Robert, Al and Joe are coming

The trailer has been released for The Irishman the new film from esteemed director Martin Scorsese. It tells the true story of Mob hit man Frank Sheeran played by Robert de Niro and his life of crime. This includes his role in the murder of infamous union boss Jimmy Hoffa as played in the film by Al Pacino. Hoffa'a body to date has never been found. Joe Pesci who worked with de Niro and Scorsese on other true life crime flicks Goodfellas and Casino plays Mob boss Russell Bufalino. As with other films produced by Netlix it will have a limited cinematic before going to the streaming service.

Come back Count Arthur

In the new Radio Times readers have made known which TV show they would like to come and it has thrown up one surprise. Coming in Fourth behind Foyle's War, The Bill and Spooks (known as MI-5 in the US) is the sit com Count Arthur Strong .Running for 3 series between 2013-17 and based on a BBC Radio 4 show about an eccentric Variety performer (played by series creator Steve Delaney) and his bizarre attempts to get back into the lime light. Despite crictal praise the show was hampered haphazard scheduling and therefore did not get the viewer for a long term future. Another point to consider in placing in Fourth place Count Arthur Strong beat higher shows like Downton Abbey and Life on Mars.

Shouldn't you be retired?

Ever since Casualty started 31 years ago Derek Thompson has played the role of staff nurse Charlie Fairhead from the start. However when Derek's real life age is 70 which in real life would see Charlie retired by now. Though this not the worst offender as Brenda Bleythan in the role of Police Dectivie Vera Stanhope 73 while most Police officers are retired in their 50s!

I call that a victory

At the World Aquatics Championships the men's team won the 4x100m medley relay. They were last after the first backstroke but having Adam Peaty doing the next Breaststroke leg more than helped as he gave Team GB the lead. The Americans took the lead in the Butterfly leg but in the final freestyle leg Duncan Scott came storming back to give Britain the gold.

Savaging the King

While the new version of The Lion King has been breaking box office records the crictiacal reaction has been decidedly mixed with some calling visually impressive but soulless. But for one of the more hostile reviews comes from Youtube channel Council of Geeks. The reviewer states he only went to see it because his Daughter was excited to see it despite his own misgivings. He goes on to give his honest opinon. The remake does not have the economy of story telling that the original had. A refreshing point of view given some elements seem to fall over themselves for every thing Disney does.

After the kids

Below is a list of 3 one time Kids TV presenters who gone to have differing careers

Andrea Arnold

Between 1982-1988 Arnold was a presenter of ITV Kids show No 73.  In 2006 she the Oscar tor Best Short Film with Wasp. Arnold gone on to a much acclaimed film career but her work on the second season of US TV Drama was plagued by many behind the scenes trouble including a spat with star Meryl Streep.

John Craveb

From the mid 1970s to the late 1980s John was a regular on such Kids TV shows like Nesround, Multi Coloured Swap Shop and Saturday Superstore. John moved form Kids TV to presenting Countryfile which from lunch time show to prime time ratings winner.

Philip Schofield

First presenting the Children's BBC weekday slot Philip would go on to present Saturday Morning show Going Live from 1987 to 1993. He then moved in prime time presenting such shows as Talking Telephone Numbers and The Cube though he best known now for presenting daytime show This Morning.

Adam does it again

At the World Aquatics Championships Adam Peaty won the 50m Breaststroke. This is the third time he has won the event. This is the third time Adam the double of 50/100 Breaststroke titles However the bad news for Adam is that the 50m Breaststroke is not an event at next year's Olympics in Tokyo.

The sun does not shine

Angry scenes at the World Aquatics Championships after a disqualification saw China's Sun Yang pick up his second gold of the meet in the Men's 200m Freestyle. British Swunner Duncan Scott did not join the podium in protest at Yang still being allowed to compete despite waiting to hear about an appeal against a drugs ban. This a smaller protest by Australia's Mack Horton after the 400m Freestyle. The appeals findings are in the next couple of months.

Adam Peaty, the ignored sporting great

Today Adam Peaty won his third World Championship Gold Medal in the Men's 100m Breaststroke. This added to the Olympic Gold he won at the 2016 Games makes him one of the most competitors any sport. Added to which they are his record breaking feats including being the first swimmer to break 57 seconds for the event. However Peaty's heroics have been ignored in the mainstream media more concerned with pre-season Football. Is Peaty just too good for anyone to notice? One as to wonder.

