
The Marlow Murder Club, review: thought Death in Paradise was cosy? It's got nothing on this gem
Cosy crime shows can't really improve on The Marlow Murder Club (U&Drama). It is a gentle delight devised by Death in Paradise creator Robert Thorogood and clearly aimed as much at an international audience as a homegrown one ,with its bucolic vision of England.
The opening scenes showed us cricket on the village green, bunting over the high street and several red telephone boxes. Viewers in the US or Japan probably remain blissfully unaware that, in reality, all of Britain's phone boxes smell of wee. They are probably also ignorant of red trousers as a social signifier.
The murder victim here, Sir Peter Bailey, was wearing a pair when he died. He was crushed to death by a falling cabinet and all we could see were his legs poking out, like a Home Counties version of the Wicked Witch of the East.
Cue our intrepid sleuths, led by Samantha Bond as Judith Potts, with Suzie (Jo Martin) and Becks (Cara Horgan) in support. Judith is a retired archaeologist with a magnificent house on the river, where she's partial to a spot of naked wild swimming. Suzie is a dog walker and Becks is a vicar's wife; they strike me as rather unlikely friends, but this is not the sort of series about which one should think too deeply.
It is unashamedly formulaic and all the Agatha Christie elements were here: the locked room mystery, the amateur detectives spotting clues that the police overlooked, the list of suspects who appeared to have strong alibis. Sir Peter's son, daughter and bride-to-be were the main suspects, although I had my eye on the gardener.
The mystery played out over two episodes and the ending, when you reach it, is quite ingenious. I loved the little details, such as Judith dusting an object for fingerprints by covering it in a cloud of powdered sugar from her tin of travel sweets, and a footprint being identified by Becks as a ladies' Hunter: 'It's my specialist subject, posh wellies of Marlow.' The show doesn't pretend to be anything other than ridiculous, and for that I really do like it.
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Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Fans slam Love Island as boring as they notice one major change in series' first week - and call for MORE bombshells as two new boys enter
Love Island fans weren't hugely impressed with Wednesday night's episode as they slammed it as being 'boring'. Despite new bombshells Remell and Shea entering on the instalment for a racy game of truth or dare, many at home were left noticing one major change in the series' first week. Three episodes in and there haven't been any challenges yet - which often stir things up and create drama. During the episode fans penned on X: 'Uk love island is so boring my goodness #LoveIsland.', 'None of the contestants on love island interest me, They are all boring tbh.', From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Despite new bombshells Remell and Shea entering on the instalment for a racy game of truth or dare, many at home were left noticing one major change in the series' first week 'Hopefully these bombshells change the dynamics of this boring villa #LoveIsland #LoveIslandUK.', 'love island uk is so boring.', 'You know a season of Love Island is boring when the ads are more exciting then the show #LoveIsland.', 'Love island needs to go back to the first 5 series of the show or it's going to fail.. it's getting to that point where it might just need a few years off. It's getting boring! #loveisland.', 'UK Love Island is sooooooooo boring convos are so dry i cant wait until USA releases #LoveIsland.' On the episode Ben and Toni clashed in the fallout from Sophie's brutal elimination from the villa as he 'got the ick'. The ITV2 dating show returned to our screens on Monday night, with presenter Maya Jama welcoming 12 new Islanders to Mallorca to find love. But the dating hopefuls were left shaken on last night's show, only the second episode of this series, as Sophie was dumped from the Island. It came after bombshell Toni entered the villa on Monday and stole Ben from Shakira, leaving her single and at risk of being sent home. During the episode fans penned on X: 'Uk love island is so boring my goodness #LoveIsland...' A day later, Maya asked any boy interested in her to stand up, one of whom Shakira would couple up with - and she chose Harry, leaving Sophie single and heading home. In Wednesday's episode, new couple Toni and Ben clashed over Sophie's brutal elimination - leaving Ben unsure about their budding romance. Chatting in a small group, Toni reflected that the next Islander to go might be one of the lads: 'Boys, it's your turn, just saying - I don't think you're gonna be safe.' Ben replied sharply: 'Are you saying me in particular?' The American bombshell shoots back, 'No, it's about boys, not everything is about you' - which saw an irritated Ben storm off. His extreme reaction left the other Islanders shocked, with Meg later saying to him: 'That was a bit much... I don't get what she said that was really offensive?' Ben explained: 'She said, "Not everything is about you..." I just got the ick.' He then confessed this to Shakira too - who told Toni what he has said and suggested she pull him for a chat about it. Toni does not need to be told twice, sitting Ben down to ask: 'I've heard from people you said I'm giving you the ick?' LOVE ISLAND 2025: MEET THE CONTESTANTS Sophie Lee NAME: Sophie Lee AGE: 29 FROM: Manchester OCCUPATION: Motivational Speaker and Author WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Someone who is fun, spontaneous, who has a lot of jokes and who is attentive. At the moment I'm only finding ones draped in red flags and 'do not cross' signs IF YOU WERE THE CEO OF SOMETHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE? 