Latest news with #Manhunt
Spectator
a day ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Questions remain about Farage's crime crackdown
As Keir Starmer prepared to meet Donald Trump at his Scottish golf course this afternoon, Nigel Farage kept himself busy with another 'Lawless Britain' press conference in London. ('I had dinner with Donald Trump Junior the other week,' he said to reporters asking if he had been able to secure an audience with the US President.) Social media dominated. Reform's new police and crime adviser, retired detective Colin Sutton, told attendees: 'We need to refocus what police are doing onto homes and streets – not posts and tweets.' The latest addition to the Reform outfit will stand as a candidate in the next general election and in the meantime use his experience to help shape the party's crime policy. Sutton made his name after leading high-profile investigations into serial killers and rapists – with the ITV series 'Manhunt' retelling his time in the force. Another 'celebrity' hire by the party, Sutton now wants to go into politics. 'I [am] known as a detective,' he told reporters. 'I'd rather be known as a leader.' What does he want to change? Sutton says that while Reform's current ambition to increase police numbers by 30,000 is admirable, he also wants to open at least 300 'front counter police buildings'. Police need to 're-engage', and become 'more visible'. He wants to speak to those involved in public order policing, to learn more about how different protest groups behave. A former Conservative member, Sutton was scathing of how the police force has operated in recent years: 'It has been captured by a liberal ideology, and people are too scared of bucking against that ideology… Two-tier policing, two-tier criminal justice system is one phrase that's been bandied about a lot. I don't think it's an unfair thing to say.' As reported by the Daily Mail, Sutton is supportive of scrapping some hate crime laws – suggesting that online abuse could be 'treated like a watered-down version of defamation'. He added: 'Then you can sue in the civil court. Don't give them legal aid and see how many feelings are hurt then.' The unveiling of Sutton as the latest addition to the expanding Reform team comes as the Online Safety Act comes into force, with social media platforms now having a legal duty to protect children online. Zia Yusuf, former party chair and now head of its Doge unit, didn't hold back when he attacked the new law – and promised to repeal it if Reform gets into government. 'We think this is the greatest assault on freedom of speech in our lifetimes,' he fumed. 'Any student of history will know that the way countries slip into this sort of authoritarian regime is through legislation that cloaks tyranny inside the warm fuzzies of safety and security and hope nobody reads the small print.' Republican pundit Ann Coulter enjoyed a front-row seat to the event, with a Reform official advising she was attending as a 'friend of the party'. More Americans will arrive on British shores shortly, with Vice President JD Vance due to visit in early August. 'It will be very interesting to see what his take on this legislation is,' Farage said. The law is on The Donald's radar too, with the President in Scotland replying to a journalist: 'Well, free speech is very important and I don't know if you're referring to any place in particular,' before turning, as Freddy Gray writes, rather impishly to Starmer. The issue wasn't pressed but the act, while broadly popular with the British public, will stir up discontent across the water – especially with free speech-loving Twitter CEO Elon Musk who, despite their differences, Farage described as a 'hero'. Turning to Gaza, Farage insisted a Palestinian state should not be recognised but sent a warning to the Israeli prime minister: 'I think you've got to say to Netanyahu, stop losing friends the way you are.' There remain a number of unanswered questions regarding the details of Farage's crime crackdown. Journalists have pointed out that, according to the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW), violent crime has plummeted since 2010. This survey is seen by the Office for National Statistics as the more accurate metric of long-term crime trends, yet Farage insisted at the start of today's press conference that crime rates are increasing and 'as far as we're concerned, [the CSEW] is pretty much discredited as a means of measuring crime'. It is unclear exactly how Reform plans to pay its new promises, though Farage was keen to nod towards 'big cuts to public spending', portraying himself more as a Javier Milei devotee. And on the Online Safety Act, while both Yusuf and Farage agreed that Reform wanted to protect children, they do not currently have an alternative answer to the legislation. Yusuf talked earlier about how Reform read the small print – but the party could do with providing more too.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Manhunt,' ‘Cleaner' and More Streaming Gems