What Marvels to come

At San Diego Comic-Con Marvel Studios unveiled Phase 4 of upcoming projects. The first one we will see is the already in production. Next up is Eternals starring Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and Salma Hayek in a tale of warring aliens. Then comes Kung Fu flavoured Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Bendict Cumberatch is back in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness with Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch. Then comes the fourth Thor film, subtitled Love and Thunder it will the unexpected return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster after she sat out the third film over unhappiness over the direction of the second. Also announced was an new Blade film with 2 time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as the vampire hunter who is half vampire him self. There will be another films to be announced.

What's wrong with these cats

While the new version of The Lion King has greeted with barbs of creative bankruptcy it has been praised for it's photo realistic visual effects. This is far from the reaction to the trailer of the film version of the musical Cats. Opting to not follow the stage method of using make up and customes to make the actors look like the titular animals computer generated effects has been used. There has been derision over the final result as the likes of Taylor Swift, James Condron and Rebel Wilson have been turned in felines. The film is due later this year so they may be time to refine the effects.

The forgotten rivals of Bros

Tonight on BBC4 sees a special selection of programmes by brothers Matt and Luke Goss who first shot to fame with Craig Logan as the pop group Bros in the late 1980s. However fame was fleeting until the documentary After the Screaming Stops brought the brothers back into the spotlight. The brothers can count themselves to have a second lease of fame compared to their contempies shows.

Brother Beyond

Despite the name there was no brothers in this band. One of the many acts to benefit from the production line of hits by producers Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman they had a No 2 hit with The Harder I Try but the hits dried up shortly afterwards.

Clime Fisher

The duo of Simon Clime and Rob Fisher had an No 2 hit with Love Changes Everything. Fisher sadly died in 1999 from bowel cancer. Clime had already written the hit George Micheal/ Arthea Franklin I Knew You Were Waiting and won a Grammy working with Eric Clapton.

Johnny Hates Jazz

The band enjoyed a run of hits including an US No 2 hit with Shattered Dreams which a video made for the US market by future acclaimed film director David Fincher. Lead singer Clark Datchler left the band and they split soon afterwards though Clark makes appearances on the 1980s nostalgia circuit.

Netflix, has the bubble burst?

Shares in Netflix have fallen 10% after the streaming giant failed new subscriber targets for the second quarter of the year. This will concerning for the streaming giant in a couple of ways, first there is the debt the company has accrued in it's attempt to provide new content and the increased completion from 3 media giants. Disney, NBCUuniversal and Warner Media all have streaming service planned to lauch and all can count on vast film and TV libraes for content.

2019 Emmy nominations

The final season of Game of Thrones has picked up a record breaking 32 nominations. This despite the shows proving to be the subject of much debate among fans not happy with the outcome and fates of various characters. Yesterday I wrote about the constant snubbing of Jodie Cormer for her performance in Killing Eve, at last the Emmys have rectified this and have nominated Jodie and her co-star Sandra Oh for Best Leading Actress in a Series.

Jodie still missing

Again another US awards has ignored Jodie Cormer's brilliant performance as the some what unhinged assassin Villinelle in dark comic thriller Killing Eve. The genre based Saturn awards nominated Jodie's co-star Sandra Oh but not Jodie. But that won't matter to Jodie given her BAFTA win this year.

TV ratings 14-07-2019

Despite the mass advance publicity Channel 4's coverage of the Cricket World Cup final between England and New Zealand was only watched by half of the 8 million watching the epic Wimbledon Men's Singles final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Feder. Elsewhere ITV's Beecham House recorded another low figure of above 1 million viewers against the 4 million watching Poldark on BBC1 at the same times.

You are no King

The reviews have come in for the remake of The Lion King and they are very lukewarm. Called by some as live action because of the use of photo realistic digital effects the new film has been blasted as having to add to the original. The new The Lion King is still expected to be a box office hit as Disney rework their classics with the only misstep being Tim Burton's take on Dumbo. There is no stopping Disney with new versions of Mulan and The Little Mermaid on the way.

Awkward clash

Sky have allowed a Free to Air broadcaster to share their coverage of the Cricket World Cup final between England and New Zealand. However the choice of broadcaster has left many unhappy. Channel 4 are the ones sharing however (and the reason for the unhappiness) the cricket will be moved from the main channel to the digital E4 channel in order that the Formula 1 British Grand Prix can be covered. It will be a busy afternoon for sports fans as the Wimbledon Men's Singles Final will be on at the same time

What is next for flag waving?

England have beaten Australia in the semi finals of the Cricket World Cup. They will face New Zealand in Sunday's final. This will of course be the spark to all out fevered anticipation. of Sporing glory. One person not happy with this is Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton who will competing in the British Grand Prix at the same time.

