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BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Light Night Leeds to celebrate city's landmarks and public spaces
Some of Leeds' most recognisable buildings are set to be celebrated during the city's annual Light Night event. Under the theme of "landmarks", the festival aims to draw attention to some of the city's historic civic buildings, modern architecture and public Queens Hotel will provide a backdrop for a projection marking 200 years of the modern railway, with Leeds Civic Hall hosting an installation created using books from the British Library's event, which includes projections, light artworks, performances and interactive pieces, will take place on 23 and 24 October between 18:00 and 22:00 BST. The Queens Hotel projection, called One Second Lovestory, is by German artist Dirk Rauscher and captures the moment when "two people's eyes meet at a busy train station". An estimated 210,400 people attended the 2024 edition over two days, an increase of 5% from 2023 numbers. Leeds City Council called the festival a "collective experience which celebrates artistic ingenuity and the power of the arts to unite"."Light Night Leeds is an event which truly exemplifies the very best of culture and life in the city, bringing thousands of people together," a spokesperson said. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
A short history of cats on screen
Analysis: Our feline friends have featured on the big and small screen many, many times While best known as a popular and record-breaking musical – it is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's greatest hits – the story of CATS the film has its origins in the literature of the early 20th century. The musical is based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, a poetry collection by T.S. Eliot, published in 1939. A celebrated modernist poet, dramatist and literary critic, Eliot was known for serious fare and would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948. However, the poems of Old Possum (a nickname of Eliot's) are light-hearted and playful. Originally written as gifts for Eliot's godchildren and the children of his friends, the collected poems describe different kinds of cats with a variety of skills and aimed to amuse and appeal to a young audience. Even the first edition's simple cover art, drawn by Eliot, is humorous and eye-catching. It shows cats ascending a ladder to join a besuited man, Old Possum, atop a wall, a pair of cats dance on their way, while another gazes snootily down as its fellows clamber up. Later editions of the poems are equally witty, emphasising the lively, individual characters of the cats. For instance, in 1965, the British Council released a vinyl LP of Eliot reading the poems, the back cover includes paw-prints and a note: "Apology: We had prepared erudite notes for this record, but they appear to have been intercepted on the way to the printers by – Macavity." This official-looking apology highlights the mischievousness of Macavity, the "Mystery Cat" who is a subject of one of the poems, and pokes fun at Eliot's reputation as a serious author. Nobel Prize or not, the poor human has been bested by a clever cat! From RTÉ Entertainment Online, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen talk about Cat School, Taylor Swift and the reaction to that trailer The poems of Old Possum's Book continue to be popular with young readers and felinophiles, and even featured prominently in the British Library's "Cats on the Page" exhibition this year. Recently, Faber & Faber has published colourful volumes on individual cats from the poems such as Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat, Mr Mistoffelees, the Conjuring Cat, and the infamous thieving team of Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer. The CATS film will surely reignite interest in Eliot's work. CATS is not the only film to give felines headline-billing in recent years, and they have often featured memorably on screen as pets. Cats reveal the personalities, virtues and flaws, of characters in films such as Breakfast At Tiffany's, Inside Llewyn Davis and Meet the Parents. Based on two books, A Street Cat Named Bob tells the real-life tale of a former drug-addict and his relationship with a ginger tomcat who he adopts. While his owner busks on London's streets, the extraordinarily-talented Bob becomes a celebrity and he even plays himself in the film. From Inside Llweyn Davis Thanks in large part to the James Bond franchise, cats have become a conventional pet to symbolise evil genius. In fact, the image of Bond's nemesis Blofeld rubbing his Persian cat is so familiar it has often been parodied. In the Austin Powers films, Dr Evil's cat Mr. Bigglesworth is played by a hairless Sphynx cat; in the film's plot, he once resembled Blofeld's cat, but an accident in space makes him as bald as his master. In the 2001 children's film Cats & Dogs, which sees pets pitted against one another as rival factions of spies, the villain is Mr. Tinkles, a white Persian who nefariously plots to make all humans allergic to dogs. In sci-fi, fantasy, and horror movies, cats help to create eerie and magical atmospheres. For example, in Alien, Jonesy the marmalade cat is a plot-device to build the tension for the audience as he knows the creature is near, but the hapless human characters do not. In the children's horror-comedy Hocus Pocus, the black cat Binx is central to the film's Halloween