Soap’s power to fight prejudice
British soaps have made huge strides in portraying the lives and loves of gay characters since the genre’s first on-screen kiss in EastEnders three decades ago.
Eastenders
Soaps are powerful in changing people's perceptions say Corrie's Daniel Brocklebank
But, argued the actors, writers and producers on the panel at an RTS event in mid-July – “LGBTQ in soap: job done?” – the fight against prejudice is not yet won.
“Soaps are incredibly powerful in terms of being able to get a message out and in changing people’s perceptions,” said Daniel Brocklebank, who plays gay vicar Billy Mayhew in Coronation Street.
This week's top TV: 15 - 21 May
Monday:
The Fake News Show
Channel 4, 8.30pm
The Fake News Show is back! Stephen Mangan returns as host, bringing viewers up to speed with false claims and alternative facts in line with the upcoming UK General Election.
Katherine Ryan and Richard Osman will act as team captains, joined by Miles Jupp and Stanley Johnson.
EastEnders' Sean O'Connor: “They’re more than characters, they’re your mates”
Sean O’Connor insists that not much has changed since he returned to EastEnders as executive producer last summer, after an 11-year absence from the soap.
“All these shows renew themselves…I think they are sort of like chameleons, they change for the time that they are written in and are performed in but fundamentally they remain the same.”
BBC Worldwide & ITV join forces to launch US subscription service
The service, named BritBox, will bring a huge catalogue of British content to the United States in one ad-free subscription service.
The platform, which is set to rival providers like Netflix and Amazon in carrying British content across the Atlantic, will premiere shows including Anthony Horowitz-created BBC drama New Blood, and ITV’s historical epic Tutankhamun.
Sky recommissions Ross Kemp: Extreme World
The show's fifth series recently concluded on Sky1. Episodes featured former EastEnders actor Kemp investigating the ivory trade in Mozambique, overseeing the production of cocaine in Columbia, and visiting rebel groups fighting ISIS in Syria.
Series six will see the Bafta-winning documentary-maker explore migrant smuggling, the War on Drugs, and violent extremism in Libya, the US, and the UK.
Executive Producer Tom Sheahan, of Freshwater Films, said: “We’re thrilled to have the greenlight for series six of Extreme World.
Strictly professional: Gorka talks Tameka, Charleston and elimination
“Every ballroom dancer in the competition world, once they stop competing, they want to join the programme,” says Gorka Marquez.
Marquez is one of six new professionals who joined the Strictly Family in 2016, along with husband and wife dancing duo Katya and Neil Jones, AJ Pritchard, Chloe Hewitt and Oksana Platero.
Until the shock elimination last weekend, he was partnered with EastEnders actress Tameka Empson.
“I think the time wasn’t right for her because she was a good dancer. I think it was too early” he protests.
How to be a brilliant screenwriter
Rob Gittins has written for TV and radio for 30 years, and is currently the longest serving writer for hit BBC soap EastEnders.
He has also written a number of novels, as well as contributing scripts to numerous other TV and radio shows.
Face to face with screenwriter Rob Gittins
"Before my grandad died he used to ask me what I was doing and this pained expression would come across his face and he’d say ‘it’s no job for a grown man.’
“I still think it’s not quite the job for a grown man. We just sit and play.”
Great Sports Relief Bake Off: Who’s who?
This year’s famous cohort of willing amateur bakers features comedians, singers, sports personalities and politicians.
One face that you will not be seeing however, is regular host Sue Perkins who is leaving her long-time performing partner Mel Giedroyc to host it alone for one episode.
Comedians Ed Byrne, Jennifer Saunders and Sarah Millican will also each take a turn at helm.