Keeley Hawes

Mummy’s little nightmares: Sky's sci-fi thriller The Midwich Cuckoos

The Midwich Cuckoos (credit: Sky)

A wide-eyed couple moving out of London. A single mother re­entering dating life. A prep school teacher working late. An illicit affair. Welcome to Midwich, a seemingly normal suburban town – until the day something strange happens and many of its residents are temporarily left unconscious. After they wake, the women of child-bearing age discover they’re pregnant. When the children are born, they’re not quite human.  

Keeley Hawes to lead new BBC One drama Crossfire

When sunbathing on her hotel room balcony, Jo (Hawes) hears gunshots ring out across the complex. The gunmen, hellbent on revenge, instantly turn her dream holiday with family and friends into a waking nightmare.

As the hotel staff and clientele are forced to make rash life-or-death decisions, the consequences will last long after the final shots are fired.

Writer Gwyneth Hughes unmasks the reality of so-called honour violence in new ITV drama

It was almost 15 years ago that writer Hughes saw Banaz Mahmod’s face in the newspaper, a victim of a so-called honour killing.

In 2006, Mahmod was raped and murdered in a plot initiated by her own father and uncle, for falling in love with a man her family hadn’t chosen, following a divorce from her violent husband 10 years her senior.

For Hughes, after watching the documentary Banaz: A Love Story, she knew she needed to turn the story into a drama.

Joanna Lumley and Nigel Havers join the cast of new ITV drama Finding Alice

Keeley Hawes (Credit: ITV)

The six-part drama, Finding Alice, created by Roger Goldby (The Durrells), Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard) and Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly), starts production this week.

Hawes plays Alice, whose life is turned upside down with the sudden death of her husband, Harry (Jason Merrells) which leads to a trail of secrets, debt, suspicion and criminality.

Alice’s parents Sarah and Roger will be played by Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous) and Nigel Havers (Benidorm).

Keeley Hawes to star in new ITV drama Finding Alice

Keeley Hawes (Credit: ITV)

Written by Roger Goldby (The Durrells) and Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly), Finding Alice focuses on Alice (Keeley Hawes) as she navigates grief, love and life following the death of her husband Harry.

Harry’s sudden accidental death happens not long after him and Alice move into their newly finished dream home and he falls down the stairs.

His death sparks a storm of secrets, mess, debt, suspicion and criminality, which Alice must confront in order to survive.

Bodyguard: Make-up designer My Alehammar explains how to get the dream job

My Alehammar (Credit: Jon Attenborough)

Alehammar was born into a family of make-up artists. Both her mother and sister are both in the industry, working in fashion. “I started my career when I was about 15/16 in the fashion industry in Sweden.”

She moved to the UK to study film and TV make-up at London College of Fashion and worked in post-production for a few years. “Then I decided I missed make-up but I didn’t want to go back to fashion.”

Toby Stephens, Keeley Hawes, Linus Roache and Timothy Spall to star in Stephen Poliakoff’s Summer of Rockets

(Credit: BBC)

The all-star cast includes Toby Stephens (Lost in Space, Die Another Day) as Russian Jewish émigré Samuel, an inventor and designer of bespoke hearing aids, whose patrons include Winston Churchill.

Set against the backdrop of Britain testing its first hydrogen bomb, the series revolves around Samuel’s family life with his wife and two children after he is approached by MI5 to demonstrate his work.

Second series of the Durrells announced

The Durrell Family (Credit: ITV)

The announcement comes after the immensely positive reception of series one, shown in April this year, which was credited with helping ITV bounce back from several high-profile failures.

Despite the series being filmed in the midst of the Greek economic crisis, it became ITV's highest rated new drama series in 2016, with almost 7 million regular viewers.