News

Long-running show The Media Podcast is being re-launched today, as The Media Club, with host Matt Deegan.

The podcast, in various forms, has been publishing episodes since 2006, making it one of the UK’s longest running shows. It brings together media correspondents and practitioners to talk about the week’s media news. It’s hosted by media consultant Matt Deegan.

Its rebrand to The Media Club is designed to reflect that much of the show’s audience work in media themselves and that they should feel like participants as well as listeners.

The relaunched show has also expanded its output with full video episodes on YouTube, content across X, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn plus a website and newsletter at themediaclub.com.

Producer Matt Hill says: “We’ve always had feedback and insight from listeners who work all across the media from recent graduates to channel controllers. With the relaunch we...

Leading podcast marketing agency, Podcast Discovery, announces a new addition to its publicity team.

Taking on the role of PR and Outreach Executive, Rebecca Adams will lead on publicity for the company’s podcast clients. Rebecca has a production background starting off as a producer for radio and television in Australia. She moved to London in 2018, working on projects for Bauer, Global, News UK and a variety of podcasts including titles from Netflix.

Rebecca also has had much success generating coverage and growing awareness for a wide range of celebrities across the entertainment press. Podcast Discovery is looking forward to letting her loose on our clients’ talent and guests to fly the flag for their brilliant work.

Here is what Rebecca has got to say about taking on the role: “I am beyond excited to start working with the team. With my experience in broadcast and PR, I look forward...

2024 may go down as the first “influencer election” (we believe it will), and the creators who are part of that movement are facing a pivotal test. At the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, influencers are taking up space typically reserved for traditional media outlets. The result is an opportunity for those digital politicos to show they can be every bit as informative as other journalists.

According to a report from Reuters, the DNC credentialed more than 200 creators, giving them “a front row seat to history,” as White House Senior Director of Communications Matt Hill put it. The convention attendees can visit a creator lounge at the United Center, and they have been assigned floor space they can use to shoot videos.

@bbcnews For the first time, more than 200 content creators have been invited to the Democratic National Convention. #Influencer #Influencers #DemocraticNationalConvention #DNC #Content #ContentCreators #Democrats #KamalaHarris #Politics #USPolitics #USElection #News...

For those who were between the ages of nine and 12 in 1990, Steve Barron's film "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" was a banner event. It was the first time the ultra-popular mutants were seen in live-action, and Barron did not disappoint. The Turtles were provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop who constructed full-body foam latex suits for the actors, as well as animatronic, full-head masks. Voice actors would record dialogue, and puppeteers would operate myriad facial servos by remote, making it look like the Turtles were talking. Each of the four title teens required a voice actor, a body actor, a facial puppeteer, and, in a few cases, a fight or skateboarding double. It took 11 actors in total to play four characters.

The result was rather astonishing. The Turtles felt more real than they ever had before or, arguably, since. The facial movements on the mutant masks may have been...

City, University of London is driving a revolution in podcast education with the launch of the UK’s first dedicated Ma in Podcasting and a Centre of Podcasting Excellence.

Professor Mel Bunce, Head of the Journalism Department, describes the degree as “the first of its kind” and “one that covers the full spectrum of skills needed to thrive in the podcasting industry - from audio production and visualisation, through to business and audience development”.

Podcasting is one of the largest growth sectors in the UK media, according to a recent YouGov survey, and employers are keen to take on highly trained creatives.

City's new Ma in Podcasting builds on extensive consultation with industry leaders such as Spotify, Acast, Sony, Audio UK and the BBC to ensure its graduates gain the skills to thrive in podcasting and help to fill the growing skills gap.

Applications are now open for the first...

Documentary

More than a dozen members of the British Royal Family offer their personal thoughts in a new documentary as they pay tribute to the life of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April at 99.

All the children of the Queen and the Duke, along with their adult grandchildren and other members of the Royal Family, agreed to take part in Oxford Films’ “Prince Philip: The Royal Family.” Originally conceived to mark Prince Philip’s 100th birthday, the documentary features interviews filmed both before and after the Duke’s death and has footage filmed inside Buckingham Palace, including the Duke’s study, private office and library.

It was commissioned by Patrick Holland, BBC director of factual, arts and classical music, and Claire Sillery, head of commissioning, documentaries. The BBC commissioning editor is Simon Young.

