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The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Beset by scandals on all sides, the BBC simply can't go on like this
So, does all this mean that the future of the BBC is in serious doubt? The top ten most watched programmes at Christmas were all BBC productions. And the concern is that if the Beeb ends up with police chalk marks around the edge of her body, will the likes of Gavin and Stacey ever be made again? And can we really knock a broadcasting service which, for £169.50 a year, regularly offers up exquisite drama in the form of Line of Duty, Blue Lights, The Gold, or This City Is Ours? And, seriously, who wants to stand up and say that comedy such as Motherland is infantile, or that Still Game isn't still funny? Read more Yes, our tastes are subjective. The BBC fan base reaches out to the widest tastes and demographics. And the task of winning viewers is ever demanding given that over 35s have their eyeballs glued to YouTube. It's hard to hold onto big numbers when you're narrowcasting on radio with programmes such as Loose Ends, Front Row and the Moral Maze, as clever and informative as these shows are. It's not hard to see why the BBC has its detractors. It's been quite obscene over the years to learn, for example, of the payments made to its presenters for appearing on a public service channel. Gary Lineker did a very decent job fronting the football but did he and his buddy Alan Shearer have to be paid £1.3m and £440k respectively? Did Zoe Ball's wages have to top half a million? But rampant stupidity over pay scales apart (how can political editor Chris Mason be paid 120k less than the professional northerner that is Vernon Kay?) what has to be factored in is that the BBC is trying to be all things to all people. So, is it fair when director General Tim Davie is hauled over the coals for the likes of the failure to edit a punk-rap band at a pop festival, or the bad behaviour of his cookery competition show presenters. Is it warranted? He has to trust his managers to get it right on the day, or the independent producers who sell their shows to the BBC. But clearly when things go wrong, those who hate the BBC (although there are still 24m who pay their licence) are ready to bury him. Yes, the BBC is accused of being right wing, drawing on right-leaning newspapers. But it's also attacked continually for being left wing by the right-wing media. It's also accused of bias by omission, of pursuing impartiality to such an extent that it fails to tackle the obvious for fear of creating upset. Scotland, as we know, is a divided country, with a continual propaganda war being raged on both sides. And doesn't the BBC all too often finds itself in a no-win situation? The BBC drew furious criticism after punk-rap duo Bob Vylan led the Glastonbury crowd in televised chants of 'Death to the IDF' (Image: free)What we should also remember is that Auntie continually holds herself up to account by the likes of Radio Four's Feedback, and in timely fashion this week Radio Scotland's Mornings show turned the focus on the issue of the public's trust of the BBC. This isn't to say the BBC can carry on as it is. There is a real question of accountability given the Byzantine management structure so laughable there has been comedy series (the BBC-made W1A) made about it. But it will have to change its corporate structure. Its imperialism (look at how BBC online news has impacted upon independent news) suggests it can be an architect of its own misfortune. And there is no longer a clear relationship between owning a television set and watching programmes. When the BBC was established 100 years ago, if you could have suggested that one day you'd be watching telly on your phone you would have been committed to a Gothic institution. However, in close years to come, young people won't wish to pay for Not Going Out or Alma's Not Normal. They won't care about the sublime shows fronted by the likes of Paul Gambaccini or Bob Harris or listen religiously to Woman's Hour. They won't laugh hard at the likes of Radio Scotland's Noising Off, Breaking the News or Off the Ball. (Yet, for that demographic the BBC is level pegging with Netflix and ahead of Disney.) Read more Some 60 per cent believe the current licence fee to be iniquitous, unpopular and regressive. Recent figures reveal some 300,000 more households have stopped paying their fee. Some say: privatise the BBC. But at what cost, literally and figuratively? Do you pay separately for television? Will this be broken down into channels? Will listeners sign up Radio Four, or Radio Scotland? Will there be a pay-per-view/listen subscription? Or do we take steps toward building a workforce and fee payer democracy at the BBC with a semi-elected board. Make it a charitable trust? It sounds beyond confusing. And the search for answers will create arguments on a monumental scale. But then again, isn't that the point of Auntie? Surely the mantle of being the best, most trustworthy broadcaster in the world is dependent upon continuous rammy, whether in the form of funding debate or demanding a far better class of cookery show presenter. Brian Beacom is a Herald arts writer, author and playwright
Daily Mirror
