Channel 4

At drama school, Douglas and his friends would make a big event of watching Cucumber, Russell T Davies’ exploration of 21st cenutry gay life. Now, the theatre actor has landed his first ever TV role as one of the lead characters in Davies’ explosive new drama, It’s A Sin, and he couldn’t be more excited.

“It’s Russell T Davies, he has such an iconic body of work,” he effuses. “And, of course, we're representing a very important community at a very important time. So, it's a huge, huge honour to have been a part of it.”

Despite Stephen Graham’s star status among Hollywood’s elite, he is still one of the most down to earth actors in the business.

Although he has worked with some of the biggest stars over the years, for him, there was only one person that left him feeling starstruck.

“Steven Gerrard,” Graham laughed. “That’s the only time I’ve ever lost my bottle, I found myself talking posh and thought, ‘Stephen, what are you doing? Shut up, where’s this voice come from?’”

Contract negotiations with the BBC broke down when the corporation reportedly wouldn't match Channel 4's offer.

The shock announcement was followed by the news that presenters Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc would not be following the show after it left BBC One. Star judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood have not yet confirmed if they will stay with the production.  

Telly creatives let out a collective sigh of relief as artificial intelligence expert Demis Hassabis ruled out the possibility of computers replacing them any time soon.
 
“We are a long way from machines being truly creative,” said the founder of machine learning start-up DeepMind Technologies. But, Hassabis warned: “I don’t think it’s impossible.”
 

Channel 4 swept the boards at last night’s Grierson Awards, which celebrate documentaries that have made a significant contribution to the form.

RTS award-winner Grayson Perry was crowned Documentary Presenter of the Year for his Channel 4 series Who Are You? with Grierson Trust chairman Lorraine Heggessey calling Perry a national treasure who “is an interviewer who gets under the skin of his subjects and an artist who captures their essence.”