Latest news with #PeterMullan
Metro
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Eddie Marsan explains truth behind his 'Kentucky accent' in devastating BBC dram
Eddie Marsan has revealed the inspiration behind his Kentucky accent in the BBC's gripping drama about the Lockerbie disaster. On December 21, 1998, Pan American Airways flight 103 exploded over the small town of Lockerbie in south-west Scotland as it made its way from Frankfurt to Detroit via London Heathrow. All in all, 270 people – including 243 passengers, 16 crew members and 11 people on the ground – were killed as the plane fell from 30,000ft. Soon after, investigators discovered that the explosion was caused by a bomb, making it one of the deadliest attacks to ever hit the UK and, at the time, the largest crime scene in the world spanning 845 square miles. The horror of that crash and the efforts of individual law enforcement agencies to uncover what caused it is now the subject of a six-part drama on BBC One, called The Bombing of Pan Am 103, which stars Connor Swindells, Peter Mullan and Suits star Patrick J. Adams. Marsan, who plays real-life FBI explosives expert Tom Thurman, discussed his preparation for the role and what attracted him to the project. Speaking at the Curzon theatre in Soho after a screening of the BBC series, Marsan – who has played Amy Winehouse's father in last year's Back to Black – was adamant that this is not a story about 'one hero'. 'It's really not a story about just one hero, one lone person that solved all of this. It's about the work of a community. 'There's also a collective response to this trauma, that was one of the things that really interested me about this project. Touching upon the American accent he uses, Marsan added: 'Well, I didn't have any chance keep up with Peter Mullan doing a Scottish accent, so I thought I'd be the Kentucky detective with a twinkle in his eye. 'No, seriously, I hope I did the accent well. Really, it's like training to be a boxer. 'You do it for an hour or two, then you break and do it all again. The good thing was that I had my dialect coach with me on set, so it was easy really. I didn't have to think about it, I just did it and then she would tell me if I was doing anything wrong.' Following the release of Sky's Lockerbie: A Search For Truth, starring Colin Firth, which takes a look at the efforts of Dr. Jim Swire who searches for justice following the death of his daughter Flora, the new BBC series takes a different perspective on the crash. More Trending Written by Jonathan Lee and Gillian Roger Park, the series focuses on the never before seen efforts of US, British and Scottish law enforcement agencies working together to discover what happened. However, the story is one that continued to develop throughout the shooting of the series. In March it was revealed that the trial of Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi, known as Masud, who is accused of building the bomb that destroyed the plane will be postponed after it was originally planned for May 12. View More » The Bombing of Pan Am 103 airs on BBC One on Sunday May 18. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: 'I'm 77 but Rose Ayling-Ellis' experiment has turned me into a big kid' MORE: Who came last in Eurovision 2025 as Austria secures victory for third time MORE: Graham Norton leaves Eurovision final viewers in stitches with 'brutal' Margaret Thatcher jibe
The Guardian
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
TV tonight: a harrowing drama about the Lockerbie bombing
Sunday, 9pm, BBC One Following Sky's Lockerbie but with a wider focus, this drama is a moving exploration of the terrorist attack that killed 270 people on 21 December 1988. The crash and its immediate aftermath is harrowingly well realised – there's minimal dialogue, just the same stunned, horrified incomprehension that the first responders must have felt. The atrocity soon becomes a political football as British and US law enforcement bodies have to work together. But it's ultimately a story of loss; the emotional toll taken on the relatives of the victims and the town of Lockerbie is never forgotten. Connor Swindells and Peter Mullan star, while Mogwai provide a gorgeous original soundtrack. Phil Harrison 9pm, ITV1 Recent thriller Reunion proved that British Sign Language can make for great mainstream drama. This offering is similarly striking, starring Rose Ayling-Ellis as Alison, a deaf woman working in a police canteen whose expertise in lip-reading catches the attention of detectives. Before long, she's indispensable – but that comes with risks. The occasional confusion caused by Alison's deafness is cleverly written into the fabric of the narrative and becomes a source of tension and intrigue. PH 9pm, BBC Two Another understated but fascinating journey with Simon Reeve, whose travelogues have become essential viewing thanks to his ability to connect the intimately personal with the expansively geopolitical. His Nordic jaunt begins in Svalbard – a bleak Norwegian outpost that has nevertheless become contested as Russia flexes its muscles in the area. PH 10pm, BBC Two Back for series 66 (it's entirely possible that viewers watching from the start could have become doting grandparents during its run), and a return welcome for Skunk Anansie. Also, Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, Irish