shirt. Danny Dyer looked dapper in a tuxedo with a navy blue lapel, plus his new signature moustache. And it wasn't just the men who showcased the power of a great suit. If there's one key trend that has cropped up time and again on the 2025 red carpets, it's women in power suits (see Nicole Kidman going full Annie Hall at the Critics Choice Awards for a notable example). The Baftas red carpet – more specifically Jessie J in a subtly oversized burgundy suit and tie – suggested that the look is here to stay. All in all, there were plenty of talking points on a glorious May day.
The Guardian
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Baby Reindeer to Rivals: who will win the TV Baftas … and who should?
Rarely has a Bafta TV awards ceremony taken place against such a background of industry anxiety: plummeting terrestrial ratings, aggressive streamer competition, a precipitous drop in UK production. Even sponsors P&O Cruises will rarely have seen such troublesome seas. Bafta voters (I am one, but don't know any final results) will also have brought other external concerns. Jurors may worry that Mr Bates vs the Post Office (premiered January 2024) now feels too old, which could count against Monica Dolan and Toby Jones in the acting categories. (Because of calendar year qualification, Adolescence may have the same problem in 2026.) Also, older voters can be reluctant to see pushy rich streamers thriving: they've just about come to terms with Netflix but Disney+ and Apple TV+, who have a strong shortlist presence, may, for some, be the future too far. Here are my preferences and predictions. Anna Maxwell Martin won in 2006 and 09 (Bleak House/Poppy Shakespeare) and would merit a triple crown for her visceral performance as a survivor of terrible domestic violence in Until I Kill You. Billie Piper has four previous nominations without an award but risks Scoop, in which she played Newsnight producer Sam McAlister, being seen by message-sensitive voters as a 'Prince Andrew show'. But surprisingly receiving her first nod, Sharon D Clarke has long been one of the most electrifying screen and stage performers and deserves to win for the culture-clash drama Mr Loverman. Clarke's co-star, Lennie James, is a strong contender in the male category. But, despite exceptional talent and CV, David Tennant scandalously had to wait until last year for a first Bafta chance (in the comedy performance section with Good Omens). He's still waiting for a statuette and I'd like him to get it for Rivals, in which he brought the depth of a Shakespearean baddie to a TV mogul. But US resident Gary Oldman happens to be in the UK (for his superb Krapp's Last Tape at the York Theatre Royal) and so would be in easy reach of the stage to add a TV Bafta to his movie one (Churchill in Darkest Hour) for his meticulously dishevelled disgraced spymaster in Slow Horses. A guarantee of class in any cast for 50 years, Jonathan Pryce has somehow escaped Bafta nomination and should dust off that space on his shelf for his showing as David Cartwright, an elderly spy who can't remember what he's meant to forget, in Slow Horses. Pryce would also, unusually, have been worth a slot for his cameo flashbacks as the dead Cardinal Wolsey in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light but that show is represented by Damian Lewis, another strong contender for his portrayal of King Henry VIII: physically widening, mentally declining but still politically and maritally terrifying. Baby Reindeer – after largely overcoming early legal and ethical concerns – was a stand-out show and has two nominees here: Jessica Gunning and Nava Mau. Unless they split the stalking drama's vote, Gunning feels the category favourite. Although there will have been love in the room for Katherine Parkinson, in Rivals' most empathetic role, and Monica Dolan's gangster was the best thing in Sherwood. (Plus, this panel won't know if the best actress jury honoured her for Mr Bates. She may lose both.) At Sunday's ceremony, much discussion will reflect a sense of the BBC struggling against the streamers' quantity of top-end fiction. More optimistically, the UK's oldest broadcaster has 75% of this year's candidates for best drama series. Sherwood's second series showed a decline so it feels to be between Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, or, if the panel is feeling more radical, Blue Lights, the break-out Northern Irish police hit. If Supacell nicks it for Netflix, the BBC table will be funereal. Baby Reindeer already won the best writer prize for Richard Gadd in the drama category of the Bafta Craft awards and, if Mr Bates vs the Post Office is penalised for distant transmission, it should win again. If