Latest news with #TheAuPair
The Independent
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Channel 5 viewers blast ‘confusing' name rebrand
The major UK television network Channel 5 has rebranded – again – simply as '5'. This will mark the third rebrand since the channel's launch in 1997, beginning as Channel 5, then changing to Five, then returning to Channel 5. The channel is now stripping back its title simply to the numerical form across linear TV and its streaming service (previously known as My5) in an attempt to unify the two platforms. The new logo, which sees a yellow number five on a blue background, will be used by the channel from Wednesday (12th March). The decision to change its name was initially announced in August last year, with Channel 5 boss Ben Frow saying: 'We know from the success that so many of our Channel 5 shows have had on Netflix that there's a huge appetite for our content in the streaming world.' Frow continued: 'As we relaunch as 5, our streaming service will be a much bigger and broader offer than My5 with a significantly expanded range of content including new series and box sets in reality, drama, factual and kids from across the Paramount family.' However, viewers have been left perplexed by yet another name change to a linear TV channel, following the rebrand of Dave to U&Dave in July 2024. TV writer Scott Bryan posted on X/Twitter: 'Is everyone OK?' before pointing out how ITV has gone between the titles ITV and ITV1, and that UK Gold has gone from UKTV GOLD, to G.O.L.D, back to Gold and to U&GOLD since it was launched in 1992. 'I genuinely endeavour to understand what possible difference this could make to anything?' said one person on X/Twitter. One person joked: 'Disappointed they never tried Chnnl5 really missed an opportunity there!' 'Let's face it, we'll still call it Channel 5,' added another person. 'A bit like still calling this platform Twitter, or "X (formally Twitter)" because single alphanumeric names just don't make sense!' A third viewer bemoaned: 'All their streaming thing is now 5. Which is s*** and confusing to explain to others.' Another person remarked that Channel 4 has also gone several rebrands in recent years, since it has repeatedly switched the name of its on-demand service from 4oD to All4 to simply Channel 4. 'Channel 4 now meaning both the channel and the website which everyone still just calls All4 or 4OD deserves a place on the list,' they said. Channel 5 – or should we say 5 – airs shows including Eggheads, All Creatures Great and Small, The Au Pair, Bargain Loving Brits in the Sun and it is the UK home for the Australian soap Home and Away. Neighbours was previously aired on Channel 5 until it was cancelled in 2022 and revived by Amazon.
Telegraph
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The Au Pair, Channel 5 review: the sort of schlocky mindless fun that makes you binge the lot
If you're in the mood for some enjoyably schlocky nonsense, Channel 5's The Au Pair fits the bill. It's the kind of mile-a-minute, OTT thriller in which 25 outlandish things happen in the first episode. You know the sort of thing. As in a cartoon, everyone who gets a bash to the head is knocked out cold. Villains administer potentially lethal injections to their enemies on a regular basis. Someone gets tied up in the boot of a car. All of this happens in the Cotswolds. Well, the caption tells us this is taking place in the Cotswolds, but there isn't a Cotswold stone in sight and it appears to have been filmed somewhere else for budgetary reasons. Never mind, it looks very pretty. Into the idyllic life of Zoe (Sally Bretton), who lives in a beautiful house with her family, comes a French au pair. You can never trust the French. Particularly this one, because she is on a dastardly mission to ruin Zoe and her family. But why? All will be revealed, in increasingly fraught instalments. There are strong echoes of the 1990s thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Sandrine (Ludmilla Makowski) arrives at the home of Zoe and Chris (Kenny Doughty) in response to an advert for an au pair. The couple have been married for three years and Zoe is stepmother to Chris's two children, while going through her own fertility struggles and grieving the loss of a baby. Zoe's dad (a lovely turn from David Suchet) lives in the annexe. Sandrine soon makes herself indispensable while also trying to bump everyone off. Every second scene seems to involve her eavesdropping behind a door. There is attention to detail in places – the costume designer has got it spot on, particularly with Suchet's wardrobe of retired doctor smart casualwear – but you could drive a luxury SUV through the plotholes, and don't get me started on the stepdaughter's schoolfriend who is eight months pregnant and hiding it from her parents yet doesn't seem to be all that worried about it. And why does Sandrine need to have one of those evidence walls from crime shows, covered in photographs and Post-it notes? Still, it's mindless fun, and I rushed to watch the second episode straight after the first. Plus, it's elevated by a classy performance from Makowski, who exudes Gallic cool.
Telegraph
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
David Suchet: I can't watch anyone else play Poirot
Sir David Suchet has said that he cannot watch anyone else play the part of the Belgian detective. The actor, 78, played Agatha Christie's most famous character – Hercule Poirot – for a quarter of a century on ITV. Speaking to Radio Times, he admitted that he has never watched other portrayals, but for a good reason. Sir David, who was nominated for a Bafta for the part of Poirot in 1991, explained that by not watching anyone else play the finicky detective, he is 'able to say I have no opinion'. He added: 'I get asked the same question in every interview, and most people are looking for me to say I don't like them. 'I sincerely wish everybody who plays that wonderful character the best.' Sir David's Poirot is the longest-standing, beginning in 1989 and eventually spanning 70 episodes across 13 series. The character of Poirot has been depicted widely since the late 1920s, with the fictional detective reimagined on screen, stage, radio and games by more than 40 actors. Poirot made his debut in Christie's 1920 novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and his last in Curtain, published in 1975. The author described the distinctive character's famous 'upward-curled mustache' and 'pink-tipped nose', adding that he is 'hardly more than 5ft 4in' tall. Sir David has previously credited the popularity of his portrayal of Poirot, which ended in 2013, to the attention to detail he paid to Christie's work and description of the detective. For example, the British actor previously admitted he had 'searched and searched' through Christie's books to find her description of Poirot's distinctive walk before finally adopting it by borrowing Laurence Olivier's trick of clenching a penny between his buttocks. After filming his final episode as Poirot, he described the shooting of the last scene as 'the hardest day's filming of my career' and said he would miss the character 'as my dear, dear friend'. The Telegraph said Sir David's 'swansong 'proved that the show has been one of TV's greatest achievements'. Elsewhere in the interview, the actor gave his thoughts on getting older and reflected on his childhood. Sir David, who will star in upcoming Channel 5 series The Au Pair, explained: 'I'm coming up to 79, I'm attending more funerals, and I'm aware of a certain ageism in our society, but I think that's in all societies. 'People are living longer, but the NHS suffers. What do we do with our increasingly aged population? Generally speaking, I think we're very well looked after.' Speaking about why he chose to return to his first series role in six years in The Au Pair, Sir David said that it was 'a real page-turner'. 'Other roles I was offered were nice, but repetitious and not quite challenging enough,' he added. The veteran screen and stage actor also said that he wouldn't wish boarding school on anybody when discussing his childhood. 'It was very tough and you grow up very quickly,' he explained, adding: 'It just didn't suit me because I was a homeboy.'