singer-songwriter CMAT, goth-rocker Jojo Orme, AKA Heartworms, and Vermont folkie Sam Amidon. Ali Catterall 10pm, Channel 4 Mamma Mia's Amanda Seyfried takes on a very different role in this gritty new crime thriller, as Mickey, a conscientious Philadelphia cop and single mum. When a string of sex workers turn up dead on her beat, top brass chalks it up to a 'bad batch' of drugs, but Mickey suspects a serial killer. Ellen E Jones 10.05pm, ITV1 A final treat for anyone longing for more titbits from this funny and profound series in which celebrities are interviewed by neurodivergent people. Expect Danny Dyer's views on Andrew Tate and, more cheerfully, Jade Thirlwall explaining her crush on Paul Hollywood. PH Wuthering Heights, 12.55am, Film4 Andrea Arnold brings earthy conviction to her 2011 adaptation of Emily Brontë's smouldering classic. This is the first version that makes overt the latent suggestion that Heathcliff is African Caribbean, emphasising the transgressive (for the times) nature of his love for Catherine. It's a heavy, passionate, at times brutal rendering of the wild moorland romance – almost an anti-costume drama. Shannon Beer and Kaya Scodelario are convincing as the young and grownup Cathy, while Solomon Glave and James Howson share the crucial role of the tempestuous Heathcliff. Simon Wardell Premier League Football: Everton v Southampton, 11am, TNT Sports 1 Followed by West Ham v Nottingham Forest at 1pm and Arsenal v Newcastle at 4.15pm on Sky Sports Main Event. Women's FA Cup Football: Chelsea v Man United, 12.50pm, BBC One The final from Wembley Stadium.
Irish Times
10-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Reforming the planning laws: ‘It was never going to be a short-term solution to the housing problem'
Ireland's national planning authority is about to enter a new era after the 2022 governance scandal that shook the organisation to its core. In the coming weeks An Bord Pleánala will change its name to An Coimisiún Pleanála and a number of structural changes will take place under the Planning and Development Act 2024. The organisation's 14 board members will become commissioners and they will solely decide on cases and have no role in the running of the organisation. A Chief Planning Commissioner will also be hired. The chairperson Peter Mullan will become chief executive and will run the business side of things. He will report to a new governing board, which will have at least five and no more than nine members, to be appointed by the Minister for Housing . READ MORE The changes are designed to separate corporate decision-making and governance functions at the organisation and are the final step in restoring public confidence in the body and morale among the staff working there. This section of the mammoth Planning and Development Act 2024, which is designed to reform how planning works in Ireland, is one of the first parts of the legislation to be commenced. [ Public perception of planning system worsens while harsh reality of housing crisis hits homes Opens in new window ] This section, Part 17, is expected to go to Cabinet next week and be officially activated the following week. The other main part of the legislation that will bring change to An Bord Pleanála is the introduction of mandatory statutory timelines for its decisions. Those timelines range from 18 to 24 weeks and there will be financial penalties for any failure to comply. This part of the Act is not due to be commenced at the same time as the name change, though it is expected to be in place by the end of 2025. All these changes are happening in the midst of a housing crisis , where builders and home buyers often point fingers at delays in Irish planning as one of the major contributory factors to the slow pace of building at a time when tens of thousands of new homes are needed every year. So what impact will the changes to An Bord Pleanála have on the housing crisis and what other changes can we expect to see when the new legislation is fully commenced? The context It is difficult to talk about the changes coming at An Bord Pleanála without first recounting the upheaval at the authority over recent years. In 2022 news broke of then deputy chairperson Paul Hyde's alleged conflict of interest on a number of cases. In 2023 he received a suspended prison sentence for failing to declare certain personal interests in a number of properties when a member of the planning body. Former An Bord Pleanála deputy chairman Paul Hyde leaving court in Cork in November 2023. Photograph: Michael Mac Sweeney/Cork Courts Chairman at the time Dave Walsh also took early retirement 'for personal and family reasons', creating a leadership vacuum. An investigation into governance issues at An Bord Pleanála by senior counsel Lorna Lynch concluded there were no sufficient grounds to refer matters to the Minister for housing to determine if there was 'stated misbehaviour'. She found, following an investigation into six governance areas involving a review of 175 case files, that there was no requirement for the planning board to initiate disciplinary action against any current or former employees. The upheaval in management and a deficit in staffing led to a build-up of cases sitting with the board. At its peak there was a backlog of more than 3,600 cases, roughly double its usual roster of about 1,500. [ James Browne has little power to fix the housing crisis. The status quo is in charge Opens in new window ] The national planning authority received approval from the Department of Housing to hire significantly more staff. It now has 290 full-time employees, up from 202 at the end of 2022, and 15 permanent board members. This has resulted in a substantial reduction in the backlog, to 1,274 cases as of March 2025. Mullan officially took over as chairperson in January 2024. He reflects on what has been an unprecedented period of disruption for the organisation. 