the jurors needed their hearts warming, One Day or Lost Boys & Fairies might come through. The latter – a fresh and inventive adoption drama – would be a surprising but justified winner. The rise of overseas streamer drama makes Bafta's single international category look ridiculously cramped. Even more confusingly, two of this year's six – After the Party and Colin from Accounts – ran on heritage British networks: Channel 4 and BBC Two. That New Zealand/Australia pair are strong runners, with After the Party having found new space in the urgent but crowded territory of abuse accusation. However, as a remake of a 1980 mini-series made with very different cultural and casting assumptions, Disney+'s Japanese epic Shōgun would be the deserving choice for panellists keen to celebrate the New Television. Though a hit, the David Mitchell doppelganger detective show Ludwig may feel more of a drama. ITV2's G'Wed has already done well to be fighting at this weight and so Alma's Not Normal, for its last full series, feels the natural winner after a year in which the welfare system and austerity have been central political debates. Channel 4's specialism of edgy humour pays off with three impressive runners: Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts), Kate O'Flynn (Everyone Else Burns) and Nicola Coughlan (Big Mood). Lolly Adefope may suffer for being in a show, The Franchise, that has already been cancelled. Sophie Willan has won before for Alma's Not Normal and a double would be justified, but this is the last chance to honour Ruth Jones for Gavin & Stacey. This will have been one of the toughest to judge. Closed rooms may have an effect here if judges concluded that Danny Dyer (Mr Bigstuff) was more deserving in Rivals, not knowing that he missed a shortlisting there. Young talent dominates with twentysomethings Dylan Thomas-Smith (G'wed), Nabhaan Rizwan (Kaos) and Bilal Hasna (Extraordinary). As a Northampton Town season ticket holder, though, I'm cheering on teenager Oliver Savell for his brilliant mimicry of Alan Carr, son of club legend Graham Carr, in Changing Ends. Budget cuts have left many shows from the industry's fun factories looking cheap and not particularly cheerful. So, for its sheer consistency of creativity and attention to detail, Michael McIntyre's Big Show deserves a second Bafta. In the TV world, there's much affection and guilt over Andrew Flintoff, who, it becomes increasingly clear, was lucky to survive an accident while filming Top Gear. Disney+ got the documentary on that (a likely contender next year) but his remaining BBC franchise – in which he coaches young cricketers from disadvantaged backgrounds – is charming, informative and socially important, showing the talent that English systems (and not just cricket) miss: a series one discovery just made a county Second XI debut. The second innings – Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams on Tour – was even higher-scoring. The least tense category in Bafta history, as the annual shortlist now involves choosing three from five and then rotating the winners around that trio. EastEnders has already had a special award in the Craft section so, in one way, it would be odd if the BBC long-runner didn't also win this. Then again, that might expose the category's limitations. It feels like a birthday battle between EastEnders, reaching 40, and Coronation Street, now 65, ahead of Casualty being honoured next year for four decades. With soap advertising the weary longevity of some series, new breakout successes (increasingly rare) are at a premium in all sections. In a culture of reboots and remakes, The Traitors, though adapted from a Dutch template, is a genuine sensation and deserves recognition, having been overlooked for its first series. Claudia Winkleman did win entertainment performance last year and seems the biggest challenger again to Ant & Dec (three previous wins, six nominations) and Graham Norton (six wins, five nominations). Regardless of what happens here, Winkleman's three hit shows – Strictly Come Dancing and The Piano as well as The Traitors – surely mark her as a special award or Bafta fellowship waiting to happen. I was on the nominating panel for this but the final vote is public. Mr Bates, Bridgerton, Gavin & Stacey, Rivals, Strictly and The Traitors will all have support. The naked tennis scene in the Jilly Cooper adaptation really made a social media racket but more viewers will have seen Smithy's wedding so it feels like a golden goodbye to Gavin & Stacey. The 2025 Bafta Television Awards are on BBC One at 7pm on Sunday.
The Guardian
20-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Absentee students should make us ask, what is school for?
