Latest news with #BBC500Words
The Independent
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Queen praises ‘writers of future' as she presents prizes for BBC competition
The Queen praised young 'writers of the future' as she presented the prizes during the final of a national writing competition at Buckingham Palace. Camilla met each winner during the BBC 500 Words awards ceremony, which was filmed for a special episode of The One Show on Thursday, World Book Day. The young finalists had their entries read in the palace's ballroom by a group of celebrities which included Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman, comedian Matt Lucas, McFly's Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher, actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, comic actor Rob Brydon and JLS's JB Gill. A performance from Oliver and Dodger from the musical Oliver! was also played to the audience, in which they started singing Consider Yourself in the BBC studio, were filmed making their way through the streets and to Buckingham Palace, before the young actors walked in with hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp. The Queen started her speech by asking the audience to 'consider yourself at home'. She said: 'I know from meeting the judges that they've had an almost impossible task and from the illustrators that they've had an extremely enjoyable one. 'Some decades ago, a famous author said this, 'You can make anything by writing'. He was quite right. 'By his writing, this man made many things: a wintry land that could only be entered through a wardrobe, mysterious creatures that could talk and play the flute, boxes of enchanted Turkish Delight and a lion whose roar could break spells. 'He was, of course, CS Lewis, whose The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe was published exactly 75 years ago. 'Just like CS Lewis, you have proved through this competition that you can make anything by writing.' She added: 'The white witch's power was in her wand and yours is in your pens. 'I can't wait to see what wizardry your writing will produce in the future.' The Queen ended her speech with another CS Lewis quote: 'You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.' Asked why it was so important to her, Camilla said: 'Well, I think sitting here you've got the writers of the future. 'All of these children here have such talent, I've read quite a few of their stories. 'I think it's so lovely that we've got all these future writers.' Asked if she still finds time to read, the Queen replied, 'I do when I have a holiday', adding: 'I do try occasionally to read at night but I read two pages and fall asleep and have to start again.' The ceremony celebrated the achievements of six winners from two age categories, five to seven and eight to 11, with recognition given to gold, silver, and bronze recipients in each group. The Queen then presented them with medals before they were escorted back to their seats by Gladiators Nitro, whose real name is Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, and Fire, whose real name is Montell Douglas. The final ended with Jones and Fletcher singing McFly's All About You, before the guests were invited to a reception. Six illustrators: Momoko Abe, Dapo Adeola, Rob Biddulph, Yasmeen Ismail, Lydia Monks and Nigel Parkinson; were commissioned to illustrate the winning stories on display at the reception after the final. Camilla is an avid reader, patron of a number of literary organisations and has been supporting the children's writing competition since 2015. Since it was launched in 2011 by Chris Evans on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, the competition has received more than one million stories from children throughout the UK.
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Celebrating homegrown storytelling: Winners unveiled for BBC's 500 Words competition
The winners of the UK's most successful children's writing competition, 500 Words, have been unveiled on World Book Day® in a special episode of The One Show - 500 Words with The One Show – hosted by Alex Jones and Roman Kemp on BBC One and iPlayer. From thousands of entries, six exceptional young authors who submitted their stories to the BBC's 500 words competition were crowned last week at the Grand Final in Buckingham Palace, with their identities kept secret until the big reveal on today's special edition of The One Show. Her Majesty The Queen invited celebrity readers Olivia Colman, Rob Brydon, Matt Lucas, Rose Ayling-Ellis, JB Gill and McFly bandmates Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones to Buckingham Palace for the final event, opened by a special performance from the cast of Oliver! the musical. All the excitement from the event, including the live performances by celebrity readers of the winning stories, will be available to watch on CBBC at 4pm Friday 7 March. The judges for this year's competition were Sir Lenny Henry, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Francesca Simon, Charlie Higson, Olivia Dean and Malorie Blackman, chaired by The One Show's Alex Jones. The winning stories have also been illustrated