The writer and co-producer is Robert Hardman and the executive producer is Nicolas Kent.

Following last year’s brain bending, psychedelic fantasy thriller Daniel Isn’t Real, writer/director Adam Egypt Mortimer hot-footed it back into production for his follow-up, Archenemy, a dazzlingly delirious part urban crime drama bolstered by cosmic action and funky, interdimensional superhero bedlam.

Teen wannabe crime reporter Hamster (Skylan Brooks) happens upon a haphazard hobo, Max Fist (Joe Manganiello) who claims to be a cosmic warrior from another dimension. After being dispelled to another reality by archenemy Cleo (Amy Seimetz), Fist finds himself homeless and without powers so sunk into a self-destructive coil of booze and drug abuse, until he meets Hamster.

Hamster thinks Fist’s story could land him a full time journalism position, but plans go awry after his drug pushing sister Indigo’s (Zolee Griggs) misgivings land the three of them in trouble with a local gang. Fist then sets out to rescue Indigo from the crime syndicate thus,...

Superhero movies have become so pervasive since the turn of the millennium that they’ve spurred a whole subgenre of films subverting their formulas — primarily low-budget efforts like “Special,” “Super” and “Defendor,” but also major-studio projects “Joker” and “Hancock.” All share an interest in peeling back the mask, exploring the antisocial, delusional-fantasy side of superpowers.

Adam Egypt Mortimer’s third feature “Archenemy” occupies similar terrain, resourcefully using modest means to create a gritty yet stylized comic-book world in which a supposed fallen superhero may really just be some homeless guy with mental issues. However, that colorful surface is more successfully drawn than the characters and complications meant to fill it, leaving this noirish, (mostly) live-action cartoon feeling less like a dissection of superhero origin stories than an underdeveloped prologue to one.

It has its own prologue, marking the first of several sharp animated sequences credited to Sunando, Kevin Finnegan and Danny Perez.

Jimmy Kimmel didn’t quite get Mike Pence’s humor. Turns out, Kimmel was also missing something else: the complete video.

The host of Jimmy Kimmel Live used his monologue on Thursday night to rip a clip that seemed to show Vice President Pence delivering empty boxes of personal protective equipment to a Virginia nursing home.

In the video, Pence makes one trip from a delivery van to the facility’s front door and then asks, before his second trip, if he could “carry the empty ones…Just for the camera.”

But the clip does not show the remainder of Pence’s photo op which, when viewed, makes it clear that he was actually employing a little vice presidential humor.

The Biden campaign’s Deputy National Press Secretary, Matt Hill, also fell for the incomplete footage.

No, Mike Pence, the health care heroes on the frontlines don't need you to...

As Netflix’s “The Crown” has spent two seasons proving, Queen Elizabeth II is fascinating precisely because of how uninteresting she is. She has to be in order for her title and office to make sense; she’s spent 65 years as the standard-bearer of British life and culture, and bearing herself with unflappable composure and a comforting staidness is the point. All of which makes her a challenging subject for art; she has little of the public dynamism that keeps us watching.

And yet “Queen of the World,” a new documentary airing on HBO Oct. 1, makes the case both for her stoic refusal to change as a boon to the planet and for the idea that she’s shifted more than is visible to the stateside observer. The documentary depicts the royal family’s efforts to engage with the world through the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental group that fosters cooperation and exchange between countries,...

"53 countries, oh my goodness! It'll keep us busy." HBO has debuted a trailer for a new documentary titled Queen of the World, from director Matt Hill, which will be available (in the Us) through HBO in just a few weeks. This is described as the "landmark documentary" about Queen Elizabeth II, a "rare look inside the life of Queen Elizabeth II featuring footage from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh's private film archives." The film includes behind-the-scenes moments with The Queen and other major members of the Royal Family, including Prince Charles & Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Princess Anne; Prince William & Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge; Prince Harry & Meghan, Duchess of Sussex; and the Countess of Wessex. It's a look at what it takes to be the "Queen of the World" and what it's like inside the hallowed halls of her various estates. This is a very brief and light trailer,...

HBO is making room for a royal. The premium cabler has acquired Queen of the World, a new documentary about Queen Elizabeth II that was commissioned by the UK’s ITV. The hourlong docu will premiere on HBO at 8 Pm Monday, October 1.