plot, while in this year's adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary, the cat Church moves from being a beloved family pet to a malevolent undead presence. The comicbook movie Captain Marvel draws on cats' reputation as enigmatic, wild creatures through the character of Goose. On the surface, he appears to be an adorable ginger tabby, but in reality he is a highly-dangerous shape-shifting alien. But whether he is a feline or a Flerken, Goose succeeds in stealing many a scene from his fellow actors – he is the film's breakout star. From RTÉ Radio 1's Ray D'Arcy Show, Claire Meade and Wolfgang Turner talk about life at Cat Hospital On TV too, cats have begun to take centre stage. Two light-hearted Specsavers ' ads feature cats in their punchline: one sees a short-sighted vet mistaking a furry hat for a cat, while the other comically shows a myopic handyman put a cat-flap at the top of a door, much to the chagrin of the frustrated feline. Cats have also seen starred in ads for Tesco Mobile. The Supervet, but they are the focus of RTÉ's series Cat Hospital. Filmed in Cork at Ireland's only veterinary clinic that caters exclusively for cats, viewers gain an insight into the work of veterinary staff, the lives of cat-owners and, of course, the felines themselves. Each episode shows us cats that are beloved members of families and reminds us that every cat has a singular story; they are uniquely beautiful, interesting, endearing, infuriating, fabulous, and talented. As a man familiar with and fond of felines, no doubt Eliot would have spotted many a cat worth adding to Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Woman's memoirs give fascinating insight into life in 17th-century northern England
She was a 17th-century Yorkshirewoman whose memoirs combined commentaries on major political events with local and personal details of her life. Now an academic who has studied the writings of Alice Thornton has said they provide a 'northern female perspective' in contrast to the London-based diarist Samuel Pepys. Thornton's memoirs contain accounts of financial catastrophe, rumours of sexual impropriety, childbirth, attempted rapes and repeated interventions by God to deliver her from an early death. Thornton lived to be 80, a remarkable age at the time. Two of four autobiographical volumes were discovered by Cordelia Beattie, a history professor at the University of Edinburgh. One was handed by a descendant of Thornton to Beattie's father in a pub in Ludlow, Shropshire, and the second was unearthed in the library of Durham Cathedral. They have been reunited online with two other volumes that were acquired by the British Library from a private collection in 2009. A digital edition was produced earlier this year. Beattie, who has spent the past four years studying the manuscripts, said the volumes were 'four versions of Thornton's life as her circumstances changed and she looked back over the years trying to make sense of what happened'. Thornton was 'particularly keen to restate her identity as a chaste wife and to lay the blame for the family's downturn in fortune on various male family members, including her late husband', she said. 'Her writings show that, alongside domestic and familial responsibilities, early modern women were fully engaged with the political events of their day.' Thornton was born in Yorkshire in 1626. The family moved to Ireland seven years later, where her father became lord deputy shortly before he died. Amid the turmoil of the Irish Rebellion, the family returned to northern England, where they were caught up in the civil war. As royalists, their estates were confiscated, and parliamentarian and Scottish soldiers were billeted on their land. Thornton agreed to marry a parliamentarian to secure her family's financial future. She gave birth to nine babies, later describing both the dangers of childbirth and the deaths of six of her infant children. Her husband, William, died in 1668 without a will and leaving her heavily in debt. Her financial woes are detailed in her books, but they show her to be financially shrewd and capable of negotiating complex legal matters. 'She was quite switched on and adept at managing finances,' said Beattie. In Book One, Thornton defends herself against rumours that she was conducting a clandestine affair with the local curate, Thomas Comber, who was not only nearly 20 years her junior but was also engaged to her 14-year-old daughter. 'She really struggles with this because she thinks of herself as a godly woman, a chaste wife. I think she does have a good relationship with Comber, but the fact that people think she might be cheating on her husband really worried her,' said Beattie. Comber is later appointed dean of Durham Cathedral. 'He does well for himself. But people wonder why she married off her daughter at the age of 14, and the rumour is that it's about Alice trying to get Comber for herself.' Thornton also writes about two attempted rapes. One of her attackers was a captain in the Scottish army 'who did swear to ravish me … but I was saved'. The second was a man whose overtures she rejected. He 'laid wait to have catched me … to have forced me to marry or destroy me'. A one-woman play, The Remarkable Deliverances of Alice Thornton, based on her writings, prompted one audience member to describe her life as a '17th-century EastEnders'. Beattie said: 'This shows that the themes explored in these manuscripts are still relevant, important and engrossing.'
