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The third series of Jimmy McGovern’s terrifying and acutely moving prison drama is set in a young offender institute – and the reality it depicts needs national attention
Jimmy McGovern has said that this new, third instalment of his prison anthology drama Time will be the last. For the sake of audiences’ emotional equilibrium, you have to hope so. For the sake of scripted drama, for the sake of art that has a hope of stirring the conscience of authorities and effecting change, you have to hope not.
This time, Time is inside a young offender institution. It is crammed with under-18-year-old males, locked up often for 23 hours a day, all subject to the relatively new “keep apart” system whereby prisoners deemed likely to be violent towards each other are not allowed out of their cells at the same time. Naturally, this leads to a lot more boys being banged up for a lot more of the day and suits the officers a lot better. It is a facet of modern YOIs that McGovern and his co-writer Sam Bailey, a man evidently cut from the same socially conscious cloth, are clearly intent on bringing to wider attention. Their script, and the direction by Paul Whittington, do a wonderful, terrifying job of conveying the kinetic energy pent up and desperate for release, and the seething fury ever threatening to erupt, in every scene.
Continue reading...Sun, 11 Oct 2026 21:00:36 GMT
We must now have unity and a discussion about party democracy. And let me be clear: as leader, I will never tolerate antisemitism
When I stood for leader of the Greens in 2025, our party was at a crossroads. The transformative leadership of Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay had taken us to an electoral success we’d never seen before. I knew we had even greater potential – and that the country was crying out for the bold politics we could offer.
We have seen unprecedented wins this year – from our first ever parliamentary byelection win to our landslide council and mayoral victories in former Labour strongholds.
Zack Polanski is the leader of the Green party of England and Wales and a member of the London assembly
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Continue reading...Sun, 11 Oct 2026 15:00:28 GMT
Could a drug intended to prevent painful rashes also protect our brains as we get older? The signs are promising – but not conclusive. Yet that’s enough to be driving a boom in shingles jabs
When Jenny, a 50-year-old marketing and branding professional from Cambridge, went for her shingles vaccine last year, an entirely different disease was on her mind. Having witnessed three of her four grandparents succumb to dementia, with all the distress that brought, she wants to avoid the same fate. She hopes the shingles vaccine might help.
Jenny is far from alone. Britain’s high street chemists have reported a rise in demand for the shingles vaccine, at least some of which is driven by people more worried about dementia than shingles. And while the vaccine is free for some on the NHS, most under-65s pay around £450 for the full two doses.
Continue reading...Sun, 11 Oct 2026 13:00:27 GMT
John Mitani spent years studying a huge community of chimpanzees in Uganda. But then things took a dark turn – and his findings stunned the scientific world
John Mitani can still remember the first time he set foot in Uganda’s Kibale national park. The old-growth east African rainforest enveloped him, its canopy stretching to heights of 40 metres. Fruit trees bowed under the weight of African star apples and bountiful Ficus mucuso figs. And then there were the chimpanzees. Furry black blobs darted through the jungle, their raucous calls often deafening.
It was the summer of 1995, and Mitani, a primatologist from northern California, had just come from working with the chimps living in the Mahale mountains of Tanzania. At the time, Mahale was home to the largest known population of chimps, with about 100 individuals. But there were rumours that this section of Kibale – only accessible via a 12-hour drive from the capital, Kampala – might host an even more unusual abundance of apes.
Continue reading...Sun, 11 Oct 2026 11:00:24 GMT
A dry summer has left the Bristol Channel island critically short of water, forcing visitor caps and talk of evacuating its 28 residents
Tom Carr was peering up at the clouds scudding around the island of Lundy, 10 miles off the coast of north Devon. “That one’s definitely got rain in it,” he said. “The mainland will be wet at the moment. And look over at Wales – it’s getting a real soaking just now.”
But above Lundy the sky was, stubbornly, blue. No significant rain has fallen here since the start of May, leading to perilously low water levels. Restrictions have been put in place, visitor numbers limited and there has been talk of the island – home to 28 people – being evacuated.
Continue reading...Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:00:25 GMT
When the actor confessed to ingesting a few flakes of her mother’s ashes on opening nights, reactions ranged from recognition to disgust. But, she says, grief makes animals of us all
There have been headlines of late that make me out to be an ash-guzzling savage nightly devouring her mother’s charred remains. “Rachael Stirling eats mother Diana Rigg’s ashes before going on stage” declared a dozen news outlets last month, while others referred to the “strange habit only she really understands” and “Dame Diana’s daughter admits eating her ashes in bizarre tribute”. I’ve written a book about our relationship, All About My Mother, in which I do confess to nibbling a grain or two, but I didn’t expect to be portrayed as a matricidal cannibal by the press.
My mother was Diana Rigg, an iconic actor with a 60-year career. Young ’uns will know her as the Queen of Thorns from Game of Thrones, be-wimpled spouter of the best verbal roasts on television: “I’ve known a great number of clever men. I’ve outlived them all. You know how? I ignored them.” Old ’uns, meanwhile, go dewy-eyed at the memory of her leather-catsuited telly triumph as Emma Peel in The Avengers from the 60s, the first woman to perform kung fu on western television. She was also the only woman ever to marry James Bond. She appeared in The Great Muppet Caper because I was profoundly in love with Miss Piggy, and her child-murdering Medea was the toast of Broadway. She won an Emmy and a Tony, and had countless honours bestowed upon her for her many stage performances. She was a complete original and very witty to boot.
Continue reading...Sun, 11 Oct 2026 11:00:25 GMT
Ukrainian president earlier rejected US call for Kyiv to stop bombing oil refineries, saying Moscow must first end attacks on energy infrastructure
Donald Trump has announced an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, apparently without consulting Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the deal to stop long-range attacks was “news to me”.
In a social media post, the US president claimed the two sides had reached an agreement. “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Continue reading...Sun, 11 Oct 2026 17:21:39 GMT
Unidentified projectile strikes King Khalid airport as escalating attacks threaten to draw more countries into Yemen conflict
A projectile hit a passenger terminal at the airport in Riyadh on Sunday, the day after a deadly missile attack on the facility carried out by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel group killed 13 people.
An unidentified projectile hit terminal 4 at King Khalid international airport, starting a fire and causing injuries, according to Saudi authorities. Air defences also intercepted a cruise missile in the vicinity of the airport. It was the latest of several attacks on the airport in the past week.
Continue reading...Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:49:05 GMT
PM says he asked question upon entering No 10 but does not reveal who gave him ‘clear answer’ Russia meddled
Andy Burnham has said it is clear Russia interfered in the Brexit referendum, after seeking answers on the Kremlin’s involvement in the 2016 vote when he entered Downing Street.
Burnham said he had asked whether Moscow had attempted to influence the referendum and received a confirmation that it had.
Continue reading...Sun, 11 Oct 2026 15:33:15 GMT
Rapid growth means structures need to change and give leaders greater control, Polanski says in Guardian article
Zack Polanski has signalled a potential overhaul of the Green party’s cherished grassroots democracy, calling for leaders to have greater control over strategic direction after a divisive vote equating Zionism with racism.
The Green party leader has also questioned whether political parties should seek to define what members believe, in his strongest criticism yet of a motion that has provoked bitter divisions, international condemnation and calls for his resignation.
Continue reading...Sun, 11 Oct 2026 15:00:29 GMT
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