by children's illustrators, framed, and put into a BBC 500 Words winners' book. Speaking at the Grand Final, Her Majesty The Queen said: 'I know from meeting the judges that they have had an almost impossible job – and from the illustrators that they have had an extremely enjoyable one! I would like to say a huge thank you to everybody who has contributed to this very special BBC 500 Words competition.' BBC Head of Education, Helen Foulkes said: 'BBC 500 Words is all about encouraging children from across the UK to enjoy writing and bringing people together to celebrate children's boundless creativity. We encourage every child to write a story they would love to read with no need to worry about spelling, punctuation or grammar. We hope everyone who entered continues to enjoy storytelling.' The six winners were chosen from two age group categories, ages 5-7 and 8-11 with each consisting of gold, silver and bronze awards. 500 Words Gold Winners The GOLD Winner for 5-7 age group is Harvey from Kent, his story, Bruce's Big Choice was read by actor and comedian Matt Lucas. Harvey said: 'Nice stories are lovely, but gruesome and scary stories are better!' The GOLD Winner for the 8-11 age group is Theo from Greater Manchester, his story, A New Harmony was read by actor and comedian, Rob Brydon. Theo said: 'My story was inspired by a love of music. When I read my story to my family, they loved it, especially the dramatic bits.' 500 Words Silver Winners The SILVER Winner for the 5-7 age group is Michael from Surrey, his story, Thumbed Cat was read by McFly duo, Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones. The SILVER Winner for the 8-11 age group was Blake from Derbyshire, his story, The Transformation was read by singer and presenter JB Gill. 500 Words Bronze Winners The BRONZE Winner for the 5-7 age group was Dylan from Cheshire, his story My Name is Jack was read by actor Rose Ayling-Ellis. The BRONZE Winner for the 8-11 age group was Ash from Greater Manchester, his story A TRAM-atic Journey was read by actor, Olivia Colman. Each of the finalists' stories are available to read now on the BBC Teach website, alongside audio versions which have been voiced specially by BBC Radio Drama Actors. Notes The children's illustrators who have contributed to the BBC 500 Words winners' book are Momoko Abe, Dapo Adeola, Rob Biddulph, Yasmeen Ismail, Lydia Monks and Nigel Parkinson. BBC Teach run 500 Words in partnership with: Anderson Press, Beano, EFL in the Community, HeadteacherChat, Libraries Connected, National Book Tokens, National Literacy Trust, Oxford University Press, Pobble, Premier League Primary Stars, Publishers Association, The Reading Agency and World Book Day. HH
The Guardian
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
TV tonight: inside the astonishing ‘spy cops' scandal
9pm, ITV1 This shocking documentary series televises the 'spy cops' scandal brought to national attention by the Guardian. Told by five female activists whose romantic partners suddenly abandoned them, it's a moving, personal account of discovering you've been dating an undercover police officer – and an astonishing tale of their investigative nous. Alexi Duggins 7pm, BBC One Alex Jones and Roman Kemp head to Buckingham Palace for this World Book Day celebration. Queen Camilla will be among those hearing the six winning stories in the BBC 500 Words competition for budding authors of primary school age, brought to life by celebrity readers including the great Olivia Colman. Graeme Virtue 7.30pm, Channel 4 It is day one of the world's biggest dog show, and Clare Balding presents all the canine action from Birmingham. Terriers are the first group to be judged, with the winner going through to Sunday's best in show final. Then it's over to the hound group, where miniature dachshunds and huge Irish wolfhounds will be competing. It ends with athleticism and speed in the flyball heats. Hollie Richardson 9pm, BBC One With its strained mix of bonhomie and backstabbing, Lord Sugar's business bunfight often feels like a team-building exercise gone wrong. So it makes sense to task the candidates with designing profitable away days in Turkey for corporate clients. The scenery is certainly spectacular, but can both sides keep their eye on the ball? GV 9pm, Sky Max Chris O'Dowd's slightly self-indulgent but still fun Ireland-meets-Hollywood sci-fi comedy drama continues – and the film production is in full swing. 'I kinda feel Armie Hammer is due a comeback,' is one casting suggestion put to Wendy (Christina Hendricks). But she's got an agenda of her own, which involves casting local people. HR 9pm, U&Drama The rebooted 80s cop show continues with new Bergerac (now played by Brassic's Damien Molony) pursuing leads all across the island of Jersey. The pressure is on to solve a murder and find a kidnapped baby before it's too late. But not everyone believes Bergerac should stay on the case. Ellen E Jones Athletics: European Indoor Championships, 5pm, BBC TwoDay one from Omnisport Apeldoorn in the Netherlands, with Olympic bronze medallist Georgia Hunter Bell in the first round of the 1500m. Coverage continues on BBC Three at 8pm.