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But we're going to make sales and get on that corporate ladder and be booming. Profits, profits, profits! NAME: Tommy Bradley AGE: 22 FROM: Hertfordshire OCCUPATION: Landscape Gardener WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? A girl who is very ambitious, with a big personality, caring, but also someone that doesn't take themselves too seriously. I don't know if that's asking for too much, but I want a bit of everything. I haven't got a specific type in terms of looks, though. WHAT WOULD YOU BE CEO OF? Taking hours to do my hair NAME: Alima Gagio AGE: 23 FROM: Glasgow OCCUPATION: Wealth Management Client Services Executive WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? A tall man with a handsome face. You know when you just look at a guy and they have that Disney prince look to them? That's it WOULD MAYA HIRE YOU FOR YOUR FLIRTING SKILLS? I think she'd hire me because I'm a good flirt. I always ask guys on a night out to guess which country I'm originally from. If they get it right, they can get my number. But they never guess correctly so it works really well if you don't want to give a guy your number. I'm originally from Guinea Bissau. If they're close and I really fancy them, I'll give them my number anyway. NAME: Ben Holbrough AGE: 23 FROM: Gloucester OCCUPATION: Private Hire Taxi driver WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Someone sexy, good looking, good chat, good vibes, nice teeth and good eye contact - they're all the traits I look for. Oh, and also a cute smile, I just look at you and know I can be around you all day, every day. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LOVE LIFE? Bankrupt. I'd have been out of business a long time ago. That's exactly why I'm here. NAME: Helena Ford AGE: 29 FROM: London OCCUPATION: Cabin Crew WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Somebody funny or Northern. I feel like Northern people have much more banter than Southerners. If you look through my previous dating history, you'll see I clearly go for personality. You can pretty much laugh me into bed. WOULD MAYA HIRE YOU FOR YOUR FLIRTING SKILLS? I would say hire but then quickly fire soon after. It would only be a temporary contract. NAME: Megan Forte Clarke AGE: 24 FROM: Dublin OCCUPATION: Musical theatre performer and energy broker WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Someone who doesn't take themselves too seriously and has a sense of humour. If they're not bad looking, that's always a plus. I love a boy that's a bit pasty, like Timothée Chalamet. I don't mind scrawny, or a bit of a 'dad bod'. I'm 5ft1 so any height really. CLAIM TO FAME? Me and my friends made a Derry Girls TikTok for Halloween and it went a bit viral around Brighton. Sometimes I get stopped in the street about it. I've also done Panto. NAME: Blu Chegini AGE: 26 FROM: London OCCUPATION: Construction Project Manager WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Someone who is family oriented, has a lot of love to give and a lot of love to receive. Personality goes a long way. WOULD MAYA HIRE YOU FOR YOUR FLIRTING SKILLS? 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Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Pete Wicks' desperate plea to give 'beloved' dog a home before he dies
Kind-hearted TV star Pete Wicks is urging Mirror readers to adopt Neapolitan Mastiff Theo who may only have months left to live because of a heart condition For Pete Wicks, it was very much love at first sight. And as Theo the Neapolitan Mastiff bounds over and gives him a big, slobbery lick, the feeling is most definitely mutual. 'He is a big boy, clumsy, goofy, and a bit of a doughnut, but he's so soft and gentle with this squishy, slobbery face, and I just absolutely love him,' Pete says. As the presenter of TV show Pete Wicks: For Dogs' Sake, he meets hundreds of dogs like Theo every year who are in desperate need of a home. But he was left so moved by Theo's heartbreaking story that Pete is now calling on kind-hearted Mirror readers to help. Because loveable Theo, who is only four-years-old, has a life-limiting heart condition that means he may only have up to a year left to live. Pete is desperate for him to find a loving home so he doesn't have to spend his final days in kennels. And the star has even offered to pay for all Theo's medical bills himself to lessen the financial load for anyone who adopts him. 'I'm not afraid to admit I'm very emotional when it comes to dogs but it hit me very hard, like a ton of bricks,' Pete says. 'It's impacted me quite a lot and makes me emotional now thinking about it…if you could meet him and just two minutes with him, he is this big, slobbery angel on Earth.' Theo has dilated cardiomyopathy which means that his heart struggles to work efficiently. He also has arrhythmia. 'We don't know how long he's got before heart failure. It could be months. It could be a year, but the likelihood is that as he gets older, it will get worse,' he says. 'He may not have a particularly lot of time left. He is being treated with different medicines, which are incredibly expensive, so I've offered to pay for these myself.' Pete says he would have loved to have adopted Theo himself, who is currently living at Kenilworth Dogs Trust. 'I genuinely would love to but we're at the beginning of filming for the next six months, which makes looking after him impossible,' he says. 'But its upsets me when I think of this dog spending whatever time he has left in kennels. 'If there ever is a dog that deserves to be at home and have however long he's got left surrounded by a family, this is the dog.' They first met while filming the new series of the smash-hit U&W show Pete Wicks: For Dogs' Sake at Dogs Trust Kenilworth. Theo arrived severely underweight after being found as a stray. For now, Theo, who weighs 52kgs, is being expertly cared for by staff, who have also fallen in love with him, particularly Louie his handler. Given his heart condition, they have to manage Theo very carefully, who is a little limited in terms of the amount of exercise he is allowed. 