'It was an existential crisis. The unethical and criminal behaviour of Paul Hyde brought this organisation to the very brink. We worked very, very hard to reestablish our reputation,' Mullan tells The Irish Times. But how has the crisis affected staff and what do they think of the proposed changes? A new name Rebuilding the reputation of the organisation does not require a name change, or a change in governance, Mullan says, because he believes this has already been achieved. But will it help? 'I think it will,' he says. Other staff members were not so sure. In May 2023 trade union Forsa, which represents a number of An Bord Pleanála staff, wrote to then minister for housing Darragh O'Brien outlining its opposition to the move. The change in name 'reflects negatively on all who work in the organisation' and represents 'collective punishment' for all of those in the organisation who had worked with 'impartiality and integrity', while others at the very top had not, Forsa said at the time. The turmoil and subsequent clean-up had a bruising and isolating effect on those who worked there, though that appears to be receding. 'There was a little bit of unhappiness, but I think people have come around to the idea,' Mullan says. 'I think everybody here accepts that it reflects the governance changes in the Act, and what the commissioners will do.' Sign outside An Bord Pleanála's offices in Dublin. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw The name, An Coimisiún Pleanála, reflects the fact that the 14 board members will now become planning commissioners, or Coimisinéirí Pleanála, and there will be nobody on the governing board deciding on planning cases. This is not a rebrand, Mullan stresses. 'It's not that we fancied a new sign,' he says. The new name reflects the change in governance. 'The main value within the staff of this organisation is integrity. That integrity existed in staff members before the governance failures and has come right through to the fore now,' Mullan says. The impact Will these changes to An Bord Pleanála's structure and governance have a big impact on how planning is done in Ireland? 'I don't think they're going to be transformative,' Gavin Lawlor, president of the Irish Planning Institute says. 'The changes are subtle, so there won't be any significant overt change. An Bord Pleanála is changing its name, there are governance changes in terms of how it operates and how it's structured, and it will have mandatory timelines imposed on decision making.' Gavin Lawlor, president of the Irish Planning Institute. Photograph: Fennell Photography The more significant reform around how planning is done in Ireland is contained in other sections of the Act. 'The objective of the Act is to provide more certainty around the timing of the outcomes of a planning application. Then on the plan-making side, it is to provide more detail, more certainty for the community as to what will happen in the future,' Lawlor says. Local authority development plans will be extended to 10 years in duration, increasing certainty for developers and putting the focus on long-term, strategic planning. These plans will have to align with the National Planning Framework (NPF), and the Minister for Housing James Browne has said he will be asking all local authorities to reopen their plans this year to ensure they comply with the revised NPF. The development plans will also be guided by Urban Development Zones, which will be explicit on the height and density allowed in certain areas. 'It gives everybody a little bit more certainty around what they can expect to see when planning applications come in. What we want is a more plan-led system, a more prescriptive system, so less is left to chance,' Lawlor says. The changes will not be swift, though. 'Within a year, the new Act will be in place, but then it takes time for those elements of the new Act to kick in, and to make meaningful difference,' says Lawlor. He estimates that it will be 'probably three to five years' before any new development plans are in place and then another three years until the consequences are seen 'in terms of housing'. 'The Planning and Development Act was never going to be a short-term solution to the housing problem,' Lawlor says. While slow-paced change is not exactly music to the Minister's ears – or to people trying to build, buy or rent their own home – it does appear to be a step in the right direction. What will people notice in the changes with An Coimisiún Pleanála? 'I don't think John or Mary Citizen are going to notice anything really different other than the change in our name,' Mullan says. 'But the public are entitled to an efficient planning service, and that's what they're going to get from An Coimisiún Pleanála.' Delivering an efficient planning service could be a much larger task than any one organisation can pull off.
