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Actor Stuart Organ, who played a teacher in children’s TV school drama Grange Hill, has died aged 72.

Organ also appeared in Doctor Who and Casualty, but was best known as Mr Robson, the longest-serving staff member, who taught PE and geography in the BBC series about life in a London comprehensive school.

He appeared in the show for 15 years from 1988, with his character promoted to head teacher after 10 years.

Stuart Organ in Wycliffe in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
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Stuart Organ in Wycliffe in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock

Grange Hill, which ran for 30 years from 1978, became well known for tackling issues such as racism, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, mental illness and HIV and Aids.

Organ also starred as Kevin Cross in Brookside, the Channel Four soap opera, created by Sir Phil Redmond, the man behind Grange Hill.

He featured in a host of other programmes, including Doctor Who, where he appeared alongside Sylvester McCoy, Casualty and Holby City.

During the 1990s, he appeared in the movies Present Spirit (1994) and Fork In The Road (1997).

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His professional career began in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead at Leeds Playhouse in 1975, and he also appeared on stage in Sweeney Todd, in Queens Theatre in Hornchurch.

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Grange Hill made household names of characters such as Zammo McGuire, played by Lee MacDonald, and Tucker Jenkins, played by Todd Carty.

In 2022, creator Phil Redmond spoke about the show returning as a film.

He has appeared as the voiceover on cartoons and video games, such as Star Wars: The Old Republic, the BBC said, and his voice is known to London Underground passengers, as it’s used to announce stations, lines, late arrivals and telling users to mind the gap.

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Jaguar: British luxury vehicle maker has a new advert that doesn’t feature any cars

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Jaguar: British luxury vehicle maker has a new advert that doesn't feature any cars

Jaguar has left people scratching their heads with a new glossy advert which fails to show any cars.

The British luxury vehicle maker has released a commercial featuring a series of models, in brightly-coloured clothing, emerging from a lift into an austere landscape.

They are then seen in various poses as different slogans appear on screen, including “live vivid”, “delete ordinary” and “copy nothing”.

But it has created a series of reactions online from ridicule to confusion, because there is no hint of any cars.

screengrabs from jaguar advert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtFIrqhfng
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Jaguar’s latest advert has left some people confused

screengrabs from jaguar advert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtFIrqhfng
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Jaguar says the advert represents a ‘complete reset’ for the brand

Tesla boss Elon Musk tweeted a response to Jaguar’s advert posted on X by asking: “Do you sell cars?”

It prompted the reply: “Yes. We’d love to show you” followed by an invite to a promotional event. But others on X continued to question the advert and what it represented.

“Umm where are the cars in this ad?” one user posted, while a second wrote: “I thought you guys made cars?”

screengrabs from jaguar advert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtFIrqhfng
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Bold, bright colours feature in the commercial – but not everyone is impressed

There was also confusion from another person who asked: “What are you trying to sell me?”

Jaguar teased that: “All will be revealed… Think of this [advert] as a declaration of intent. We’re shifting gears, not our purpose. Stay tuned.”

In a news release to accompany the advert, the carmaker described it as part of a “completely transformed Jaguar brand” and “a new era” which makes “it relevant for a contemporary audience”.

“This is a complete reset,” said managing director Rawdon Glover. “To bring back such a globally renowned brand we had to be fearless.”

In the lead-up to the campaign, Jaguar announced it was discontinuing five models with “close to zero profitability”.

It has developed three new ultra-luxury electric vehicles, one of which is set to be unveiled at Miami’s Art Basel event next month.

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Paul Mescal bluntly appraises his meeting with the King at Gladiator II premiere

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Paul Mescal bluntly appraises his meeting with the King at Gladiator II premiere

Irish actor Paul Mescal says meeting King Charles was not on his “list of priorities”.

The 28-year-old star was introduced to the reigning monarch at the Gladiator II world premiere on Wednesday.

King Charles greeted the Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington at the premiere in London.
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The King greets the film’s stars at the world premiere

The historical epic picks up 20 years after the Oscar-winning original, and marks Mescal‘s first big studio movie after success in TV and independent film, playing Roman warrior Lucius Verus.

Talking about his brush with royalty on the red carpet of the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Monday, Mescal told US outlet Variety he did not see it coming.

He said: “How wild is it? It’s definitely not something that I thought was in the bingo cards.

“I’m Irish, so it’s not on the list of priorities”.

He then swiftly turned the answer to the film’s 86-year-old director, Ridley Scott, saying: “It’s an amazing thing for Ridley because I know how important that is for him.