'Manhunt' (2017) Stream it on Netflix. John Woo has never been shy about the influence of Alfred Hitchcock on his work — the central conflict in his 'Mission: Impossible II' is a direct lift from 'Notorious' — and this fast-paced thriller uses the classic Hitch setup of an innocent man wrongly accused. The protagonist Du Qiu (Zhang Hanyu) isn't a typical Woo man of action; he's a corporate lawyer who finds himself framed for the murder of a mysterious woman after a brief romantic encounter. The ensuing pursuit is a worthy container for Woo's crisp, energetic style, his memorable compositions (including an unforgettable image of a pool of blood spreading across a white wedding dress), and his signature visuals: ingenious shootouts, copious slow motion, motorcycles galore and (of course) lots of doves. 'Cleaner' (2025) Stream it on HBO Max. We've seen so many ''Die Hard' on a ____' movies that it was probably inevitable that they'd circle back to ''Die Hard' in a building.' That's the setup for this action thriller from the director Martin Campbell (who rebooted the Bond series twice, with 'Goldeneye' and 'Casino Royale'), in which a window cleaner (a muscular Daisy Ridley) is outside a London skyscraper when environmental terrorists crash an energy company's celebratory gala and take its execs and employees hostage. 'Cleaner' draws on many of the narrative beats of its inspiration, but also subverts them in unexpected ways — particularly in its use of Clive Owen as the Alan Rickman-style erudite villain. The primary draw, however, is Ridley, whose character is no mere window cleaner but a 'classic unstable ex-soldier.' She thus proves a more than credible action hero, particularly when she finally gets to let loose and break some necks in the fast-paced third act. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Scottish Sun
31-05-2025
- Scottish Sun
Legendary TV detective reveals unsolved Scots case that still haunts him
A COP who snared serial killer Levi Bellfield and was portrayed by Martin Clunes on telly has revealed an unsolved Scots case still haunts him. DCI Colin Sutton, 64, solved more than 30 murders during his legendary career with The Met and rarely failed to find justice for victims and their families. 4 Colin Sutton still hopes to find justice for families who don't have answers. 4 Private James Collinson died while stationed at the Royal Logistic Corps headquarters. Credit: PA 4 Sutton helped catch serial killer Levi Bellfield. Credit: PA 4 Martin Clunes as DCI Colin Sutton in Manhunt. Credit: ITV The detective was an integral part of the operation that nailed evil Bellfield, 57 — now serving two whole life terms for the murders of Marsha McDonnell, Amelie Delagrange and schoolgirl Milly Dowler. But it was the unsolved death of army recruit James Collinson, from Perth, who was shot dead at Deepcut Barracks in Surrey aged 17, that the top cop regrets not solving. Colin, whose incredible detective work was turned into ITV series Manhunt starring Doc Martin favourite Clunes, 63, said: 'When I was working in Surrey Police in the early 2000s, I started the reinvestigation into the death of four soldiers at Deepcut Barracks. 'It's a difficult situation. We were never able to prove one way or the other conclusively what had happened. And part of that was because the original investigation really was so poorly done. 'There are various parents now that have gone to their graves not knowing what happened to their son or daughter. 'And that's what you want to try to save, it's not always about nailing somebody and banging somebody up behind bars. 'Sometimes there's a kind of a justice — I never say closure, because I don't think it exists — but you can give some sort of peace to victims' families or at least help them to learn how to live with the loss better if they know exactly what happened and they feel that justice has been done.' Collinson was one of four teenagers to die from shootings at the base between 1995 and 2002. Privates Sean Benton and Cheryl James lost their lives in 1995, followed by Pte Geoff Gray in 2001 and the young Scot a year later when he was found with a single gunshot wound to the head during a routine guard duty shift. A fifth victim, Pte Anthony Bartlett, was only revealed two decades after his death from an alleged drug overdose. Three more women claiming to be Levi Bellfield victims come forward after ITV Manhunt, detective Colin Sutton, played by Martin Clunes, reveals An inquest into Collinson's death ended with an open verdict and his parents finally dropped calls for an inquiry in 2020 due to the emotional strain. Colin added: 'There were a lot of assumptions made, assumptions of suicide. And it might be that they were suicides. I'm not saying they weren't. 