Sunday Post
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday Post
Molly Geddes on whirlwind start to her career on stage and screen
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up There is a sense of the surreal from Molly Geddes when she talks about her career since graduating from drama school just two years ago. The Lanarkshire actor will soon be seen in her first major TV role, appearing in the BBC/Netflix series about the Lockerbie disaster – The Bombing of Pan Am 103 – where she was taken under the wing of acting heavyweights Peter Mullan and Phyllis Logan. Next up is her professional stage debut, being directed by the award-winning Sally Reid of Scot Squad fame, in a new play beginning this week in Pitlochry. And, perhaps most impressive of all, and certainly most important, is the short film she wrote and starred in about escaping an abusive relationship, which she has been taking into schools around the country. Perhaps, at times, she can't quite believe what she's achieved so quickly. © BBC 'There have been lots of pinch-me moments,' Molly admits, referring specifically to her role in The Bombing of Pan Am 103, but which stands true for her time in the industry so far. 'Doing the Lockerbie series was class. I worked closely with Peter Mullan, he was one of the first people I met. I was so nervous and didn't know anyone and wondered how I'd found myself there. Peter was so real, so there, and willing to just talk out what we should do. 'When I went to the first read-through in London, I was so unbelievably nervous. I didn't even know where to sit. I was standing in the corner when Phyllis Logan took me under her wing. I was able to ask questions of these people I've been watching on telly since I was a wee lassie. 'I play Lauren Aitken, one of the police officers who deals with the evidence handling. I got to meet the person my character is based on, which was a great moment. Lockerbie is something I learned about in primary seven, so for one of my first jobs from drama school to be in a big drama about it is crazy.' The acting bug bit early for Molly when she was growing up in Blantyre. 'No one else in my family is performance inclined, but acting has always been inside me,' she explains, talking before another day of rehearsals at Pitlochry Festival Theatre for new play Water Colour, which opens at the venue on Friday. 'I remember when I was young, my gran was in hospital and I'd go into the ward and sing and dance. These wee women in the ward might not have wanted it, but there I was! It's not something that was taught; it was just in me. 'From there, my mum made an effort to get me into youth theatres and different drama groups. She would drive for hours to get me to places, spending an arm and a leg. I knew this is what I wanted to do but I didn't know the stepping stones to get there. Creative pathways weren't talked about at my high school, so I took on the research myself. I was about 14 when I heard about the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) for the first time and I decided that's where I was going.' © Steve MacDougall / DC Thomson & Molly attended the Junior Conservatoire at the campus in Glasgow, and when she finished high school at 18, the RCS was the only college or university she applied for. 'People told me you don't get in first time, but I'd decided and that was that!' she laughs. 'I was probably more inexperienced and naive than others, a bit doe-eyed. I didn't think about what the course entailed; I just wanted to be there so badly. It was during Covid, so half the auditions were in person, half were online, and somehow I got in. 'I was newly 18, just a wee lassie and the youngest in my year. I had impostor syndrome – a working-class person in that drama school environment is a lot – but that quickly washed away. I met some of my best pals there.' While Molly loved learning to be an actor, she was dealing with issues in her personal life at the time. For the first two years of her course, she was in a relationship which she came to realise was abusive. It was only when she got out of it that she began to understand what she had been through. 