Drawing on footage from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s private film archives and treasures of the Royal Collection, Queen of the World offers unique insights into Her Majesty’s role as a figure on the global stage. It also focuses on her passing the baton to the younger members of the Royal Family as they continue to build upon the Commonwealth, an association of free and independent nations, the majority of which were formerly part of the British Empire.

Filmed over more than a year with privileged access to the Queen, her family, her staff and her residences, the documentary tells the story of how...

British broadcaster ITV is getting back into the royal business with a documentary about The Queen.

Queen of the World will profile Her Majesty, looking at her role as a figure on the global stage and the baton she is passing on to the younger members of the Royal Family.

The two-part film is produced by Our Queen producer Oxford Films and draws on cine footage from the Queen’s private archive as well as access to the Queen, her family and staff.

Queen of the World was commissioned for ITV by Jo Clinton-Davis, Controller of Factual and Sue Murphy, Head of Factual Entertainment. It is ITV’s latest royal doc, following The Queen’s Green Planet, which featured Angelina Jolie and Planet Earth’s David Attenborough, earlier this year.

It is directed by Matt Hill, produced by Faye Hamilton and Robert Hardman, author of book Queen of the World...

Cameron Douglas, VP of home entertainment for Fandango’s video-streaming service, FandangoNow, has been elected chairman of the Entertainment Merchants Association (Ema), a trade group for the home-entertainment industry.

Douglas will serve as Ema chair for a one-year term. In that role, he replaces Jonathan Zepp, Google Play’s head of worldwide movies and TV partnerships. Douglas joined NBCUniversal-owned Fandango in 2016 with its acquisition of M-Go, where he had been VP of content.

Other Ema officers joining Douglas on the board are: vice chair Suyin Lim, senior director, global content acquisition, Sony Interactive Entertainment; secretary Michele Edelman, Evp, marketing and content strategy, Vubiquity; and treasurer Matt Hill, head of vendor management, Amazon Prime Video.

In addition, serving on Ema’s executive committee as at-large members are: Ema past chairmen Bob Geistman, Evp of sales and marketing, Ingram Entertainment; Marty Graham, Svp, comScore; and Bill Kotzman, partner product manager, TV/film,...

A virtual reality showcase isn't worth its salt these days unless it's making you drench your headset with scare sweat. So as Capcom's Kitchen became the word of mouth hit of Los Angeles' E3 expo this past summer, at Paris Games Week that baton has been passed to Vrwerx's Paranormal Activity demo for Htc's Vive. And it's horrible.

Effectively the Pt Vr we wished Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima and director Guillermo Del Toro had been given the opportunity to make – they could have called it 'Ptsd' – it simulates a very normal looking house where not so normal things happen as you make your way down corridors laden with flickering lights and jump scares.

Yet while doors crash close and windows shatter, it's the feeling of dread that's nailed, using Vive's central control circle to edge ever forward whilst standing. And edging is very much the word – at one point...

When we found out last week that Gordon the Gopher and other childhood favourites were being revived for a special, we got so excited we dug out our Edd The Duck lunchbox and started reminiscing about our first loves: Andi Peters, Zoe Ball and Phillip Schofield.

But when we started to talk about some of our favourite kids' TV programmes, there were blank faces in the office. And in fact, when we've brought up these classics in the past, we've been met by general bafflement. So below, we present just 7 of our favourite kids' TV shows that no-one remembers... Do you?

1. Incredible Games (1994-1995)

It only aired for two series from 1994 to 1995, but The Incredible Games was one of the cleverest kids' games shows ever, and no-one seems to remember it.

Essentially The Crystal Maze for kids, it was set in a fictional Tron-like skyscraper, and featured a bunch of...

The ever-popular Crystal Maze finished its live run some 20 years ago today and is set to make a comeback soon in the form of a "live immersive experience".

Running for six series from 1990 to 1995, the Richard O'Brien (and Ed Tudor-Pole) fronted series is still an awesome watch on digital channel Challenge to this day.

So while we're all getting out our multi-coloured tracksuits in preparation for the live event, which is still having its set built, we cast our minds back to just why the Channel 4 game show was so brilliant.