'But there's a difference between them being suicides and proving that they were suicides. The non-commissioned officers (NCOs) were lending money at ridiculous rates of interest to the young recruits. And when they couldn't pay it back, because they were 17 years old and hopeless at managing their budgets, they could make life hell for them. 'And I think that got to the stage where it made life such hell for some of them that they saw that as the only way out. 'I think that's the most likely answer to what went on. But I can't put my hand on my heart and say the evidence was there to prove that because the initial steps that were taken in the investigation didn't preserve those things that might have been proved wrong. 'Without being conspiratorial about it, you had two big, powerful organisations — the British Army and the British Police Service. 'When you've got big organisations like that, they tend to close ranks and they tend to try to sort of make things go away. I think there was an element of that, which was what riled me enough to want to carry on talking about it.' The first TV series of Manhunt, screened in 2019, focused on Bellfield's arrest in 2004 on suspicion of the murder of Delagrange and the painstaking efforts to charge him with the subsequent killings. Meanwhile, the second instalment was an account of the ex-cop's efforts in apprehending 'Night Stalker' rapist Delroy Grant in 2009 after a 17-year terror spree. Colin then fronted his own documentary series called The Real Manhunter where he looked back at his most important cases and how they were solved. The crime expert will now be taking his incredible tales on tour — with his Makings of a Murderer 2 gigs coming to Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre on June 2 and Dunfermline's Alhambra Theatre on June 12. And he still can't believe people are so keen to hear such grisly stories from his career. He said: 'It's overwhelming, the amount of interest there is. It all started just because I wanted to write a book about the Bellfield investigation because I thought my team had done so well that it would all get lost in history if nobody wrote it down. 'I think it gives people a safe window into a world they know exists but don't want to be part of. 'The interesting thing for me about it is when I first started doing true crime stuff, I wasn't entirely happy with the way that it was done. It was done in a bit of a sensationalist way. It was a bit sort of perpetrator-focused. 'I really thought that it would be much better if we were to focus on victims, on the officers and on the investigations. And that can be just as interesting, just as enthralling, but it doesn't give the kind of attention and publicity to these horrible people that do it.' And while Colin isn't sure whether Clunes will attend any of his tour dates, he's counting on those in attendance to keep asking the big questions. He added: 'The tour is so much fun. It's hard work because I'm all over the place and driving lots and lots of miles. 'But when you're writing a book or making TV, there's no audience. Whereas now I've got real-life people who are reacting to the things I'm saying. And the best part for me is, I do the sort of meet and greet at the end and I get to talk to people and they ask me questions. 'There's absolutely no doubt many of the people in the audience have a far more wide-ranging knowledge about true crime than I do. 'I know a lot about my cases and about the cases that I've made programmes about, but their knowledge is phenomenal and that comes through when they speak to you.' The Makings of a Murderer 2 is at Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre on June 2, for and for the June 12 show at Dunfermline's Alhambra Theatre, log onto
Daily Record
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
'Mind-blowing' series is now available to stream for free