John is back

John Consatine the supernatural mage from Liverpool is returning to comic books in the current Sandman universe. For the last few years the character has been in the main stream DC Comics universe which saw him interacting with the likes of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. This should be a return to the horror more tinged roots of the character as the title of the comic he will is Hellblazer as in the one John appeared in between 1988-2013. There will be an one off followed by the series later in the year.

Off the menu

A restaurant in Leicester called The Fish and The Chip.has closed. The reason given is that the owners became concerned with the impact on the environment the was having after a field trip. The owners are looking into other fields.

Comics review - Lois Lane #1

Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Mike Perkins

Greg Rucka is a writer who is comfortable with writing what many would consider standard Superhero material such as a run on the now defunct Adventures of Superman in the mid 2000s to more down to earth material such as Stumptown which is soon to be a TV series. Another feature of Rucka's is his strong female characters in such titles as Wonder Woman, Elektra and (again) Stumptown. And now Rucka starts an new series starring Superman's other half. There many plot threads in this debut issue, Lois probes a Russian journalist death, Lois asking probing questions at a White House press briefing and her home life with Clark Kent. It is to Rucka's credit that he keeps these story lines clean and simple for the reader. And a shout out for artist Mike Perkins for his art work in particular an atmospheric sequence where Lois recruits the vigilante The Question in her Russia investigation. All in all an unique spin on a familiar character.

Book review - Joe Country by Mick Herron

What is advertised as a standard spy thriller is a sly satire on Brexit Britain. The latest novel to focus on a group of disgraced British spies called the Slow Horses who work under the command of Jackson Lamb a man who is not afraid to admit to having a flatulence problem. The thriller plot comes when a renegade agent who just so happens to the father of one of the Slow Horses. However this plays second fiddle to the power games played between the highest elements of British Intelligence. The scenes where Lamb has to deal with his much hated superior 'Lady Di' bristles with the characters mutual loathing. It is only towards the end that novel goes in full thriller mode however Herron does not do the obvious. We only get the aftermath of a deadly fight involving one of the slow horses. For those who want the usual thriller will be disappointed but those who want more will get an novel of razor sharp wit.

John McRirick (1940 - 2019)

The death has been announced of  John McRirick without doubt the most colourful  in UK TV sports broadcasting. Having failed to get into the Diplomatic Service McRirick started working as a bookmaker. It was through this he got a job as a reporter on The Sporting Life. McRicik got on the BBC's Grandstand programme before moving to ITV's sports department. In 1985 he got his big break when Channel 4 a high profile role on their Horse Racing coverage. With his unique appearance McRirik  became a sensation. He held the post until Channel 4 dropped him from their team in 2013 but he took them an employment tribunal claiming age discrimination but he lost. Outside of Horse Racing John appeared on many shows including Celebrity Big Brother.


John McRirick R.I.P

The walking is over

Comic book series The Walking Dead has seen it's last ever issue published. The series that told the story of a zombie ridden future that saw a group of survivors having to contend with not only zombies but other survivors with a less than humane view on life than them. The comic would win an number of industry awards. The biggest impact it had on the public mind set was the TV show which had a viewership of at one point of 17 million viewers. The producers of the show say the fact that the comic has now ended will not affect production.

TV ratings 02-07-2019

BBC1's coverage of the Women's World Cup semi final between England and USA made history as the most watched Ladies Football match in UK TV history with an average of 8 million viewers. At it's peak that figure was near 11 million. However the final will not see anything like that figure as the USA won 2-1.

Spider-Who?

Since taking on the role of Spider-Man actor Tom Holland has starred in 3 very successful movies with a fourth just about to be released and the subject of many magazine articles. However his fame has not caught with some people. In a recent edition of US game show Jeopardy! contestants were asked to identify super hero actors out of costume. None of them could identify Holland with a couple going for his predecessors in the role Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield. The price of fame Tom?

Big match preparation

Tonight sees the Women's World Cup semi final between England and USA. It will be the most watched ladies Football match. If England win expect the press to declare them the winners of the tournament, if they lose narrowly they will called gutsiy losers and if they lose heavily they will be called an national disgrace.

TV ratings 30-06-2019

The good weather had an effect on TV viewing figures. BBC1's Gentleman Jack was watched just under 4 million viewers while ITV's Beecham House was watched just under 2 million viewers. This will be concerning for ITV as Beecham House will soon be facing BBC1's ever popular Poldark.