Latest news with #BritishComedyAward
Daily Record
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Friday Night Dinner fans must watch forgotten sitcom with 100% Rotten Tomatoes score
The 90s dramedy is still celebrated over 25 years after its debut Friday Night Dinner fans have been urged to watch a British sitcom that aired 12 years before the Channel 4 hit show. A TV enthusiast recently appealed to Reddit users, asking them to recommend similar "light-hearted shows." The thread quickly garnered over 100 comments, with some urging the original user to stream Spaced, which also aired on Channel 4. Making its debut in 1999, the two-season series received critical acclaim during its time on air. It was nominated for a British Comedy Award for Best TV Sitcom in its first year on air, and went on to received two BAFTA TV Award nominations for Best Situation Comedy. Written by Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes (née Stevenson), who also star, the comedy follows 20-somethings Tim and Daisy. Desperate to find a new home, the duo pose as a couple to secure the only apartment they can afford. Pegg and Stevenson are joined by Julia Deakin, Nick Frost and Mark Heap, who also starred in Friday Night Dinner. Behind the scenes, celebrated filmmaker Edgar Wright serves as the director. Over 25 years since its debut, Spaced is still a hit with viewers and critics alike, boasting a rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating for both seasons. What's more, viewers are still petitioning for the show's return, with one voicing: "I wish this show could come back!" Audiences on IMDb are equally enthusiastic about the Pegg-led comedy. "Possibly the best thing to ever happen to television," raves a recent review. The viewer continues: "The whole two series was as close to perfect as I can imagine. Funny, beautifully shot, well-produced, the only downside was that there wasn't more of it." Another fan agreed, writing: "Possibly the best British show ever," before adding: "Simon Pegg, master of modern comedy and the gorgeous Jessica Stevenson [...] have written and starred in what I consider to be the best British comedy ever." Meanwhile, a third viewer echoed the praise: "Having just watched this series again, I am prepared to say that 'Spaced' is definitely one of the greatest comedy shows EVER!" With a final person sharing their verdict: "It's just brilliant! It's one of my favourite shows and I love rewatching it and noticing all of the different little laughs!"
Daily Mirror
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Where Cold Feet cast are now from Hollywood movies to shocking revival demands
Cold Feet became a cult show in the '90s and was so popular it made a return in 2016, but with the series now on a 'prolonged hiatus' the cast strayed onto very different paths TV shows have often struggled to get across the reality of relationships on screen, but one show that managed to show the ups and downs was Cold Feet. The original series ran from 1997 to 2003, and was equally likely to make you cry as it was to make you laugh as it followed three realistic couples in Manchester. Revolving around couples Adam and Rachel (James Nesbitt and Helen Baxendale), Pete and Jenny (John Thomson and Fay Ripley), and David and Karen (Robert Bathurst and Hermione Norris), the ITV show was an instant hit. Alongside providing laughs, Cold Feet was also known for tackling hard-hitting storylines including fertility issues, illness, and financial woes - and went even further by killing off main character Rachel in a car crash. Considering its popularity, Cold Feet came back for a revival in 2016, with all the main stars returning apart from Helen. Like the cast, the characters all had very different lives compared to the original, with teen kids and career changes alongside new partners. Ending in 2020, the show is now on a 'prolonged hiatus' with no confirmation about whether it will return or not. That doesn't mean that the stars of the show haven't been busy with other projects, with some having launched incredible careers after Cold Feet set them on the path to fame.. James Nesbitt James Nesbitt's first major TV role was playing the charming Adam Williams in Cold Feet. The serial womaniser settled down with Rachel while still having an eye for his next-door neighbour, but became a single dad to their son Matthew when Rachel was tragically killed. At the start of the revived series we saw Adam marrying a woman he met in Singapore but the relationship fell apart and he eventually started a romance with his late partner's best friend Karen. Nesbitt won the British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actor in 2000 and NTA for Most Popular Comedy Performance in 2003 for his role. Thanks to his success, the Northern Irish actor continued getting TV roles in shows such as Murphy's Law, Jekyll and TV movie Bloody Sunday. Away from TV he also became a movie star, appearing in Danny Boyle drama Millions in 2004 and a small role in Woody Allen's thriller Match Point in 2005. Then, in 2012, Nesbitt really hit the big time when he was cast as the Bofur the dwarf in all the three of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit films. He is also well known for his appearances in Sky's Premier League coverage TV adverts and plenty of crime show hits. He's recently starred in Stan Lee's Lucky Man, BBC dramas The Missing and Bloodlands, Line of Duty, and this year's Netflix hit Missing You. Nesbitt has also opened up about working on his looks to stay Hollywood-ready after noticing that his hairline was receding. In 2019, he