I was on the phone to a friend talking about our kids as I clicked through a new report launched at Westminster a couple of weeks ago. It was about how children are facing a 'crisis of lost learning' because they are being suspended or excluded from school, or they're not attending because their needs are not being met. She chuckled darkly. Her teenage daughter has barely been to school this year – as my friend works on her laptop in the kitchen the teenager remains in her bedroom, and they meet sometimes on the stairs. My friend knows this stuff, she breathes this stuff, this stuff is living in her house. The family has been threatened with fines and then, if they get three, a parenting order or prosecution. I guess I can sort of understand the government thinking here, but it's the same sort of thinking that leads someone to open a bottle by smashing it against a wall, isn't it? Or fix a paper-cut with staples. The term the school uses to describe the difficulty kids like my friend's daughter face is 'emotionally based school non-attendance'. It's a term that's evolved over time, rarely fully describing the anxiety at its core. When I was at school it was called truancy or delinquency. Before that perhaps it was just 'laziness', more recently 'school refusal', but all these terms have obscured the mental health needs of the young person, instead implying blame or bad parents or a kind of moral weakness. The truth is, for people like my friend's kid and the thousands like her, school is a place of fear and despair. I read my friend excerpts from the report ('Absence and suspensions are two-thirds higher than they were pre-pandemic') and she sort of sighed and said, sometimes, 'yep'. There's a ragged kind of anger that you hear when talking to the parents of children like hers – I heard it in the voice of Anna Maxwell Martin, who spoke on Woman's Hour recently about her daughter. She objects to the term Send (which stands for 'special educational needs and disability') when discussing children like her daughter, who require extra support, preferring 'individual needs', which would require 'active listening to the child in front of you'. Instead of schools prioritising exams and valuing results, she argued they should be making children feel they have worth, that their fears are understood, and that they're being listened to. 'I want to see all schools be inclusive and compassionate by design,' she said, 'rather than reacting only once children have reached a crisis point.' What helped Anna Maxwell Martin's daughter eventually get back to school was not the threat of 'cruel and idiotic fines', but instead, she said, 'kindness'. Because low school attendance is a symptom of the problem, an expression of something deeper, sometimes a confession. The reasons why young people aren't going to school today often involve a messy combination of neurodiversity, anxiety and poverty, though this is an issue that straddles class divides. A parent of a 'school refuser' in the Telegraph wrote soon after lockdown that many people thought 'These children come from so-called 'feckless families'… Once, I'd have thought the same myself. But within that statistic [are people like their daughter], a bright girl with professional, well-educated, middle class parents who couldn't care more.' The solution is clearly not simply to fine these children, or forget them. Suspensions and exclusions are up by over a third in a single year, despite the fact that removing these kids from the education system destroys their opportunities. When the consequences include (says a contributor to the report) 'Rising mental health issues, youth violence, and risks to national growth,' not to mention what ignoring vulnerable children says about us as a society, they impact everyone. After years of struggling with her child's reluctance or inability to go to school, my friend has found herself regularly pausing, mid-cooking dinner, mid-Zoom meeting, mid-changing her baby, and considering what school is for. Young people in England today are learning in the schools that Michael Gove built. But whatever you think about his curriculum or focus, the world has changed immeasurably since 2010. Those leaving at 16 or 18 are unlikely to be expecting secure work when they emerge into the adult world, and for many of them university is increasingly out of reach. Perhaps our ideas about skills and success need updating. Is the point of school still, for example, to train for work? Is it a place to learn how to think, or how to create society, or discover yourself? Last month, Professor Becky Francis, who is chairing the government's curriculum review panel, said children need to be better equipped for the 'challenges of the future', with the Daily Mail reporting her plans to 'dumb down' the curriculum by learning more about 'climate change and AI'. The horrors! My friend (waiting for another work meeting to begin) idly sketched out for me what a modern school might teach her child. 'They should learn about their bodies and how to communicate pain. They should learn how to feed themselves, to cook, to grow food. They should learn history and art and, instead of maths, how to understand money and budgets.' She paused. The thing she really grieves, with her daughter staying home, is not that they might fail their exams or miss the chance to learn a language, but, the chance to discover what they really love and, she said, to 'Learn how to live.'