The critically-acclaimed series has a 93% Rotten Tomatoes rating, and is based on the real-life hunt for the Unabomber, who terrorised the US with a 20-year bombing campaign The celebrated US drama Manhunt: Unabomber, with an impressive 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, is now accessible for streaming at no cost in the UK. Initially launched on Netflix, the series has found its new home on STV Player, which serves viewers across the UK. Manhunt: Unabomber offers a dramatised retelling of the gruelling FBI pursuit to capture the 'Unabomber', a notorious criminal genius whose campaign of domestic terrorism spanned decades, resulting in three fatalities and 23 injuries. In this compelling eight-part series, A-list actor Sam Worthington portrays Jim "Fitz" Fitzgerald, a rookie FBI profiler determined to apprehend the cunning terrorist. The intelligence and skill of the Unabomber aren't the only hurdles for Fitz, as he confronts the internal struggles within the UNABOM Task Force – the joint law enforcement group established to pursue the Unabomber's case, reports Surrey Live. Although Fitz introduces the innovative technique of forensic linguistics to the investigation, it faces scepticism from his peers in the task force due to its unorthodox nature. With obstacles looming, the question remains whether Fitz can navigate the bureaucratic impediments to secure the capture of the mastermind behind two decades of terror in the United States. Adding to the star-powered cast, BAFTA nominee Paul Bettany features as Ted Kaczynski, the mathematical prodigy and ex-Berkeley professor, who was eventually exposed as the Unabomber in 1996. Critics have showered the series with accolades, with The Hollywood Reporter describing it as "interesting in its depiction of how years of using traditional methods and failing to catch America's most notorious serial bomber gave way to something experimental and new". The Los Angeles Times has extolled the series, which is part thriller, part true-crime drama, as a "win on all fronts". Fans of the Manhunt anthology can also indulge in the second series, Manhunt: Deadly Games, available on STV Player, following the FBI pursuit of the 1996 Olympic Games bomber. If Manhunt isn't quite your thing, STV Player offers a rich variety of alternatives. Among these are the Canadian legal drama Burden of Truth, the Irish police procedural Red Rock, and New Zealand's longest-standing soap opera, Shortland Street, all ready for viewing.
Wales Online
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Martin Clunes' Welsh ITV drama 'axed' after just one season
Martin Clunes' Welsh ITV drama 'axed' after just one season Martin Clunes' ITV drama has been taken off air after one season as it "did not pull in the numbers". Martin Clunes' ITV series Out There will not be returning for a second season following insufficient ratings success. The show, which aired earlier this year, saw much loved actor portraying a father striving to shield his son from the grasp of drug dealers operating across county boundaries. This six-part series delved into the challenges posed by city-based drug gangs extending their activities into rural locations. In the drama, Martin's character was Welsh farmer Nathan Williams who finds himself entangled in a sinister criminal world. Nathan's son Johnny, brought to life by Louis Ashbourne Serkis—son of famed actors Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne— becomes a target for manipulation by these gangs. Speaking to The Sun, Martin expressed his disappointment, saying: "We were keen on doing a second series but ITV aren't, it seems. It didn't quite pull the numbers they wanted, unfortunately." In response, ITV acknowledged the show's strengths but remarked on its inability to attract a large viewership, stating: "We are really proud of Out There and would like to thank Martin and the production team for delivering a brilliant series." Martin Clunes' drama Out There has been axed over ratings (Image: ITV ) Martin Clunes supported by fans after poignant Instagram post following show READ MORE: The broadcaster further commented: "We do always hope to see our series return and we are sorry we didn't get this drama to connect with a big enough audience to see that happen." Buffalo Pictures, which has previously collaborated with Martin on the successful crime drama Manhunt, the beloved comedy-drama Doc Martin, and two wildlife programmes hosted by Clunes, produced Out There, reports the Express. Martin Clunes was "keen" to be in the drama again Previously the Doc Martin star spoke out to address the uncertainty for any budding actor in the world of TV while also discussing the possibility of returning to his GP role. The Men Behaving Badly star explained that the television industry is currently in a "funny state" with a real sense of "nervousness" and a lack of "confidence" being felt by all who work behind the cameras. ITV decided to take the drama off air due to ratings Article continues below Although Martin saw a great deal of success as the much loved GP on the hit series Doc Martin, it may come as a surprise to fans that he wasn't that eager for a reprisal. Speaking to the Express previously, he said: "I never got sick of it. There was never a negative thought about it, but it ended quite organically and I sort of don't miss it. It hasn't felt like having a limb off or anything." Doc Martin is still available for streaming on ITVX, Apple TV and Prime Video.