admitted: "I began losing hair several years ago. I felt it could affect my career." That February it was reported that the actor was having his sixth £20,000 hair transplant, and he has openly discussed how he believes it has "probably helped" his ability to get leading roles. Fay Ripley Ripley's character Jenny Gifford spent most of Cold Feet being on and off with husband Pete. The ballsy character threw Pete out after discovering his affair, let him back, separated again, started dating a millionaire, got back together, then divorced when she went off to America. Jenny came back for Rachel's funeral, moved back in with Pete and they actually stuck together this time, with Pete being her rock through her cancer ordeal. Ripley left the show to take more varied roles and spend more time with her family, telling writers to either kill Jenny off or have her lose a limb. Luckily they decided to send her character to New York so she could return for a guest appearance in the final episode of the original seasons and then come back for the revived series. Fay went on to play a murderer in BBC drama Green-Eyed Monster and was also in Fungus The Bogeyman, Hustle, New Tricks, Reggie Perrin and Moving On. She has also fronted her own ground-breaking drama series Suspects on Channel 5, appeared in comedy The Delivery Man and been a guest host on The One Show. Most recently, she bagged a role in the Channel 4 drama Finders Keepers. John Thompson Pete Gifford was Adam's childhood friend and Jenny's husband, whom he cheated on in series two with colleague Amy. When Jenny left for America with their son Adam he got into a relationship with Jo and they got married, but it was doomed. In the revived series, we saw Pete struggling with crippling depression while struggling to hold down multiple jobs. Before Cold Feet, John Thompson was best known for his comedy turns in sketch hit The Fast Show, particularly as a black polo-necked jazz expert. After five years as Pete, John spent some time on stage and appeared in various one-off dramas as well as New Street Law and the third series of ITV show Kingdom. The Mancunian actor returned to high-profile telly with a role in Coronation Street as struggling children's entertainer Jesse Chadwick. After his stint in Corrie he moved onto Waterloo Road, and has also been in The Keith Lemon Sketch Show, Casualty and Trollied. He changed things up when he was unmasked as Bush Baby in the second series of singing contest The Masked Singer, before getting back to acting with roles in Father Brown and Silent Witness. Hermione Norris Karen Marsden was the well-to-do and very middle-class mum who had a successful career as a publishing editor. Karen's husband David sadly became an alcoholic and had an affair - with her also cheating in return. The couple got divorced but remained friends while bringing up their son and twin girls, but there were tensions in the later series when Karen got into a relationship with David's pal Adam. After Cold Feet, Norris went on to become the queen of TV dramas, starring in Robson Green police thriller Wire In The Blood. She then moved over to the BBC to star as super spy Ros Myers in Spooks, Kingdom, Outcasts, In the Club and Doctor Who. She also delighted fans by reuniting with her Cold Feet co-star Robert Bathurst in Sky One's Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, and also appeared in series five of Luther. She went on to star in Doc Martin and Riches, and joined Thompson with a 2024 feature in Silent Witness. Robert Bathurst Bumbling David Marsden had a high-paying management consultant job but his life was turned upside down when he got made redundant in series two. David went on to have an affair, with wife Karen then cheating on him afterwards. They soon divorced and he got into a relationship with his solicitor Robyn, but that also ended. Before Cold Feet, actor Robert Bathurst has been a theatre star and appeared in Red Dwarf, The Lenny Henry Show and Joking Apart. He joined the cast of the popular children's sitcom My Dad's The Prime Minister, playing a bedraggled PM, then had a role in Kingdom, alongside former Feet co-stars Hermione Norris and John Thompson. Bathurst's television career went from strength to strength with roles in The Pillars of the Earth, Wild at Heart and Downton Abbey. More recently he appeared in Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie, Sky One's adaptation of best-selling novel Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death alongside fellow Cold Feet star Hermione Norris and Channel 4 comedy Toast of London. He reunited with Matt Berry for the spin-off Toast of Tinseltown, and has most recently appeared in Casualty. Helen Baxendale Baxendale played Rachel Bradley, who shocked boyfriend Adam when she admitted that she was already married. She got a divorce but slept with her ex and had an abortion which caused her to become infertile, but she married Adam and they had a miracle baby together. The infertility plot was rewritten because actress Helen Baxendale was pregnant in real life while filming series four. Rachel tragically died in a car crash in series five, which obviously meant Helen couldn't come back for the revived series aside from a guest appearance in series eight. The acclaimed actress, who shot to fame in series Cardiac Arrest, is best known for playing Ross Geller's demanding wife in Friends. She only appeared in 14 episodes but her character dated, married then divorced Ross, and her appearance made Baxendale well-known on the other side of the pond. Since then Helen has appeared in Cuckoo and Kidnap and Ransom, Poirot and Noughts + Crosses.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Russel Brand to Give Speech at Florida College Amid Allegations