Daily Mirror
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
How Thursday Murder Club fans can gain insight into making of film with 'very special guests'
The Thursday Murder Club is coming to Netflix at the end of August, with fans now able to get a sneak peek with some 'very special guests' Netflix is set to premiere The Thursday Murder Club on August 28, with the film also hitting select cinemas from August 22 for eager fans. In the run-up, cosy mystery aficionados have a plethora of other titles to indulge in. Adapted from Richard Osman's hit 2020 novel, the film sees Osman himself taking on the role of executive producer, working alongside famed creator Chris Columbus. Devotees of the book series have been clamouring for behind-the-scenes insights into the film's production, and now they're being offered a unique event to celebrate The Thursday Murder Club' s journey from page to screen. The British Library is gearing up to welcome Osman, who has a famous brother, Columbus, and special guests for an exclusive evening at its Pigott Theatre on August 19, starting at 7pm. This 90-minute event is available for both physical attendance and virtual participation. Although tickets for attending in person are now sold out, online access remains open for purchase at £6.50, reports the Express. According to the library's website: "Step into the world of Richard Osman's beloved, bestselling novel, which follows four irrepressible retirees whose casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn when they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands. "Discover how this much-loved tale has been brought to life in the forthcoming film adaptation, releasing globally on Netflix on Thursday 28 August." The film, helmed by Chris Columbus (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) and penned by Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote, boasts a stellar ensemble cast featuring Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie amongst others. Several other libraries are also broadcasting the event, so enthusiasts can visit their local library's website to discover if they're participating. Osman posted on X, previously known as Twitter, to hint at thrilling appearances, declaring: "I can guarantee some VERY SPECIAL guests at this event. See you there!". Supporters rushed to the replies to share their enthusiasm, with one posting: "Online ticket booked! I ́m very curious about those special guests." Someone else added: "We'll be joining you online - can't wait!".
Telegraph
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
John Peel's signed Lennon LP could be yours – if you've got a spare £7,000
'I just want to hear something I haven't heard before,' the late Radio 1 DJ John Peel once said. His love of music would famously manifest itself in a record collection so vast that estimates of its precise size vary. Some people have put the collection at 26,000 albums and 40,000 seven-inch singles, while others have put the entire collection at 120,000 vinyl records and CDs. Whatever the number, the DJ, who died in 2004, is widely regarded as having one of the finest private caches of punk, indie, new wave, dance, folk and rock music in the world. Before his death, he even spoke to the British Library about how to preserve his collection (although ultimately it remained with his family). Peel knew his own tastes. He had a 'star system' to denote the records he'd played on air or should play on air. And, despite having thousands of them, he hated CDs. 'Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don't have any surface noise,' he said. 'I said, 'Listen, mate, life has surface noise.'' However, Peel's family has discovered that his celebrated collection contains many duplicates of records that he already owned. Auction house Omega Auctions has spent the last year sifting through the shelves at the family's Suffolk home, Peel Acres, to remove them. An auction of these duplicates – the first of at least three – takes place on July 29. What sets this sale apart from normal record auctions is that Peel's discs often came with hand-written notes from artists or managers; Easter eggs, if you will, between artists and the music tastemaker. The auction also contains plenty of quirky memorabilia. Paul Fairweather, director at Omega Auctions, says going through Peel's collection has been the pinnacle of his career as a vinyl sifter. 'For me, finding the little bits of memorabilia within the records, or hand-written on the records, makes it so much more exciting. It's the personal notes to John that make it so much better,' he says. Peel's family say they hope that record collectors will appreciate these items 'just as much as Dad did'. There are plenty of curios in this auction. Peel revelled in championing the underdogs; he famously introduced himself to viewers on his first Top of the Pops as the bloke 'who comes on Radio 1 late at night and plays records made by sulky Belgian art students in basements dying of TB'. We've ignored some of the more obscure records. But here are our highlights from an auction so great that rarities from Bowie and the Clash fail to make our Top Ten. 10. The Jesus and Mary Chain – test press of Upside Down 7' (Lot 14) It's not so much the disc that's of interest here, but the hand-written letter to Peel from Creation boss Alan McGee that comes with it. The year was 1984 and Creation Records – the future home of Oasis and Primal Scream – was in its infancy. McGee was on typically headstrong form in addressing the DJ. 