Steve Coogan says he is “proud” of his film about the discovery of Richard III’s remains after he and two production companies agreed to pay “substantial damages” to a university academic.

The Alan Partridge star, his firm Baby Cow, and Pathe Productions have settled a libel claim over how Richard Taylor was portrayed in the 2022 movie The Lost King after he sued them.

Coogan, who co-wrote the screenplay and also starred in the film, said The Lost King was “the story I wanted to tell, and I am happy I did” following the settlement in the High Court on Monday.

The movie tells of how Philippa Langley led the search for the king’s skeleton.

The lost remains of the Plantagenet monarch, who ruled England between June 1483 and August 1485, were discovered in a Leicester car park in August 2012, more than 500 years after his death.

In June last year, Judge Jaron Lewis ruled that the film portrayed Mr Taylor, who was deputy registrar at the University of Leicester at the time of the discovery, as “knowingly misrepresented facts [about the find] to the media and the public”.

Mr Taylor was also shown to be “smug, unduly dismissive and patronising”, which had a defamatory meaning, the judge said.

The case was due to proceed to trial, but lawyers for Mr Taylor, who is now chief operating officer at Loughborough University, told a hearing at the High Court on Monday that the parties had settled the claim.

Depiction caused serious harm – lawyer

His barrister, William Bennett KC, said Mr Taylor felt “the depiction of him in this untrue way in the film caused serious harm to his professional and personal reputations and caused enormous distress and embarrassment to him”.

“The defendants have now settled Mr Taylor’s claim in the libel against them for the publication of the film by paying him substantial damages.

“Furthermore, they have agreed to make changes to the film in order to withdraw the allegations complained of and to pay him his legal costs.”

The University of Leicester played a “crucial role in providing funds and academic expertise” for the project to find the remains, with Mr Taylor the “key co-ordinator of the university’s involvement”, Mr Bennett said.

On-screen clarification to be added to start of film

Coogan, and the production companies were not represented and did not attend but in a joint statement following the hearing, they said they were “incredibly proud of this film and are pleased this matter has now been settled”.

An on-screen clarification will be added to the start of the film, saying the portrayal of Mr Taylor in the film is “fictional and does not represent the actions of the real Mr Taylor”, who “acted with integrity during the events portrayed”.

In a separate statement, Coogan said Philippa Langley “instigated the search for Richard III. Philippa Langley insisted on the dig in the northern area of the social services car park where the remains were found. Philippa Langley raised the majority of the money for his exhumation”.

“If it wasn’t for Philippa Langley, Richard III would still be lying under a car park in Leicester. It is her name that will be remembered in relation to the discovery of the lost king, long after Richard Taylor has faded into obscurity.

“The only changes to the film will be a front card, which will follow the existing card, which says that this film is a true story, Philippa Langley’s story. That is the story I wanted to tell, and I am happy I did.”

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Mr Taylor said that he felt “cross” and “completely helpless” when the film was released, but the outcome represented “success and vindication” after “a long and gruelling battle”.

He said: “There have been moments over the last three years when I thought, when Philippa Langley approached me for the university’s support, I perhaps should have put the request in the bin, but I didn’t, and I think I was right not to do that.”

June Lockhart, who starred in television shows such as Lassie and Lost In Space, has died at the age of 100.

The US actress died of natural causes at her home in Santa Monica, California, on Thursday, according to family spokesman Lyle Gregory.

He said: “She was very happy up until the very end, reading the New York Times and LA Times every day.

“It was very important to her to stay focused on the news of the day.”

For more than 200 episodes between 1958 and 1964, she played the role of Ruth Martin, who raised the orphaned Timmy (Jon Provost) in Lassie – a show about the adventures of a brave and intelligent Rough Collie dog.

And from 1965 to 1968 spanning over 80 episodes, Lockhart was Maureen Robinson, a mother who was part of a marooned family that travelled on the spaceship Jupiter II in Lost In Space.

She was nominated for two Emmys, including best actress in a leading role in a dramatic series for her performance in Lassie in 1959.

She also received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion picture and one for television.

Born in New York City in 1925, she was the daughter of actor Gene Lockhart and actress Kathleen Lockhart.

Feature film debut

She made her feature film debut aged 13, starring alongside both of her parents in the 1938 production A Christmas Carol, where she played Belinda Cratchit, the daughter of Bob Cratchit.

After her breakout role, she appeared in films such as All This, and Heaven Too, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Yearling, and Sergeant York.

She was also in Son Of Lassie, the 1945 sequel to Lassie, Come Home, playing the grown-up version of the role created by Elizabeth Taylor.

Over almost eight decades on screen, Lockhart appeared in dozens of TV series and movies, including when she was well in her 80s.

Other roles

She had recurring roles on Petticoat Junction, General Hospital, and Beverly Hills 90210, and guest appearances on shows including The Beverly Hillbillies, The Colbys, Knots Landing and Happy Days, as well as Full House, Roseanne and Grey’s Anatomy.

