Climate crisis on screen: ‘It was dystopian – now it feels contemporary’

Published

1 year ago

January 28, 2024

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First-time mothers battling apocalyptic flooding – it’s a storyline we’d like to confine to the realms of fantasy drama – but the author of The End We Start From says it’s a case of fiction becoming reality.

Megan Hunter tells Sky News: “It was the dystopian future novel. But now when people talk about the film, they talk about the present moment. It doesn’t really feel so future-orientated anymore unfortunately, it feels more relevant in a directly contemporary way.”

The novel, which she wrote in 2017, has been made into a film starring Jodie Comer as the nameless female protagonist fighting to survive in a waterlogged London.

Hunter says now, just six years on from finishing the book, “it feels a bit more like that is happening here.”

She adds: “There was that sense of, this isn’t something that happens to other people elsewhere, you know, far away. This is something that could happen here.”

The book was partly inspired by an out-of-print anthology of creation mythology she had on her bookshelf “about different ways people around the world have thought about how the world began and also how the world might end”.

With potential End Times being a pretty big plot point to digest, Hunter explains she brought together the universal – “our relationship to the world – to water, nature and the planet over thousands of years of human thought” – with a very personal story of “one woman in London making jokes about Match Of The Day”.

A mother to two young children herself, she says: “Watching a lot of disaster films I’d seen in the past, I didn’t feel that those characters were that relatable to me. They didn’t feel three-dimensional. I really wanted these people to feel completely real.

“We see the woman breastfeeding the baby. We see all of this kind of intimacy, this kind of closeness between people, and to bring that together with the much bigger picture, this much more global scenario. It brings it home.”

Hunter says by telling the story this way it becomes “very present, very real” and “very hard to turn away”.

We can feel ‘stifled’ by fear

The film’s star, Jodie Comer, tells Sky News she recognises the dilemma of wanting to close your eyes to the climate catastrophe.

“I think we all feel incredibly overwhelmed by it is my worry. You know, I think it can be very scary. And I think as a result of that, we can feel stifled and not know what it is that we can do.”

The film’s director, Mahalia Belo, hopes the movie could encourage those in power to sit up and take note.

“The feeling is that it’s inevitable to some extent, unless some change happens and unless people who have some ability to make change actually really listen to what experts are saying and basically make sure that we aren’t living in a challenging state in the future.

“Everybody knows we’re on an island. Sea levels will rise at some point. You know what’s going to happen.”

Meanwhile, Sophie Rundle, the lead star of ITV drama After The Flood says the whole point of art is to reflect the world around us.

Northern communities left ‘decimated’

She plays heavily pregnant PC Jo Marshall in the police procedural, where again we see a community left reeling by extensive flooding.

Rundle tells Sky News: “A show purely about climate change might be quite hard to watch or might be quite isolating – it’s such an enormous conversation that we need to be having…

“I think people can be overwhelmed by headlines. And what do you do? Where do you begin? When do you begin talking when you see wildfires and flooding…

“How do we distil that conversation down into a human drama that we are comfortable with? Perhaps comfortable is the wrong word but is accessible to us.”

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With the climate crisis storyline working away behind the scenes, Rundle says the show can focus on the effects such catastrophes might have on society.

“What is the impact on you and your neighbours and the people on the street? On the people in your community? That’s what we are seeing happening, especially in smaller communities up in the north, towns are being decimated. There is no infrastructure in place to protect them. So, what does that world look like?”

‘Light in the darkness’

She credits the show’s writer, Mick Ford, with telling the story in a way that makes people think while still enjoying the ride.

“He draws this community, this collective of people and says, ‘There’s this huge flood, what happens next?’ And I think that’s palatable for people and that’s a way into this conversation while still being entertaining and still being exciting and thrilling.

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For all the doom and gloom around the future of the planet, such cultural explorations of the climate crisis in TV and film undoubtedly raise awareness and open up the conversation – small but necessary steps to making change.

Looking to the future, the author of The End We Start From remains optimistic.

“I think if we feel hopeless, then it can feel like there’s nothing that can be done. It can feel like a stuck end position. So, I do believe in having hope and continuing to look for the light in the darkness.”

The End We Start From is in cinemas now and After The Flood is on Wednesdays at 9pm on ITV1 or all there to stream on ITVX.

Entertainment

Robin Kaye: American Idol TV executive and her husband shot dead inside their Los Angeles home

Published

24 hours ago

July 16, 2025

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Robin Kaye: American Idol TV executive and her husband shot dead inside their Los Angeles home

An American Idol TV executive and her husband have been found dead in their LA home.

Robin Kaye was a music supervisor on the long-running reality TV series.

The bodies of the 70-year-old and her husband Thomas were discovered after officers conducted a welfare check at their home.