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Gavin and Stacey star told to give up acting career because of mystery illness
Gavin and Stacey star Laura Aikman revealed she was advised to change her job after she was diagnosed with an illness that made her 'very unwell' Gavin and Stacey star Laura Aikman revealed she was told to give up her acting career after she was struck down a mystery illness. The 39-year-old actress, known for playing Smithy's partner Sonia in the popular sitcom, struggled with painful symptoms for many years before she learned she had ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic autoimmune condition which causes inflammation and ulcers in the colon. Symptoms include recurring diarrhoea, stomach pain, needing to poo frequently as well as extreme fatigue and loss of appetite. In a recent interview, Laura revealed it took her a 'long time' before she was diagnosed and spent a long time 'very, very unwell'. She explained The Sun: "I'd been to the doctors a lot and they kept telling me that it was probably piles, without examining me, and giving me cream because I had blood in my stool. Nothing worked. "And then I went to a homeopath and she asked me all of these questions about when I'd been poorly and she was like, 'Listen, I've written out a timeline here of when you've not been working, and that is when you've been at your most unwell'." The actor was asked whether she would consider finding another career but insisted acting was her 'entire personality'. The stress from not working between acting roles ended up worsening her illness. Laura is now in a BBC gangster drama called This City is Ours. She also stars in Disney+'s Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes as Lana Vandenberghe. Last year, she reprised her role as Sonia in the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special. She was also in ITV's Archie, Joan and The Rising. The star previously discussed her role on This City Is Ours. The actress, whose surprise appearance as Smithy's bride in the Christmas Day special shocked the nation, stars as Rachel Duffy in BBC One 's drugs drama This City Is Ours. Filming on the big-budget series took place last year, at the same time as Laura was filming Gavin and Stacey. 'It was the year of the bitch,' laughs Laura. 'But they're great to play.' While pretentious Sonia was what Laura cheerfully called a 'rotter', Rachel is a much darker character, with ambitions to become a major player in Liverpool's dark drugs scene. It was a refreshing role for Laura, having spent much of her career playing romantic love interests. 'One of the first things I fell in love with about Rachel was that she never tries to make other people feel comfortable,' explained Laura earlier this year. 'We all have that tendency to laugh at a bad joke or fill silence but Rachel doesn't give a s**t. 'She's happy for everyone to get uncomfortable. She can be quite rude, she tells people what she thinks, she doesn't like new people but she's really smart, she's determined and she's ambitious.'
Scottish Sun
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Mystery illness nearly derailed my career – I was told to give up acting, reveals Gavin & Stacey star Laura Aikman
The actress also reveals a surprising career change away from the camera in a bid to 'help society' LAURA'S BATTLE Mystery illness nearly derailed my career – I was told to give up acting, reveals Gavin & Stacey star Laura Aikman Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AS a young actress, Laura Aikman would get so stressed about her career she was advised to walk away to rescue her health. The Gavin & Stacey star, now one of Britain's most in-demand actresses, suffered a mystery pain for years. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 6 Laura Aikman would get so stressed about her career when she was younger that she was advised to walk away to rescue her health Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 6 Laura as bad girl Sonia alongside James Corden in Gavin & Stacey Credit: BBC 6 The star appeared on Disney+ drama Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes Credit: Des Willie She was finally diagnosed with autoimmune disease ulcerative colitis, made worse by the worry she faced between roles. But Laura stuck with the job and is now having her best year to date, appearing in BBC gangster series This City Is Ours and Disney+ drama Suspect: The Shooting Of Jean Charles de Menezes, in which she plays whistleblower Lana Vandenberghe. Laura has also a found a work-life balance to keep her condition, which causes inflammation and ulcers in her colon, under control. The 39-year-old said: 'It took me a long time to get diagnosed. Before I got the diagnosis I was very, very unwell and I didn't know why. 'I'd been to the doctors a lot and they kept telling me that it was probably piles, without examining me, and giving me cream because I had blood in my stool. Nothing worked. 'And then I went to a homeopath and she asked me all of these questions about when I'd been poorly and she was like, 'Listen, I've written out a timeline here of when you've not been working, and that is when you've been at your most unwell'. 'She was like, 'Can you do another job?'