'John,' the label boss starts, 'Just a quick line to tell you about The Jesus and Mary Chain … I honestly believe this band is classic in the mould of The Pistols, Stooges etc. This is beyond rock n roll as they say at [the] NME.' That's confidence. As Fairweather says: 'This was well before Oasis took Creation to another level, so at the time they had to do these hand-written letters to people like John basically selling the bands. It is one of the very early Creation releases.' The disc also has Peel's mark on it. 'You can see actually on the record itself that there's a little 2:55 in red. That's John's hand-written timings of the track. He's listened to that record, as he has done all the records in the collection, and noted the lengths of the track.' Estimate: £150-200 As well as being sent loads of records to Peel Acres, the DJ was sent a vast number of promotional T-shirts, many of which are for sale here. My favourites include a 1984 Frankie Goes to Hollywood T-shirt saying 'Frankie Say Arm the Unemployed' (it was always 'say' not 'says' on official Frankie merch as the band were a collective). There is also a great hand-painted Ramones T-shirt from 1977, a Sex Pistols one from 1980 and a Smiths shirt from 1987. 'John Peel's collection is predominantly about vinyl, but having memorabilia in the auction as well is very cool, especially all his T-shirts. There are tons of them, a really good selection,' says Fairweather. Estimates: range from £60 to £200, although the Smiths T-shirt is already attracting bids of £240 while the Frankie one has a bid of £420 8. New Order – World in Motion promotional bundle (Lot 404) The 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy was memorable for lots of reasons. Roberto Baggio. England vs Cameroon. Gazza's tears after his yellow card in the semis, meaning he'd miss the final (which we didn't get into). But right up there was New Order's official England song World in Motion, featuring that famous John Barnes rap. Originally called 'E is for England' (a title banned by the FA for its obvious drug connotation), the song is an absolute belter. As, it should be said, is this bundle of promotional memorabilia. The printed plastic bag contains a T-shirt, New Order and England-themed football shorts, a cap, a remix CD, a 12' single and a sticker. Altogether now, 'You've got to hold and give, but do it at the right time…' Estimate: £100-£150 7. Oasis – Columbia demo 12' disc (Lot 256) A rare copy of the band of the moment's first promotional release. In December 1993, Oasis's record label Creation sent a demo of the band's track Columbia to radio stations ahead of the release of their official first single, Supersonic, in April 1994. Columbia was one of the first songs that Noel Gallagher wrote after he joined Oasis and it would go on to appear on debut album Definitely Maybe. This version is in excellent condition, says Omega, and is extremely rare. 'This is Oasis's first promo that was sent out. It typically [sells for] £1,000. They only sent out 500 or 1,000 of them. Whenever you have Columbia coming through [in auctions] it's like the holy grail almost,' says Fairweather. The song is not featured, at the moment anyway, in the set list of Oasis's reunion tour. Still, I imagine this will get snapped up. Estimate: £600-£1,000 6. Pink Floyd – Animals promotional mobile (Lot 408) This is fun. To help promote their 1977 album Animals, Pink Floyd's record label gave out animal-themed mobiles to journalists and DJs (that's hanging mobiles, rather than mobile phones, not a thing back then). This one includes a sheep, a dog, a pig and a disc with the album's name on it. The packaging remains unopened and it comes in its original mailing envelope with printed instructions on the front. 'John would have been sent this when the album was coming out or given it at a launch party. He's actually had two of these, so we've got one in this auction and one for a future auction. It's a cool piece,' says Fairweather. The dangling pig will bring to mind a famous Pink Floyd story. The Animals album cover depicted an inflatable pig flying over Battersea Power Station. During the photo shoot, the pig broke free of its moorings, flew over Heathrow, delaying flights, before landing in a farmer's field in Kent. Estimate: £200-£400 5. Joy Division – first music and notes from Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson (Lots 401 and 403) There's a lot of Joy Division in this auction. The Manchester band, who went on to become New Order after the death of singer Ian Curtis, were a favourite of Peel. And his love of the band was no doubt spurred by Lot 403 – Joy Division's debut EP from 1978, An Ideal For Living, with a note from manager Rob Gretton. 