
Refugees, homophobia, gay rights, even Trump, are all covered in this opener, which occasionally leans towards agitprop. But with excellent performances, and RTD’s storytelling brilliance, things really build from here
We open on an ordinary suburban street. A teenage boy is gazing out of a window. A woman – his mother? – is screaming. A man – his father? – is standing in the garden gazing unfocused at whatever lies beyond. The camera draws back to reveal a scene so shocking it hardly computes. Then we flashback to 10 days earlier to begin to understand how they, and the other figures in the scene, got here.
So, with characteristic bravura, begins Russell T Davies’s new drama, Tip Toe. The man in the garden is Clive (David Morrissey), an electrician with two sons – 16-year-old college student George (Jackson Connor) and 25-year-old Saul (Joseph Evans), who helps him in the business when there is enough work to go around – and enduring an unhappy marriage to Marie (Pooky Quesnel).
Continue reading...The far shorter Middle East war has rapidly revealed the strategic weakness of US firepower in an interconnected world
In a 1965 speech justifying the war in Vietnam, Lyndon B Johnson argued that the goal was to ensure “every country can shape its own destiny” since only in such a world could the US secure its own freedom. However, he also admitted “such were infirmities of man that force must often precede reason, and the waste of war, the works of peace”.
It was the kind of elegant justification of the country’s moral mission to which successive US presidential speechwriters have turned at times of war.
Continue reading...Rather than being one of the shrewdest operators in British politics for a decade, it turns out Sturgeon was just too trusting
You know how it is. You wake up and look out the bedroom window. You see a brand new Jaguar worth £81,000 parked in the driveway. You smile to yourself. That’s what you love about your husband. Always nipping out to the shops to buy himself treats. And where’s the harm in that? No one can say he isn’t worth it. And a new car is only a trifle compared with a motor home. That’s just Pete being Pete.
You get dressed and go downstairs. Your husband is already in the kitchen making you breakfast. “Fancy a coffee?” he asks. You nod. You’re busy not reading the SNP accounts. “Which machine would you like me to make it from?” he asks. “The basic Jura? The Jura Z8? Or the Miele? I always think the Z8 makes the best flat white. And what milk would you like?”
Continue reading...Producer Rob Ford’s trove of 1,700 items includes membership cards and the Prodigy’s first business card
Rob Ford often met his contacts in car parks, under the cover of darkness. Cash quickly passed between hands before the author and music producer gathered his quarry – bags full of memorabilia from the rave and acid house era.
Among the flyers and assorted paraphernalia were some of the rarest surviving items from the scene: membership cards.
Continue reading...Many of those who love spending time in Britain’s green places say it is awe-inspiring, calming and therapeutic
As a recent study revealed almost half of UK adults now spend less than three hours a week in natural settings such as gardens, parks, fields or woods, we asked readers to tell us about what being outside means to them.
The replies – heartfelt and passionate – came flooding in, with some admitting they just did not have the words to say how important it is.
Continue reading...Whether it’s Hyrox or CrossFit, some of this century’s biggest exercise trends have one thing in common: combining cardio with strength training. Here’s how to do it
Tough Mudder. CrossFit. Hyrox. Some of this century’s biggest fitness trends have one thing in common: they require feats of both strength and endurance. People used to pick a side: either you used weights and resistance machines to build your muscles or you did cardio for the sake of your heart and lungs. Now everyone wants to be a “hybrid athlete”. So is this the best way to get fit – and where do you start if you’re a complete beginner?
Continue reading...Exclusive: Papers to be published on Monday cast doubt on assurances provided by senior Whitehall officials
A trove of government documents about Peter Mandelson contains no record of any measures taken to mitigate serious security concerns over his appointment as Washington ambassador, the Guardian has learned.
Multiple sources who have seen or been briefed on the files, which will be published on Monday, say there is no detail about any steps put in place to deal with flags raised about his associations with senior figures in foreign states.
Continue reading...Social housing landlords to be able to evict perpetrators, while right-to-buy tenancy requirements to rise
Social housing landlords will be able to evict domestic abuse perpetrators under a new bill, which will also increase the length of tenancy required before residents qualify for the right-to-buy scheme from three to 10 years in England.
The government said the bill, which will be debated in the House of Lords on Monday, would fix “the long-term decline in social housing” and offer new protections for social tenants who were subjected to domestic abuse.
Continue reading...Modernisation bill would require GPs and hospitals in England to share data, reducing errors and duplication
Sharing access to patients’ health data across NHS providers in England could result in 20,000 fewer A&E visits a year and save £20m annually, the government has claimed, before the second reading of the NHS modernisation bill on Monday.
The bill, which would also abolish NHS England, sets out measures including single patient records (SPR) for every person receiving health and social care in England, requiring GPs and hospitals to securely share data as part of the government’s 10-year health plan.
Continue reading...Fans estimated at hundreds of thousands fill north London streets to celebrate women’s and men’s teams’ triumphs
About 75 people had to be rescued from height and 16 people were arrested during Arsenal’s victory bus parade on Sunday, emergency services said.
What were estimated as hundreds of thousands of fans lined the streets around the Emirates stadium in north London to celebrate the Gunners winning the men’s Premier League for the first time since 2004 and the women’s team lifting the first ever Fifa Women’s Champions Cup.
Continue reading...