. And I said, 'No, it's my whole personality.' 'It was a big wake-up call that it was literally making me unwell, the stress of not working and feeling like I wasn't good enough or didn't have anything going on. 'Blame and shame' 'I placed so much of my self-worth and my confidence and even who I was on being an actor and whether I was working. 'Going to family parties at Christmas, everyone's saying, 'What are you up to?'. Like, absolutely nothing. And it can feel like you're letting everyone down. Watch the moment Gavin and Stacey actress Laura Aikman's family found out she was in the finale after keeping it secret 'I think if all of your self-worth is wrapped up in working and then you're not working, you feel like you don't deserve anything. 'I had to actively find other things in my life that gave me self-worth or made me feel important, so I could keep going regardless of whether I was working.' Laura was back as bad girl Sonia in the BBC's hit Christmas special of Gavin & Stacey last year, while in 2023 her role as Dyan Cannon in Archie, an ITV series about Hollywood icon Carey Grant, saw her on billboards in New York's Times Square. To outsiders, her career has hit the heights, but the North London-born actress says that for years she felt a cycle of 'blame, shame and punishment' because she was not quite 'perfect enough'. She told the Women & Wellbeing podcast: 'When you're starting out, you're like, I have to be everything they want. I have to change who I am to fit. I need to be perfect. 'I kind of struggled up until I was maybe in my mid-twenties with what people wanted me to be as a girl, a woman, in this industry and how I needed to present myself. 'I can remember going to auditions and needing to do the lines exactly as they wanted in the blandest way possible, to try to fit whatever I thought the mould was. 'I probably wasn't getting the best parts when I was doing that. I never would, when I was younger, even speak to a producer. 'I would just try to stay under the radar, do my job. I kind of struggled up until I was maybe in my mid-twenties with what people wanted me to be as a girl, a woman, in this industry and how I needed to present myself 'I'm sure I missed out on loads of work because I did absolutely zero networking. But it was that kind of thing — you're lucky to be there, shut up, look pretty, leave. Find everyone very funny, especially the men, and then go home.' With her 40th birthday coming up later this year, Laura has found a new sense of freedom. She explained: 'I feel like where I am now people are almost disinterested in how I look. 'So lucky' 'I've been so lucky with the parts that I've played recently where, even though some of them have been very glamorous women, it's not about me looking beautiful. 'It's about how that person presents themselves.' But she still never takes anything for granted, saying: 'I feel like possibly the last few years I've been able to play some bigger roles in slightly higher profile shows. 'You go through those peaks and troughs in your career where you think, 'Oh, maybe this is it', then it isn't. So I thought, 'Oh, maybe' at the moment, and then I'm sure I'll slide back down again soon.' 6 Laura in her 2023 role as Dyan Cannon in Archie Credit: Planet Photos 6 The in-demand actress also starred in This City Is Ours Credit: BBC Laura grew up in an acting family. Her dad, Stuart Aikman — known as Stuart St Paul — is a stunt director and her mum Jean Heard is also an actress. She is married to actor Matt Kennard, 43, who has appeared in Emmerdale and Coronation Street. Laura got her big break in 1996 film Surviving Picasso, opposite Anthony Hopkins, before going on to appear in a string of movies as well as TV series including Casualty, Death In Paradise and The Split. Despite her struggles with confidence, she loves playing fiery and dominant women, saying: 'My dream is to play women that are as different as possible. "I feel happiest when I'm the furthest away from myself. These last few jobs have been big swings, especially Rachel in This City Is Ours. She's the ultimate Scouse girl, she's tough. 'I do think when you play someone like that and then you step out of it, there's part of you that's like, maybe I could be a little bit more tough. 'They sort of rub off on you a little bit, just like you learn from your friends.' Away from the camera, Laura has trained to become a counsellor with mental health text service Shout. Be kind to yourself when you're not feeling good and just try and do the things that make you feel good She said: 'It's brilliant. You can do a shift whenever you want. People text in when they're in crisis. 'Obviously that's more helpful to society than me getting a job in a TV commercial.' And she concentrates on exercising for her health — not just for her body image — to help deal with her ulcerative colitis. She added: 'I drink less now. I'm no saint, I absolutely get smashed at least once a year, I just fall completely off the wagon. But I will always leave a night out early these days. 'I'm just a bit more boring than I used to be. But overall, it really makes me feel much better.' When she is not working, Matt, who she married six years ago, encourages her to relax. She said: 'He is so chilled out and very even-keeled, he's a cool guy. 'I think he has also been really instrumental in encouraging me to allow myself, if I've not got anything on, to be like, 'Why don't you go to the cinema?'. 'I'm like, 'Just go and spend money on a day when I haven't got a job?'. He'll be like, 'Yeah, just go and do something nice for yourself'. And she has taken notice. Laura said: 'I think you can be so fooled by hearing other people talk about what they do, to think that they're perfect — and they're not. They're probably falling spectacularly off the wagon. 'So I think be kind to yourself when you're not feeling good and just try and do the things that make you feel good.' 6 Laura in the BBC's hit Christmas special of Gavin & Stacey last year
