A centenary of poems about the Beeb…
The BBC is celebrating a century since its launch with poetry. The corporation has specially commissioned poems by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, and rising Scottish-Caribbean poet and performer Courtney Stoddart.
Inspired by 100 years of the BBC, each poem explores the relationship between the broadcaster and the nation. Simon’s poem, Transmission Report, examines the BBC from a unique perspective, whilst Courtney’s poem, The Invitation, looks towards the next century of public service broadcasting.
Both poems will broadcast during the BBC’s special week of centenary programming, running from 22 to 29 October, with further details released in due course.
James Stirling, BBC 100 Executive Editor:
“I am delighted that we’re honouring the BBC’s 100-year commitment to connecting viewers and listeners to music and poetry with two of the UK’s finest contemporary poets. The poems will be a wonderful addition to our week of special centenary programming.”
Simon Armitage is the UK Poet Laureate, Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds and former Professor of Poetry at Oxford University. Also a renowned broadcaster, playwright, memoirist and song-lyricist, his latest collection of poems Magnetic Field, attracted widespread acclaim. Simon presents the BBC Radio 4 series The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed, and his most recent poem was Floral Tribute, written to commemorate the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
I thought I’d have ago myself…
While Jimmy Savile may have got away, others still had a price to pay…
No, I never was much good at poetry.
Love Island winners Ekin-Su and Davide make a return trip to ITV2
Ekin-Su and Davide had a fantastic journey on Love Island filled with romance, tiffs and tiramisu. They won the hearts of the public and were eventually crowned the Love Island winners. Now, after a summer of love, the couple are set to bring back the flirting, fun and laughter to our screens.
Boarding passes at the ready, this two-part series sees for the first time since leaving the Love Island Villa, Davide will return to Italy and his hometown Frosinone with Ekin-Su by his side. But before he heads home, Davide will give Ekin-Su a taste of Italy as the pair embark on a whistle-stop tour of the Italian city of love, Verona, made famous by lovers Romeo and Juliet.
Then they will travel through the Tuscan valley and eventually jet off to Turkey, where they will visit Istanbul. Ekin-Su will introduce Davide to the acting colleagues she met while living and working as an actress in Turkey. They will also venture on a eight-hour road trip in a campervan to Ekin-Su’s family village of Odemis. As they spend a night sleeping in their motorhome, cue the drama of living in confined spaces.
Paul Mortimer, Director of Reality Commissioning and Controller, ITV2:
“We can’t wait to bring this fantastic series to ITV2. We can look forward to more romance, laughter, fun and everything in between from the couple as they embark on two epic adventures in Turkey and Italy together.”
Dancing on Ice 2022
This week ITV revealed a host of names who are queuing up to meet Phil and Holly, so you don’t have to, for the forthcoming series of Dancing on Ice.
The first announced was ex-EastEnders regular Patsy Palmer, followed by former footballer John Fashanu. Next was Love Island winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu followed by Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson and then Coronation Street regular Mollie Gallagher.
Other names announced saw Drag Queen and TV personality The Vivienne join the line up along with z-lister ‘reality face’ Joey Essex and finally, thus far, comedian Darren Harriott.
Speedy connections
Community Fibre, a leading Internet Service Broadband provider this week informed us they’d bestowed UK gamer Miniminter as their first-ever Head of Speed.
As Head of Speed, Miniminter, aka Simon Edward Minter, will be responsible for helping Brits to better understand their broadband speeds. The appointment follows Community Fibre’s findings that one-third of Brits are unaware of the internet speeds they pay for.
Commenting on his new role, Miniminter:
“As a gamer and content creator, a fast and reliable internet connection is vital to the work I do. For others, a connection is essential for booking GP appointments online or staying connected with family and friends.
“When it comes to selecting broadband, we hear a lot of words such as Superfast this, or Gigafast that – but what does it all mean? That is why I am ecstatic to be collaborating with Community Fibre, to help Londoners to better understand their broadband speeds, so they can find out if they are being bamboozled by their broadband provider or not.”
Fabulous darling, just wait while I reconnect my dial-up.
The Voice
Hotel chain Premier Inn has conducted an audio survey to find out which celebrities have the most soothing voices, revealing that Sir David Attenborough relaxes us the most, followed by Stephen Fry, and former FLOTUS Michelle Obama.
With many people using audiobooks to relax and unwind, Premier Inn asked participants to rank how relaxing they found celebrities reading their own autobiographies on Audible.
Other celebrities with high relaxation scores were actor and filmmaker Stanley Tucci, with his self-narrated autobiography ‘Taste’ ranking in fourth, and Irish talk show host Graham Norton who ranked eighth.