1. Richard O'Brien was the perfect host

Whoever thought of picking Rocky Horror writer Richard O'Brien as host of this quirky game show is a TV genius. When picturing The Crystal Maze, O'Brien is most likely the first image that comes to mind; topped up to the nines with leopardskin fur coats and leather boots.

Constantly making quips to camera at the contestants' expense,...

1. Ray Donovan - David Moynihan, Editor

Airs on Sky Atlantic, Wednesdays at 9pm

We're now into the third run of the Liev Schreiber-fronted drama, and the season hasn't dipped one iota since the shocking, deadly twists of its predecessors.

Donovan is a wolfish 'problem fixer' for big-money Hollywood, but beneath the brutish exterior - all guns and grunts - it's his constant struggles with his own family's failings that form the tender heart of the show. Viewers are voyeurs in the ugly reality that lies behind the glitzy mask of La, where money is the driving force for corrupt officials, hollow celebrities and violent gangsters.

Schreiber's muscular and intoxicating performance - along with magnificent scene stealing by Jon Voigt as the larger-than-life rogue grandfather Micky - powers the gripping storylines.

Add an irresistible layer of humour (a teenage son being caught humping his own bed being one laugh-out-loud moment...

"I was, um... drunk. It was 5am in Magaluf."... "A mate had just bought a tattooing kit. I was 14." So goes the standard, red-faced reasoning from visitors to E4's Tattoo Fixers, a temporary cover-up clinic erected in London's Hackney to first chuckle at, and then eventually fix, the nation's errant ink.

It's fair to say the Digital Spy office is a bit obsessed with the goings-on of perma-stunned receptionist Paisley and her three tattooists-in-chief, but we're not the only ones. Catch any episode and you can see why, even through covered eyes and a good degree of wincing, you just have to watch.

1. The tattoos that need fixing are hilariously, shockingly bad

Many a visitor's shame quickly turns to our delight as the skin-ink on show is invariably so utterly, insanely, unrelentingly awful that it's impossible for viewers at home not to howl at the TV through tears of laughter,...

As Jk Rowling celebrates her 50th birthday, one thing is clear about the Harry Potter author - she is a magical force to be reckoned with in the world of literature and entertainment.

In honour of her big day on Friday (July 31), we revisit nine times we fell in love with the incredible lady.

1. She takes down Twitter trolls

.@sjosiah0 The Internet doesn't just offer opportunities for misogynistic abuse, you know. Penis enlargers can also be bought discreetly.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 8, 2015

Where some celebs go straight to the block button, Jk isn't afraid to confront idiot tweeters head on. When one user made unsavoury comments about her opposition to the Scottish National Party, she hit right back with a crack about penis enlargers.

.@diegtristan8 "she is built like a man". Yeah, my husband looks just like this in a dress. You're an idiot. pic.twitter.com/BCvT10MYkI...

As Jk Rowling celebrates her 50th birthday, one thing is clear about the Harry Potter author - she is a magical force to be reckoned with in the world of literature and entertainment.

In honour of her big day on Friday (July 31), we revisit nine times we fell in love with the incredible lady.

1. She takes down Twitter trolls

.@sjosiah0 The Internet doesn't just offer opportunities for misogynistic abuse, you know. Penis enlargers can also be bought discreetly.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 8, 2015

Where some celebs go straight to the block button, Jk isn't afraid to confront idiot tweeters head on. When one user made unsavoury comments about her opposition to the Scottish National Party, she hit right back with a crack about penis enlargers.

.@diegtristan8 "she is built like a man". Yeah, my husband looks just like this in a dress. You're an idiot. pic.twitter.com/BCvT10MYkI...

In 1996, Chris Evans and Danny Baker launched a show that would become as synonymous with 1990s as the Spice Girls and Eric Cantona.

Tfi Friday was the perfect show of its time, airing every Friday evening on Channel 4 and featuring as much Britpop and silly anarchic humour as you could ask for.

Ahead of its one-off comeback show this Friday (June 12), Digital Spy has collected just some of the most memorable and hilarious moments from its five years on air.

1. Shaun Ryder says "f**k" on live TV. In front of your mum.

Pity Chris Evans. With a mouth dodgier than the bizarre moustache he was sporting at the time, it was always going to be something of a liability bringing indie music's chief party-monster Shaun Ryder onto a family show that aired at just 6pm.