The Sun
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Mystery illness nearly derailed my career – I was told to give up acting, reveals Gavin & Stacey star Laura Aikman
AS a young actress, Laura Aikman would get so stressed about her career she was advised to walk away to rescue her health. The Gavin & Stacey star, now one of Britain's most in-demand actresses, suffered a mystery pain for years. 6 6 6 She was finally diagnosed with autoimmune disease ulcerative colitis, made worse by the worry she faced between roles. But Laura stuck with the job and is now having her best year to date, appearing in BBC gangster series This City Is Ours and Disney+ drama Suspect: The Shooting Of Jean Charles de Menezes, in which she plays whistleblower Lana Vandenberghe. Laura has also a found a work-life balance to keep her condition, which causes inflammation and ulcers in her colon, under control. The 39-year-old said: 'It took me a long time to get diagnosed. Before I got the diagnosis I was very, very unwell and I didn't know why. 'I'd been to the doctors a lot and they kept telling me that it was probably piles, without examining me, and giving me cream because I had blood in my stool. Nothing worked. 'And then I went to a homeopath and she asked me all of these questions about when I'd been poorly and she was like, 'Listen, I've written out a timeline here of when you've not been working, and that is when you've been at your most unwell'. 'She was like, 'Can you do another job?'. And I said, 'No, it's my whole personality.' 'It was a big wake-up call that it was literally making me unwell, the stress of not working and feeling like I wasn't good enough or didn't have anything going on. 'Blame and shame' 'I placed so much of my self-worth and my confidence and even who I was on being an actor and whether I was working. 'Going to family parties at Christmas, everyone's saying, 'What are you up to?'. Like, absolutely nothing. And it can feel like you're letting everyone down. Watch the moment Gavin and Stacey actress Laura Aikman's family found out she was in the finale after keeping it secret 'I think if all of your self-worth is wrapped up in working and then you're not working, you feel like you don't deserve anything. 'I had to actively find other things in my life that gave me self-worth or made me feel important, so I could keep going regardless of whether I was working.' Laura was back as bad girl Sonia in the BBC's hit Christmas special of Gavin & Stacey last year, while in 2023 her role as Dyan Cannon in Archie, an ITV series about Hollywood icon Carey Grant, saw her on billboards in New York 's Times Square. To outsiders, her career has hit the heights, but the North London -born actress says that for years she felt a cycle of 'blame, shame and punishment' because she was not quite 'perfect enough'. She told the Women & Wellbeing podcast: 'When you're starting out, you're like, I have to be everything they want. I have to change who I am to fit. I need to be perfect. 'I kind of struggled up until I was maybe in my mid-twenties with what people wanted me to be as a girl, a woman, in this industry and how I needed to present myself. 'I can remember going to auditions and needing to do the lines exactly as they wanted in the blandest way possible, to try to fit whatever I thought the mould was. 'I probably wasn't getting the best parts when I was doing that. I never would, when I was younger, even speak to a producer. 'I would just try to stay under the radar, do my job. I kind of struggled up until I was maybe in my mid-twenties with what people wanted me to be as a girl, a woman, in this industry and how I needed to present myself 'I'm sure I missed out on loads of work because I did absolutely zero networking. But it was that kind of thing — you're lucky to be there, shut up, look pretty, leave. Find everyone very funny, especially the men, and then go home.' With her 40th birthday coming up later this year, Laura has found a new sense of freedom. She explained: 'I feel like where I am now people are almost disinterested in how I look. 'So lucky' 'I've been so lucky with the parts that I've played recently where, even though some of them have been very glamorous women, it's not about me looking beautiful. 'It's about how that person presents themselves.' But she still never takes anything for granted, saying: 'I feel like possibly the last few years I've been able to play some bigger roles in slightly higher profile shows. 