Both had died from gunshot wounds.

Detectives say Raymond Boodarian has been arrested in connection with their deaths.

It is alleged the 22-year-old had burgled their property while they were away on 10 July – killing the couple upon their return.

According to Los Angeles Police, there were “no signs of forced entry or trouble” at the property.

Ms Kaye was an industry veteran – and had previously worked on shows including Lip Sync Battle and The Singing Bee, as well as several Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.

In a statement, an American Idol spokesperson said: “Robin has been a cornerstone of the Idol family since 2009 and was truly loved and respected by all who came in contact with her.

“Robin will remain in our hearts forever and we share our deepest sympathy with her family and friends during this difficult time.”

Entertainment

Action taken to stop ticketless Oasis fans from watching this week’s shows in Manchester

Published

1 day ago

July 16, 2025

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Action taken to stop ticketless Oasis fans from watching this week's shows in Manchester

Huge steel fences have been erected to prevent ticketless fans from watching the Oasis reunion tour in Manchester.

Liam and Noel Gallagher will resume their sold-out run of shows – their first since 2009 – with a performance at Heaton Park tonight, and two more on Saturday and Sunday.

While tens of thousands bought tickets for Oasis’s first two shows last weekend, crowds gathered to glimpse the large screens above the stage in the distance – in an area dubbed “Gallagher Hill” by some on social media.

Manchester City Council has now said more steel fences have been erected around parts of the park to prevent ticketless fans from watching the gigs, and to protect nature in the park.

“After taking stock of how the first two nights went, additional measures have now been deemed necessary and will be in place for the next three concerts,” it said.

“The erection of the fencing has a dual purpose – both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there.

“The necessary measure means the concert will no longer be visible from this area.”

The fences will cover a large area of the hill within the park’s cattle field, which is being developed as a new woodland area with around 300 young trees planted.

The council added that there would be no facilities for people without a ticket, and said the event area is “double-walled with solid high security fencing all the way round”.

More than 2,000 event security staff and police officers will also be on duty around the site “to ensure both the safety and wellbeing of ticket-holders and that only those who have tickets access the concert”, it said.

John Hacking, the council’s executive member for employment, skills and leisure, also said in a statement that “unfortunately our hand has been forced in having to put these additional measures in place”.

He added: “Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead.

“The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time.

“We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy, whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”

Entertainment

MasterChef presenter John Torode sacked

Published

1 day ago

July 15, 2025

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MasterChef presenter John Torode will no longer work on the show after an allegation he used an “extremely offensive racist term” was upheld, the BBC has said.

His co-host Gregg Wallace was also sacked last week after claims of inappropriate behaviour.

On Monday, Torode said an allegation he used racist language was upheld in a report into the behaviour of Wallace. The report found more than half of 83 allegations against Wallace were substantiated.

Torode, 59, insisted he had “absolutely no recollection” of the alleged incident involving him and he “did not believe that it happened,” adding “racial language is wholly unacceptable in any environment”.

In a statement on Tuesday, a BBC spokesperson said the allegation “involves an extremely offensive racist term being used in the workplace”.

The claim was “investigated and substantiated by the independent investigation led by the law firm Lewis Silkin”, they added.

“The BBC takes this upheld finding extremely seriously,” the spokesperson said.

“We will not tolerate racist language of any kind… we told Banijay UK, the makers of MasterChef, that action must be taken.

“John Torode’s contract on MasterChef will not be renewed.”

Australian-born Torode started presenting MasterChef alongside Wallace, 60, in 2005.

A statement from Banijay UK said it “takes this matter incredibly seriously” and Lewis Silkin “substantiated an accusation of highly offensive racist language against John Torode which occurred in 2018”.

“This matter has been formally discussed with John Torode by Banijay UK, and whilst we note that John says he does not recall the incident, Lewis Silkin have upheld the very serious complaint,” the TV production company added.

“Banijay UK and the BBC are agreed that we will not renew his contract on MasterChef.”

Earlier, as the BBC released its annual report, its director-general Tim Davie addressed MasterChef’s future, saying it can survive as it is “much bigger than individuals”.

Speaking to BBC News after Torode was sacked, Mr Davie said a decision is yet to be taken over whether an unseen MasterChef series – filmed with both Wallace and Torode last year – will be aired.

“It’s a difficult one because… those amateur chefs gave a lot to take part – it means a lot, it can be an enormous break if you come through the show,” he added.

“I want to just reflect on that with the team and make a decision, and we’ll communicate that in due course.”

Mr Davie refused to say what the “seriously racist term” Torode was alleged to have used but said: “I certainly think we’ve drawn a line in the sand.”

In 2022, Torode was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, for services to food and charity.