'We are still awaiting the call from Broadcasting House to come down and record a session for your show,' Gretton wrote. These sessions came to pass; Joy Division's Peel Sessions from 1979 still sound phenomenal. Lot 401, meanwhile, comes with a note from Factory founder Tony Wilson inviting Peel to stay at his house. 'For me, being a Joy Division fan, I really like these. Similar to Alan McGee, you've got a letter there from Rob Gretton, who was Joy Division's manager. [This symbolises] Joy Division's launch into legendary status and then going on to become New Order,' says Fairweather. He describes the letter from Wilson to Peel as correspondence between 'two legends of music'. Estimates: £300-£500 (Lot 401) and £3,000-£5,000 (Lot 403) 4. U2 – debut 12' with note from Bono (Lot 260) U2's first ever release was a 12' EP called Three in September 1979. The record, as the name suggests, featured a trio of tracks: Out of Control, Stories for Boys and Boy/Girl. Re-recorded versions of the first two tracks went on to feature on U2's debut album Boy in 1980. This copy is an original Irish pressing, numbered 507/1,000. It's slightly unclear how it came into Peel's possession as a hand-written note from Bono says: 'For Kid Jensen, who had the good taste to make [The Radiators' 1979 song] 'Kitty Ricketts' single of the week. From Bono.' Says auctioneer Fairweather: 'This is so early in their careers that US decided to send it in to the DJs at Radio 1 at the time. I don't know how John has ended up with this. Maybe Jensen wasn't bothered by it but liked those particular releases by U2 so he's ended up with this.' Despite filching Jensen's record, Peel wasn't a U2 fan. He once listed them as one of the bands that he 'stoutly resisted playing' or letting perform a Peel Session, along with The Police and Dire Straits. Estimate: £3,000-£5,000 (bids at £6,000 at time of writing. Fairweather expects five figures on Tuesday) 3. Marc Bolan/ T. Rex – acetates, legal papers and unreleased music (Lots 215 and 264) Among the wealth of Marc Bolan and T. Rex memorabilia is an unreleased test pressing of Hard on Love, a 1972 album that was never released (Lot 215). 'Hard on Love was going to be released but Marc Bolan didn't like how it sounded. It was going to be a fan club release but it never made it. John Peel at the time was good friends with Marc Bolan so he obviously got a copy,' says Fairweather. The album, which features tracks produced by future Wham! manager Simon Napier-Bell, would later be released in 1974 as The Beginning of Doves (it was later withdrawn as Bolan still wasn't happy with its release by Track Records). Lot 264 is a Pye acetate of Hard on Love, and comes with legal papers from the High Court detailing Bolan's efforts to stop it being released. This is next-level memorabilia for Bolan fans. Estimates: £1,000-£1,500 (Lot 215) and £1,500-£2,000 (Lot 264) 2. Bob Dylan – The Basement Tapes Sessions acetates (Lot 266) A gem for Bobcats. The auction includes two single-sided Emidisc acetates of Dylan's Basement Tapes Sessions. Recorded in 1967 and 1968 but not released until 1975, these sessions were famously recorded at Dylan's house in Woodstock and then in the basement of Big Pink, the house with the pink wall that was rented by Band member Rick Danko. 'Any acetates for these classic albums are always scarce and very much desirable by collectors. The nature of an acetate is that they are pressed up before going to vinyl for the artist of producer to listen to and check that it sounds as it should,' says Fairweather. 'Probably only a handful, less than five normally, acetates would be pressed up. So for a Dylan collector it's gold, really.' Estimate: £2,000-£3,000 1. John Lennon – signed copy of 1969 studio album (Lot 428) Lennon and Yoko Ono's avant-garde 1969 album Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions failed to chart in the UK, selling just 5,000 copies (it did far better in America, shifting 60,000 copies). Just four months later, The Beatles – still a going concern – would release Abbey Road. But Peel's copy of Unfinished Music is special: it comes with a note and doodle from Lennon on its inner sleeve. 'To John the Peel, love John and Yoko,' Lennon wrote. The lot also contains a 1970 dollar bill from the so-called Spring Offensive to End the Vietnam War, which Lennon and Ono were involved with. 'It's so personal to John Peel. 'Love John and Yoko' with the little sketches on there as well. It may not be considered a classic album, but it's just the fact that it was gifted to John by them,' says Fairweather. 'It's a great piece linking John's career into that of John and Yoko.' Estimate: £5,000-£7,000 The John Peel Collection auction begins on July 29 at 10am;