Veteran comedian is set to deliver a speech at Florida's New College despite the ongoing allegations of sexual assault against him. The Forgetting Sarah Marshall star will give an interview to New College President Richard Corcoran while also talking about cancel culture, censorship, and free speech. However, his legal issues have sparked a discussion on the internet, causing many to question his upcoming appearance at the Florida institution. Here's everything you need to know regarding the Brand's talking arrangement at the Florida college. Content warning: The following contains discussions of sexual assault and rape charges. On April 12, 2025, the Arthur actor will take the stage at the Mildred Sainer Pavilion in Florida's New College. Russell Brand will be discussing cancel culture and other topics in an event titled 'Thinking without Permission: A Conversation with Russell Brand on Free Speech, Censorship, and Cultural Power.' Moreover, interested viewers can catch his speech on YouTube or X (formerly Twitter), as per People. The event will take place eight days after the Metropolitan Police charged the three-time British Comedy Award winner with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape, and two counts of sexual assault. Allegations against Brand first arose in September 2023 after five women detailed their experiences to a collaborative investigation conducted by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4's Dispatches series. Despite the allegations, New College authorities have decided to go through with Russell Brand's speech, which they confirmed back in February 2025. Explaining the decision, Alexandra Nicole Islas, the Director of Public Policy Events for the Florida institution, stated, 'In a time when public pressure often seeks to silence rather than engage, New College of Florida is reaffirming its role in creating space for open inquiry—not eliminating it.' Acknowledging the allegations, Islas further clarified the college's choice to 'move forward with Brand's scheduled appearance as part of a broader conversation on society, culture, and free speech broader conversation on society, culture, and free speech,' adding 'that even challenging conversations deserve room in the public square.' She also emphasized the importance of having a space where individuals can explore ideas regarding society 'with respect, critical thought, and intellectual integrity.' While Russell Brand has denied the allegations, he will make his scheduled court appearance on May 2, 2025. Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on The post Russel Brand to Give Speech at Florida College Amid Allegations appeared first on Mandatory.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Russell Brand To Give Speech About ‘Cancel Culture' Amid Allegations
Veteran comedian is set to deliver a speech at Florida's New College despite the ongoing allegations of sexual assault against him. The Forgetting Sarah Marshall star will give an interview to New College President Richard Corcoran while also talking about cancel culture, censorship, and free speech. However, his legal issues have sparked a discussion on the internet, causing many to question his upcoming appearance at the Florida institution. Here's everything you need to know regarding the Brand's talking arrangement at the Florida college. Content warning: The following contains discussions of sexual assault and rape charges. On April 12, 2025, the Arthur actor will take the stage at the Mildred Sainer Pavilion in Florida's New College. Russell Brand will be discussing cancel culture and other topics in an event titled 'Thinking without Permission: A Conversation with Russell Brand on Free Speech, Censorship, and Cultural Power.' Moreover, interested viewers can catch his speech on YouTube or X (formerly Twitter), as per People. The event will take place eight days after the Metropolitan Police charged the three-time British Comedy Award winner with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape, and two counts of sexual assault. Allegations against Brand first arose in September 2023 after five women detailed their experiences to a collaborative investigation conducted by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4's Dispatches series. Despite the allegations, New College authorities have decided to go through with Russell Brand's speech, which they confirmed back in February 2025. Explaining the decision, Alexandra Nicole Islas, the Director of Public Policy Events for the Florida institution, stated, 'In a time when public pressure often seeks to silence rather than engage, New College of Florida is reaffirming its role in creating space for open inquiry—not eliminating it.' Acknowledging the allegations, Islas further clarified the college's choice to 'move forward with Brand's scheduled appearance as part of a broader conversation on society, culture, and free speech broader conversation on society, culture, and free speech,' adding 'that even challenging conversations deserve room in the public square.' She also emphasized the importance of having a space where individuals can explore ideas regarding society 'with respect, critical thought, and intellectual integrity.' While Russell Brand has denied the allegations, he will make his scheduled court appearance on May 2, 2025. The post Russell Brand To Give Speech About 'Cancel Culture' Amid Allegations appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