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“So, to see his film celebrated in that context was pretty special.”

Ahead of the premiere, both Mescal and Scott had enjoyed a champagne reception at Buckingham Palace, and so were already in a celebratory mood on their arrival.

Due to the large number of people at the event, Mescal admitted it was also hard to hear what was being said during his exchange with the King, so he was “nodding along and smiling”.

Pic: Paramount Pictures
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Pic: Paramount Pictures

The world premiere was held in aid of the Film and TV Charity, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, and marked the first premiere Charles attended as King.

The King also met with Mescal’s co-stars including Oscar-winner Denzel Washington and Narcos actor Pedro Pascal.

Other celebrities to attend included actor Joseph Fiennes and TV presenter Claudia Winkleman.

Reviews of the film have been mixed thanks to its more-is-more attitude to CGI and OTT storylines, but there is broad agreement that audiences will leave the cinema somewhat entertained.

Paul Mescal and director Ridley Scott on the set of Gladiator II. Pic: Paramount Pictures
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Mescal and Scott on set. Pic: Paramount Pictures

Speaking to Sky News at the London event, Mescal said being part of the movie was a “wildly… overwhelming” experience“.

Sir Ridley – who cast Mescal in the role after a brief Zoom chat with the actor – told Sky News his reason for choosing him was that he saw aspects of “a young Albert Finney” in him.

The original Gladiator starred Russell Crowe as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius. The Australian actor does not return for the sequel.

Joaquin Phoenix also had a starring role in the first film, which Scott later admitted he nearly walked out of.

Both Mescal and Scott have teased that they would both be up for a third film.

Gladiator II is in cinemas now.

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Zoe Ball to leave her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show – and will be replaced by Scott Mills

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Zoe Ball to leave her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show - and will be replaced by Scott Mills

Zoe Ball is leaving her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show after six years.

The 53-year-old, who recently lost her mother to cancer, will present her last show on Friday, 20 December.

BBC Radio 2 presenters Zoe Ball and Scott Mills leaving Wogan House.
Pic: PA
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Ball leaves Wogan House with her replacement, Scott Mills. Pic: PA

She said she was leaving to focus on family, but will remain part of the Radio 2 team and will give further details next year.

Announcing the news on her Tuesday show, she said: “After six years of fun times alongside you all on the breakfast show, I’ve decided it’s time to step away from the early alarm call and start a new chapter.

“You know I think the world of you all, listeners, and it truly has been such a privilege to share the mornings with you, to go through life’s little ups and downs, we got through the lockdown together, didn’t we?

“We’ve shared a hell of a lot, the good times, the tough times, there’s been a lot of laughter. And I am going to miss you cats.”

Scott Mills will replace Ball on the breakfast show following her departure next month.

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“Zoe and I have been such good friends now for over 25 years and have spent much of that time as part of the same radio family here at Radio 2 and also on Radio 1,” he said.

“She’s done an incredible job on this show over the past six years, and I am beyond excited to be handed the baton.”

Hugging outside the BBC building on the day of the announcement, Ball said she was “really chuffed for my mate and really excited about it”.

Ball was the first female host of both the BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows, starting at the Radio 1 breakfast show in 1998, and taking over her current Radio 2 role from Chris Evans in 2020 after he left the show.

She took a break from hosting her show over the summer, returning in September.

Ahead of her stint in radio, Ball – who is the daughter of children’s presenter Johnny Ball – co-hosted the BBC’s Saturday morning children’s magazine show Live & Kicking alongside Jamie Theakston for three years from 1996.

She has two children, Woody and Nelly, with her ex-husband, DJ and musician Norman Cook, known professionally as Fatboy Slim.

Ball said in her announcement her last show towards the end of December will be “just in time for Christmas with plenty of fun and shenanigans”.

“While I’m stepping away from the Breakfast Show, I’m not disappearing entirely – I’ll still be a part of the Radio 2 family, with more news in the New Year,” she added.

“I’m excited to embrace my next chapter, including being a mum in the mornings, and I can’t wait to tune in on the school run!”

Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said: “Zoe has woken up the nation on Radio 2 with incredible warmth, wit and so much joy since January 2019, and I’d like to thank her for approaching each show with as much vim and vigour as if it were her first. I’m thrilled that she’ll remain an important part of the Radio 2 family.”

Mills, 51, got his first presenting role aged just 16 for a local station in Hampshire, and went on to present in Bristol and Manchester, before joining BBC Radio 1 in 1998.

He’s previously worked as a cover presenter on Radio 2, but this is his first permanent role on the station.

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