1. How we made: XTC on Making Plans for Nigel
The steelworkers’ union were very excited by what they saw as a fraternal anthem, but once I told the official that Nigel was from the management side it curtailed the conversation. Meanwhile, I put the wind up British Steel with the song’s suggestion that a future in the industry wasn’t all that fantastic. They rounded up lots of Sheffield steelworkers called Nigel to tell the press how great their jobs were.’
2. Why ‘half-educated’ Laurence Fox is back after his Question Time fiasco
‘What has he said this time? Oh boy, where to start? How about the bit where he claims to have been expelled from Harrow after being discovered by a PE teacher having sex during the sixth form ball?’
3. Briton’s abseiling death in Swiss Alps was an accident, inquest finds
‘The group set out from the Hornli hut at the base camp of the Matterhorn at 6am on 2 June last year with a plan of turning around and descending by 2pm regardless of whether they had reached the summit.’
4. Sex Education creator Laurie Nunn: ‘You can’t make sex scenes flowery!’
‘Despite how explicit the show can be, Nunn says she’s never had anyone tell her they were upset. “I think the opening scenes of season one and season two are quite graphic, so if it’s not for you, then you’re probably not going to get to the anal douching bit.” She’s laughing, but she knows that really isn’t what Sex Education is about.’
5. Westworld recap: season 3, episode 7 – Maeve and Dolores fight it out
‘This was not quite the explosion of hellfire many of us expected when the reckoning between humans and robots finally came to pass. Which kind of makes you suspect that it might not have.’
6. Murder most foul: Killing Eve’s lethal mistake
‘The show could only survive for as long as this capricious deity never met the ruffled everywoman Eve – but it opened the oven door to check on that souffle halfway through season one, whereupon Killing Eve stopped being diaphanous and untouchable and started resembling one of those comedy thrillers where a humble putz, mixed up with the mob, keeps surviving due to massive contrivances.’
7. Moonstruck: Cher’s 1987 classic is bizarre, hopelessly romantic and yet somehow entirely plausible
‘The film’s broader themes are love and passion – between couples who’ve been together forever, and those who ought to be. It has the other tropes of any good romantic comedy, too – including a makeover scene, after which Loretta sits in front of a fire, her new clothes and Clinique lying on the floor surrounded by the tissue paper they came in, like a small village at sunset, bordered by snowy peaks lit peach.’
8. Country diary: who killed our blackbird? The sparrowhawk has form in this area
‘I found the remains of the blackbird on the strip of rough grass between the hedge and a group of small holly trees. The drift of pale feathers drew my eye first, left in a generous arc where they had fallen after being plucked from the body. Apart from the tail, legs and sternum, little remained of the bird itself, a small adult female, possibly one of those raised in the same hedge last summer.’
9. Tulane college basketball star Teshaun Hightower charged with murder
‘Teshaun Hightower, who led the Green Wave in scoring last season, was booked into jail on Saturday on multiple charges, including murder and aggravated assault. He was one of six people wanted in connection with an 8 April homicide in Stockbridge, Georgia, Henry County police said.’
10. Anthony Albanese says Angus Taylor must ‘come clean’ about where doctored document came from
‘Opposition leader Anthony Albanese says Angus Taylor must “come clean” on where the document his office used to attack City of Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore came from after New South Wales police said it found no evidence that it ever existed on the council’s website.’