"If you don't swear tonight, I'll give you my shoes!" promised Evans, only...

Angelina Jolie celebrates her 40th birthday today (June 4), and to mark the occasion here at Digital Spy we've rifled through our DVD collections to pick out our favourite Jolie films.

Remember her breakthrough with Hackers way back in the '90s? How about the ass-kicking turn in Tomb Raider or her soulful performance in A Mighty Heart? Read on to find out our Jolie favourites then have your say on her best big screen roles in the comments below...

Tomb Raider - Matt Hill (Deputy Editor)

With Hackers already spoken for, and Morgan Freeman's ridiculous 'loom of fate' ruining the otherwise rather decent Wanted, Jolie's turn as gaming icon Lara Croft looms largest over her career for me – largest in that it's still somehow seen as a rather huge mistake that she inexplicably recovered from. That reputation is one really worth reassessing, though. Sure, Jolie only narrowly missed out...

As Britain digests the results of its General Election, a look back at some of the most memorable prime ministers from TV and the movies reveals a bunch only marginally more disconcerting than some of the real-life options.

Operating on a scale from complete idiocy through to full-blown murderous villainy, were they actually on the ballot paper, you'd probably do well to think twice before putting an X in their box. But you can be sure of one terrifying thought - someone out there would.

So who would you vote for, given the choice between the real prime minister and 8 of TV and film's most memorable premiers? Find out more about our fictional candidates below...

1. Baldrick in Blackadder: Back and Forth

Baldrick became an MP in a rotten borough during the opening episode of Blackadder the Third, mainly thanks to the help of a campaign partner who's especially keen to...

As Britain digests the results of its General Election, a look back at some of the most memorable prime ministers from TV and the movies reveals a bunch only marginally more disconcerting than some of the real-life options.

Operating on a scale from complete idiocy through to full-blown murderous villainy, were they actually on the ballot paper, you'd probably do well to think twice before putting an X in their box. But you can be sure of one terrifying thought - someone out there would.

So who would you vote for, given the choice between the real prime minister and 8 of TV and film's most memorable premiers? Find out more about our fictional candidates below...

1. Baldrick in Blackadder: Back and Forth

Baldrick became an MP in a rotten borough during the opening episode of Blackadder the Third, mainly thanks to the help of a campaign partner who's especially keen to...

The second trailer for the new zombie flick Bombshell Bloodbath has arrived with a splash, and we have it for you right here to help you slip and slide into the weekend. Check it out and love every second.

Directed by Brett Mullen and written by Mullen and Sky Tilley, Bombshell Bloodbath stars Alex Elliot, Rob Springer, Larry Parks, Samantha Mills, Jess Barbour, Shane Terry, Kathy Sandvoss, Miles Snow, Joanne Maye, Brianna Doss, Ed Ricker, Darren Hummel, Don Sill, Owen Daily, and Matthew Moore.

The flick is scheduled to hit the festival circuit in 2014. Influenced by works of Lucio Fulci (Zombi 2) and Umberto Lenzi (Nightmare City), Bombshell Bloodbath resonates Fabio Frizzi styled tracks from Kansas City artist Matt Hill (Umberto) and boatloads of gore by Joh Harp FX.

Check out the trailer and more below.

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The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced Tuesday (April 24) the nominations for its 2012 television awards. British miniseries "Appropriate Adult," which chronicles the real-life serial killer Fred West, leads the way with four nominations.

Other notable nominations include Dame Maggie Smith up for Supporting Actress for her work on "Downton Abbey" - it's the only nomination "Downton" received, after earning two nominations the previous year. "Modern Family" also earned a nomination in the International category.

The full list of nominations:

Leading Actor

Benedict Cumberbatch - Sherlock (BBC One)

Dominic West - Appropriate Adult (ITV)

John Simm - Exile (BBC One)

Joseph Gilgun - This is England '88 (Channel 4)

Leading Actress

Emily Watson - Appropriate Adult (ITV1)

Nadine Marshall - Random (Channel 4)

Romola Garai - The Crimson Petal and the White (BBC Two)

Vicky McClure - This is England '88 (Channel 4)

Supporting Actor

Andrew Scott - Sherlock...