'I started looking for types of media that could explain what this was and what abuse looks like,' she says. 'Part of your brain tells you that's not what it was, or that it wasn't bad enough, but nothing I looked at resonated with me.' Molly reached out to the Glasgow Girls' Club, an activist group she'd joined when she was 14 but had dropped away from during her degree course. 'I said we should make a film that would help other young women. All we had was an idea and a dream. Two years after that conversation, the Carter Centre in America brought their Inform Women, Transform Lives initiative to Glasgow and we partnered with them. We wrote a short film, Where We Stop, which focuses on emotional abuse. People don't always recognise it to be abuse, but it is and can do just as much damage as physical abuse.' © Steve MacDougall / DC Thomson & Molly had to first deal with her own trauma before embarking on the project, but she says sharing the issues explored in the film continues to help her, as well as others. 'You have to do a lot of healing before making art about what you've experienced,' she says. 'I did work beforehand to heal and grow. There was a time when I was scared to share my story but seeing the impact it has on other girls shows it was the right thing. I go into schools and talk about domestic violence, plus we have our mass social media presence, and we have other initiatives coming that we're currently working on.' It's an important subject that is still not talked about enough, and the same can be said about the themes in Molly's stage debut, Water Colour, which tackles mental health, loneliness and suicidal thoughts. Written by Milly Sweeney, winner of the St Andrews Playwriting Award, the play is a two-hander also starring Ryan J Mackay. Molly plays Esme, a student who finds herself at an all-time low and is standing on a bridge railing overlooking the Clyde when she has a chance encounter with a boy, Harris, that changes her life forever. 'Milly's play is beautiful. Her writing is so poetic and gorgeous, but also Glaswegian,' Molly says. 'I remember reading the script for the first time and it being so different to anything else I'd read recently. Glasgow and the Clyde almost become characters in the play. 'Milly's in the rehearsal room with us and it's great to have her there if we have any questions. It's lovely and exciting to be working with her on my first professional theatre gig. She's class. Everyone involved is so welcoming and warm. We've created a lovely room, which is important when we're tackling a subject like mental health. It's a challenge as an actor, but a fun one.' 'We don't talk about feelings' © Chris Keatch While conversations around mental health have become more open and honest in recent years, Molly believes there is a long way to go in Scotland before we are able to bare our feelings as comfortably as some nationalities. The actor plays a troubled young student struggling with a number of issues in new play Water Colour, which opens this week in Pitlochry. 'I think there's a west coast, or maybe even a Scottish, culture of not wanting to talk about how you feel, even though it's a discussion we're having more often now,' she says. 'I feel like there's a 'red neck' culture here, where there's an embarrassment felt when speaking about it. 'I remember when I was 18 and at drama school, my American classmates would unashamedly talk about how they felt, and I recall thinking that I wished I had that ability to say what I was feeling and how I thought it could be made better. 'I've had to learn how to do that, whereas it seems to be instilled in others. 'In this play, my character, Esme, isn't afraid at points to talk about how she feels. I love that about the character and I hope to bring a little of that into me.' Water Colour, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Friday until May 17; Byre Theatre, St Andrews, May 28-29
The Herald Scotland
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
BBC in England understands the value of soaps. Why can't BBC Scotland?