'Keeping a young dog who's kind of got this lust for life quite calm, especially when it's a dog of his size, can be quite difficult,' Pete says. Instead they try and keep him stimulated in other ways such as through licky mats and puzzles, which Theo enjoys. 'We try to stimulate his brain in a way that kind of exercise would normally do, but keeps him fairly calm in the process,' he says. According to the Dogs Trust, Theo would be happy in a home with teenagers aged 14 and above, and could live with another confident dog, following a successful meet-and-greet at the charity's rehoming centre. Emma-Jane Thomas, Rehoming Centre Manager at Dogs Trust Kenilworth, adds: 'Theo is our resident gentle giant. He's got a wonderful temperament and buckets of love to give, but sadly, his health condition and life expectancy is putting off potential adopters. 'We're so grateful to Pete and the For Dogs' Sake team for helping us spread the word about Theo and his search for a home. 'Until we are able to find him a permanent home, Theo will be taken care of by our wonderful team of volunteer fosterers and staff at Dogs Trust Kenilworth, but we know his forever sofa is out there somewhere. And with Pete Wicks giving him the celeb seal of approval, how could you possibly say no?' Due to his size and energy. Theo will also need some support settling into a routine, including housetraining and gradually becoming comfortable being left alone. His ideal home would offer plenty of space and a peaceful routine, the charity says. 'If there ever there is a dog that deserves to live out the rest of his life surrounded by love, then it's this one,' says Pete. Pete Wicks: For Dogs' Sake is returning to U&W for a second and third series, as well as a Christmas special. Series one is available to stream for free on U.


The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
Mix Tape review – it's easy to fall for this sweet and intense romance
The question 'will they or won't they?' permeates many romantic stories, and it is almost always answered with 'they do eventually'. In the four-part Irish-Australian drama Mix Tape, that evergreen question is still there, more or less, but it has been deepened and expanded in interesting ways. It's not really about whether Alison and Dan will get together because we know they already did – one of the show's two distinctly different timelines follows them as lovestruck teenagers in the 1980s. But the other timeline, set in the present day, reveals Alison and Dan went their separate ways and haven't seen each other for many years. There's the possibility they might get back together, despite each being married with children to other people. But for me, it was more interesting to contemplate whether either of them could finally find healing and closure for their deeply unresolved feelings. The past is a lonely place, as they say, and it has left big sandbags weighing down their minds. Which all sounds rather heavy. But this series – directed by Lucy Gaffy and written by Joe Spain, adapting Jane Sanderson's novel of the same name – is staged with lightness of touch and is a real pleasure to watch. At its core are four beautifully judged performances: from Teresa Palmer and Jim Sturgess as adult Alison and Dan in the present day, and Florence Hunt and Rory Walton-Smith as their younger selves. The latter convey giddy, intoxicating young love while the former are more plaintive and yearning. As adults, Dan is a Sheffield-based music journalist while Alison is a bestselling novelist living in Australia. When a radio interviewer inquires about her upbringing in Sheffield, she gently infers she'd rather talk about something else. The script is full of small but salient moments like these, fleshing out the characters' lives and emotions without dumbing things down or applying highlighter pen. We're introduced to the leads at a house party in Sheffield in 1989, when young Dan spots Alison from across the room. They get to know each other partly by swapping mix tapes, which of course enables plenty of needle drops (think Joy Division, the Cure, New Order). I initially feared a cheesy 'soundtrack of love' element, but Gaffy strikes a good balance: sweet but never cloying. The characters' intense connection is tempered by the knowledge they'll ultimately split, the circumstances gradually revealed. When Dan sends Alison a friend request years later, we can tell by the look on her face that it's welcomed. Visually conveying this kind of emotional information isn't easy, though it helps to have complex and enigmatic eyes like Teresa Palmer, who is very good at saying a lot with a little. She often plays roles that require her to balance relatability with concealed depths, such as the recent miniseries The Last Anniversary, Disney+'s cult-themed drama The Clearing and Cate Shortland's kidnap movie Berlin Syndrome. Sturgess is excellent too as Dan, a man who seems to be constantly running things over in his mind, haunted by gaps in his life that might never be filled. The terms 'flashback' and 'flashforward' feel too sharp and simple for Mix Tape. The jumps back and forward in time are more like joins, feeling fluid and instinctual; props to editors Katrina Barker and Christine Cheung. The trick – also demonstrated recently in Justin Kurzel's psychologically complex series The Narrow Road to the Deep North – is to make each timeline feel both independent and interconnected: satisfying on their own terms, but also inseparable. I was moved by both story strands in Mix Tape, which really do feel like two sides of the same coin. At four episodes of roughly one hour apiece, the runtime felt just right: more than enough to truly get to know these people. I left wishing the best for them. Mix Tape is on Binge in Australia now, with a UK release yet to be announced.