BBC News
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
BBC 500 Words Finalists celebrated at Buckingham Palace with Her Majesty The Queen
Today Buckingham Palace played host to the Grand Final of BBC 500 Words, the UK's most celebrated children's writing competition. 50 young literary talents were invited to a reception hosted by The Queen, in recognition of their remarkable stories. Her Majesty has a longstanding commitment to championing literacy and creative writing, supporting the 500 Words competition every year since 2015. The six outstanding winners of the competition were crowned, with their identities to be revealed in a special episode of The One Show airing on World Book Day® (7pm, Thursday 6 March, BBC One and iPlayer). Audiences will be transported to Buckingham Palace where this momentous occasion was captured on film today. Her Majesty invited a host of celebrity readers including Olivia Colman, McFly's Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones, Matt Lucas, Rose Ayling-Ellis, JB Gill and Rob Brydon to Buckingham Palace for this special episode of The One Show with Alex Jones and Roman Kemp. 500 Word judges, Sir Lenny Henry, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Francesca Simon, Charlie Higson, and Malorie Blackman also attended the special event. Gladiators Fire and Nitro were also on hand to help celebrate the finalists. Each of the finalist's stories are available to read now on the BBC Teach website, alongside audio versions recorded by the BBC Radio Drama Company. Notes • At the event, the bronze, silver and gold winners of both age groups, 5-7 and 8-11, received a selection of exciting prizes, including having their stories read by famous faces and a bundle of books to help continue their love of the written word. • The two gold winners received the height of judge, Sir Lenny Henry, in books and 500 books for their schools. • Silver winners received the height of Her Majesty in books, and bronze winners received the average height of a 7 or 11-year-old in books. • All of their stories have been illustrated by children's illustrators, framed, and put into a 500 Words winners' book. The illustrators, co-ordinated by Anderson Press, are Momoko Abe, Dapo Adeola, Rob Biddulph, Yasmeen Ismail, Lydia Monks and Nigel Parkinson. • BBC Teach run 500 Words in partnership with: Anderson Press, Beano, EFL in the Community, HeadteacherChat, Libraries Connected, National Book Tokens, National Literacy Trust, Oxford University Press, Pobble, Premier League Primary Stars, Publishers Association, The Reading Agency and World Book Day. • All the excitement from entire event, including the live performances by celebrity readers of the winning stories, will be available to watch in an hour-long 500 Words programme on CBBC and iPlayer (4pm, Friday 7 March). HH
BBC News
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Olivia Colman, McFly's Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones to read winning stories at the BBC 500 Words Grand Final in February
The judges of the UK's most successful children's writing competition, BBC 500 Words met today at Buckingham Palace to deliberate the overall winners from almost 44,000 entries. Six winning stories will be read by celebrities at the grand final taking place at Buckingham Palace in February. Olivia Colman will read one of the winning stories, with best friends and McFly bandmates Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones reading another. It is the first time there has been a duo announcing a winner. The identities of the remaining celebrity readers will be revealed in the coming weeks. The young winners will have the chance to meet Her Majesty The Queen, who has championed the competition every year since 2015. Chaired by The One Show's Alex Jones, the judges - Sir Lenny Henry, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Francesca Simon, Charlie Higson, Olivia Dean and Malorie Blackman - discussed who will win the iconic prizes at the grand final. A glimpse into the judges deliberating over the 50 finalists' stories was showcased on The One Show this evening. Helen Foulkes, Head of BBC Education, says: 'It's fantastic to see how many children were inspired to get their ideas down on paper for this year's BBC 500 Words competition. With the help of our partners, we've worked even harder this year to reach out to more children and make 500 Words even more inclusive. From right across the UK, almost 44,000 children have answered that call to unleash their imaginations. The grand final is going to be a very special celebration of the UK's fabulous young storytellers.' 50 finalists, along with their parents or carers, have been invited to attend the grand final next month at Buckingham Palace with The Queen. The event will feature in a special 500 Words programme on The One Show, airing on World Book Day®, Thursday 6 March 2025. At the event, the bronze, silver and gold winners of both age groups, 5-7 and 8-11, will receive a selection of exciting prizes, including having their stories read by famous faces and a bundle of books to help fuel their passion for writing and continue their love of the written word. The winning stories will be illustrated by children's illustrators, framed, and put into a 500 Words winners' book. The illustrators, co-ordinated by Anderson Press, are Momoko Abe, Dapo Adeola, Rob Biddulph, Yasmeen Ismail, Lydia Monks and Nigel Parkinson. Stories from the 50 finalists will be recorded by the BBC Radio Drama Company and published to the BBC Teach website. BBC Teach run 500 Words in partnership with: Anderson Press, Beano, EFL in the Community, HeadteacherChat, Libraries Connected, National Book Tokens, National Literacy Trust, Oxford University Press, Pobble, Premier League Primary Stars, Publishers Association, The Reading Agency and World Book Day. HH