Did BBC Scotland consider these statistics when making its decision, did it even know about them, will it be able to match these figures on its new, shorter-form productions? BBC Scotland has made a one-dimensional decision based on falling ratings while not taking into account many other crucial factors, which is why over 250 actors and writers like Peter Mullan, Elaine C Smith, Irvine Welsh, Robert Carlyle, Blythe Duff and Alan Cumming have signed a letter fundamentally disagreeing with the decommission. Maybe the BBC in England has understood the wider context and value of soaps in a way that BBC Scotland has singularly failed to do, and therefore EastEnders is recognised with a Special Bafta Award rather than with a decommission. If that isn't cultural vandalism, what is? Rob Jarvis (cast member, River City), The Wirral, Merseyside. • Mark Smith ('A message to the BBC from a child of the BBC: everything has changed and you can't fight it', The Herald, April 28) says that he thinks that the £174 licence fee has started to feel like a lot. It works out at just 47p per day, you can't even get a tabloid newspaper or a rubbish cup of burger-van coffee for 47p and yet for that tiny amount you get all of the BBC, TV radio, online and World Service. I agree that the licence fee model is no longer viable but until a better solution is found, I'm happy to pay my licence fee. Stuart Neville, Clydebank. Read more letters Stop the sham consultations Noting that there is yet another "consultation on chronic pain" by the Scottish Government ("Over 300 people die as they wait to see pain specialist", The Herald, April 26), given that in Scotland hundreds of thousands myself included suffer from arthritis, fibromyalgia, Neuropathy and suchlike we are now sick and tired of their procrastination. Whilst understanding the cost of finding solutions is daunting, supporting chronic pain sufferers, many of whom may in supported circumstances be able to work, would surely be a better and more productive way forward than another sham consultation which excludes actual pain sufferers from contributing in favour of pain-free professionals. We don't need more platitudes, we need a plan to examine and develop ways to eradicate chronic pain or at least improve support services, allowing sufferers the dignity and hope to feel we actually count towards our society. Eddie Phillips, Kilwinning. Disrespecting Arctic Convoy I note with interest your front page article headed "Former navy chief recalls the day atomic bomb was dropped" (The Herald, April 28). The second paragraph describes the Arctic Convoy as 'a gesture of support to the Soviet Union in 1941'. The word "gesture" struck such a discordant note that I looked it up in the Oxford Dictionary to find that, as I suspected, a gesture is "an action performed for show in the knowledge that it will have no effect". This is so wrong and disrespectful to the crews of the 85 merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy warships which were lost during the 78 convoys which sailed between 1941 and 1945. There were 1,400 ships from not only the Royal Navy and merchant navy but also the Canadians and the US in the convoys. In addition Germany also lost a battleship, three destroyers, 30 U-boats and many aircraft. Far from being an action with no effect, the convoys not only demonstrated the Allies' commitment to helping the Soviet Union by delivering essential supplies prior to the opening of a second front, but also tied up a substantial part of Germany's naval and air forces. Linda Gillies, Stewarton. Eilish McColgan finishing eighth in the women's elite race during the TCS London Marathon on Sunday (Image: PA) Marathon disgrace Eilish McColgan certainly did Scotland proud by finishing among the top 10 women in the recent London Marathon ("McColgan eyes 'big goal' after setting marathon record on debut", Herald Sport, April 28). Unfortunately she will not be able to run in the Commonwealth Games Marathon in Glasgow next year. Why? Because the powers that be have decided to exclude the Marathon. Some of the fastest Marathon runners come from Commonwealth countries like Kenya but they will all be deprived of the opportunity of running in the 2026 Commonwealth Games Marathon and we shall all be deprived of the opportunity of seeing some of the greatest Marathon athletes in the world competing in Scotland. On January 11, despite my republican loyalties, I wrote to the King in his capacity as Patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation, expressing my concern about the exclusion of the Marathon. Co-signatories of the letter included a former First Minister of Scotland, a former Lord Provost and Lord Lieutenant of the City of Glasgow, a former Commonwealth Games marathon runner, a Team Scotland Press Officer for a previous Commonwealth Games and several MSPs, including a former Minister for Sport. After a couple of months, I had to chase up Buckingham Palace before eventually getting a response, suggesting that I contact The Commonwealth Games Federation . I wrote to the CEO of the Federation on March 21 and sent a reminder on April 14. So far I have not even had an acknowledgement. I am beginning to wonder if the powers that be would be capable of organising an egg and spoon race. I fear that the Commonwealth Games may be facing an existential threat. Dennis Canavan, Founder and former Convener of the Scottish Parliament Cross- Party Sports Group, Bannockburn.