'You go through those peaks and troughs in your career where you think, 'Oh, maybe this is it', then it isn't. So I thought, 'Oh, maybe' at the moment, and then I'm sure I'll slide back down again soon.' 6 6 Laura grew up in an acting family. Her dad, Stuart Aikman — known as Stuart St Paul — is a stunt director and her mum Jean Heard is also an actress. She is married to actor Matt Kennard, 43, who has appeared in Emmerdale and Coronation Street. Laura got her big break in 1996 film Surviving Picasso, opposite Anthony Hopkins, before going on to appear in a string of movies as well as TV series including Casualty, Death In Paradise and The Split. Despite her struggles with confidence, she loves playing fiery and dominant women, saying: 'My dream is to play women that are as different as possible. "I feel happiest when I'm the furthest away from myself. These last few jobs have been big swings, especially Rachel in This City Is Ours. She's the ultimate Scouse girl, she's tough. 'I do think when you play someone like that and then you step out of it, there's part of you that's like, maybe I could be a little bit more tough. 'They sort of rub off on you a little bit, just like you learn from your friends.' Away from the camera, Laura has trained to become a counsellor with mental health text service Shout. Be kind to yourself when you're not feeling good and just try and do the things that make you feel good She said: 'It's brilliant. You can do a shift whenever you want. People text in when they're in crisis. 'Obviously that's more helpful to society than me getting a job in a TV commercial.' And she concentrates on exercising for her health — not just for her body image — to help deal with her ulcerative colitis. She added: 'I drink less now. I'm no saint, I absolutely get smashed at least once a year, I just fall completely off the wagon. But I will always leave a night out early these days. 'I'm just a bit more boring than I used to be. But overall, it really makes me feel much better.' When she is not working, Matt, who she married six years ago, encourages her to relax. She said: 'He is so chilled out and very even-keeled, he's a cool guy. 'I think he has also been really instrumental in encouraging me to allow myself, if I've not got anything on, to be like, 'Why don't you go to the cinema?'. 'I'm like, 'Just go and spend money on a day when I haven't got a job?'. He'll be like, 'Yeah, just go and do something nice for yourself'. And she has taken notice. Laura said: 'I think you can be so fooled by hearing other people talk about what they do, to think that they're perfect — and they're not. They're probably falling spectacularly off the wagon. 'So I think be kind to yourself when you're not feeling good and just try and do the things that make you feel good.' 6 Gavin and Stacey's Best Moments With the news that the show is set to make an exciting return to screens, let's take a look at some of the comedy programme's biggest and best moments... Smithy and Rudi's American Boy rap - No one will ever forget when James Corden and Sheridan Smith rapped perfectly word for word the Kanye West and Estelle hit American Boy as they walked across the car park on the phone to Gavin. Pam's Vegetarian faux pas - Despite loving a cheesburger, Pam found herself caught up in a web of unexpected lies when she claimed to be Vegetarian. She is forced to keep up the secret throughout the entire show and uses hubby Mick to help her scoff meat. She is later rumbled when Stacey catches her in the act as she scoffs ham in the kitchen. Stacey says to her: 'Is that ham, Pam!?… 'I've seen you, Pam. A scotch egg here, a bit of bacon there, putting those regular sausages into the Linda McCartney box'. THAT fishing trip - It remains one of the biggest mysteries in Gavin and Stacey history as to just exactly what did happen on the ill-fated fishing trip. Bryn appears to be hiding a secret as to an occurance between him and his nephew Jason which has left relations fractures. Ness' on-off boyfriend, Dave, is the only other person to know the whole truth. Bryn did appear to allude to him and Jason lying together naked to keep warm as he said to Dave: 'We're going to have this out, once and for all, man to man, you may know what happened, David, but you don't know why it happened! It was freezing cold, it was! And when you are that cold…' Islands in the Stream - No one can ever forget the classic Karaoke performance of Islands in the Stream. Nessa and Bryn performed the track in front of all their nearest and dearest. It saw the whole pub burst into some line-dancing as they enjoyed a boozy night out. The Xmas special proposal - In 2019, fans were left overjoyed when the show made a comeback but it ended on the ultimate cliffhanger. Nessa asked Smithy if she would marry him as she finally laid bare her feelings for him. Fans were gutted as the show then cut straight to the credits as they never found out just how Smithy answered. Will all be revealed in the brand new episode?
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'This time it's different'
Watch James Nelson-Joyce - star of hit BBC Series This City is Ours - explain why this season's Premier League winning campaign against a backdrop of change is one Liverpool fans will never forget.
