Entertainment

A circus owner says the industry is all about taking ‘calculated risks’ and not performing animals. Earlier this week Environment Secretary Michael Gove announced a new law to ban travelling circuses from using wild animals. Circus Extreme is currently on its first tour of the UK and says it has taken five years to plan […]

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Tina Fey says David Cameron asked her to persuade the UK TV industry to make more episodes It’s not unusual for TV fans to wish that their favourite shows would carry on (Fleabag anyone?). But it seems viewers who long for more have an unlikely ally – former UK

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Les Murray has been described as “the greatest English-language poet since Yeats” Les Murray called himself a “subhuman redneck”, but the Australian poet and writer was also “the patron saint of misfits” who sang the nation’s landscape, culture and vernacular into being, writes Gary Nunn. The bush bard. Rustic

Image copyright PA Stormzy has beaten Taylor Swift to the UK’s number one spot – giving him his first chart-topping single. The grime artist’s comeback track Vossi Bop amassed 94,500 first-week combined sales to clinch victory over Swift’s Me!, which ultimately entered third behind Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road. Stormzy also broke the UK’s

Image copyright Alamy Image caption Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn’s Death Becomes Her is among the films on the bill The British Film Institute (BFI) is facing accusations of misogyny over a season dedicated to “fierce females”. The programme includes films featuring “some of the most wickedly compelling female characters on screen”. In December, more

Image copyright PA Peter Mayhew played Chewbacca, the gentle giant with a distinctive growl, in Star Wars films for almost 40 years – but how did he find himself inside that huge, hairy costume? The London-born son of a policeman was diagnosed with gigantism, a condition that causes excessive growth, aged eight. Mayhew also had

Image copyright Getty Images Warning: This article contains details about a serial killer’s actions, which you may find upsetting. Zac Efron’s known for playing handsome, charming, leading men – and his latest film role is no exception. But his character in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is a long way from the beaches of

Image copyright Murillo/Hamdan/Cammock/Shani Image caption The artists shortlisted tackle issues such as oppression and marginalised communities The Turner Prize has ended a sponsorship deal with Stagecoach South East – a day after it was announced. The firm was to support an exhibition of the four shortlisted artists at the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate. But

Image copyright Lucasfilm Image caption Peter Mayhew plays Chewbacca (L) alongside Harrison Ford in Star Wars Episode IV Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars films, has died aged 74, his family says. He passed away at his home in Texas on 30 April with his family by his side, a

A “significant” exhibition of the work by artist Henry Moore, the first of its kind in East Anglia, has opened at Houghton Hall in Norfolk. Born in 1898 in Yorkshire, Moore is considered to be one of the most important British artists of the 20th Century. The show, curated in collaboration with the Henry Moore