Of her time on Lassie, Lockhart spoke frankly about her canine co-star.

She said: “I worked with four Lassies. There was only one main Lassie at a time. Then there was a dog that did the running, a dog that did the fighting, and a dog that was a stand-in, because only humans can work 14 hours a day without needing a nap.

“Lassie was not especially friendly with anybody. Lassie was wholly concentrated on the trainers.”

Even though she sometimes mocked the show, she conceded: “How wonderful that in a career there is one role for which you are known. Many actors work all their lives and never have one part that is really theirs.”

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In Lost In Space, Lockhart was part of a family that left Earth on a five-year flight to a faraway planet.

After their mission was sabotaged by fellow passenger Dr Zachary Smith, the group went from planet to planet, encountering strange creatures and near-disasters where viewers needed to watch the following week to learn of the escape.

Speaking fondly about working on Lost in Space, Lockhart said: “It was like going to work at Disneyland every day.”

She was married and divorced twice: to John Maloney, a physician, father of her daughters Anne Kathleen and June Elizabeth; and architect John C Lindsay.

2026 will see Bon Jovi take centre stage once again when they return for their Forever Tour, four years after Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal cord surgery had the group’s future up in the air.

Speaking to Sky News, he says he’s “excited, humble and grateful” to be back to full health.

“The band and even the crew, they showed me a whole other level of brotherhood and commitment and love for three plus years when, you know, there’s no money coming in. And their families are waiting on that. And they never lost faith, which helped me to keep fighting,” he adds.

Starting their European leg of the tour at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on 28 August, the group will then play at Croke Park in Dublin on 30 August before concluding their tour at Wembley Stadium in London on 4 September.

It is one of many reasons for the Grammy winner to celebrate recently.

His son Jake and his wife, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, welcomed a baby girl via adoption earlier this year.

“It’s crazy, it’s a beautiful thing and you feel a responsibility for your kids’ kids, and it’s beautiful, and the holidays will be that much brighter this year, and we have a second one any day now. If I get the call, my wife is outta here now because the second one’s coming next week.”

On Bruce Springsteen

Hailing from New Jersey, the 63-year-old has long credited Bruce Springsteen‘s rise to fame as something that opened the door to other local artists getting record contracts, including him.

Now good friends for a few decades, this album marks the first time they blend their voices together on a track.

“We’ve sung together countless times over the years or had many [drinks], you know, but to actually call him up and have him on one of the records in an official capacity was wonderful. It was great.

“And it’s a testament to our friendship. It’s a testament to the song. And it’s good for the fans too. You know, they wanted to hear it, you know, and a song like that that I’m so proud of as the writer was the right kind of song for me.”

Whether he’ll follow in his friend’s footsteps and agree to a biopic about his own life is another story.

“No, I have no idea about that. You know, I mean the story of me is still being written,” he said, adding that he sat side by side with pride watching Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

“It’s really good. It’s at a time in 1982 when I was very much alive and I wrote Runaway that year. I was playing two blocks over from where he was playing with that cover band every Sunday night. In fact, it competed with my playing it, so we would literally close our bar and go because we knew he’d be playing here on Sunday night.

“I mean, it was, I lived it and watching the movie sitting next to him in the movie theatre, kept punching him. We said it’s like a time machine. It’s a time machine. Because, you know, there was a part of all of our lives growing up in New Jersey and what he meant to or means to all of us.”

Evolving as an artist

Best known for his big hits like Livin’ On A Prayer, You Give Love A Bad Name and It’s My Life, the artist has also written a number of songs reflecting on life in America and pivotal moments in the country like the death of George Floyd, the January 6 Capitol riots, 9/11 and the multiple news stories on gun violence.

He says evolving as a songwriter and musician is his top priority for his career.

“I’m a grown man. I’m not chasing pop stardom. I’ve been doing this for 43 years and the opportunity to write for me is also kind of a way for me to think through a situation. It’s soothing sometimes, you know, to work through it. And with an album like 2020, which I became, you know, a narrator while we were all locked down in COVID and no one could play in an arena like [Wembley], you put on your fedora and you become the reporter, and you’re writing that story.

“But I loved it as a writer and if I didn’t evolve, if I came to you now and say, Hey baby rockin’ out we’re playing, I would expect you to punch me in the nose. You know, if I didn’t evolve.

“You know, people have been on this train with us for these 43 years. Some got off along the way to go and have a life. Others got on at that point and took it to the next destination, and they got off and they went and had a life. So this evolution is a part of my life. And where you get on the train and get off the train is all understood. But you know, the train kept going.”

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One artist he had hoped to collaborate with on the updated “Legends Edition” of the Forever record was Ed Sheeran, after writing Living In Paradise together.

On Ed Sheeran

“I wanted him very much on this and that would have been perfect. But Ed and I discussed it immediately and he said, I’ve done too many things. I need to put my record out before I can do anything else. And I said, ‘alright, you little brat, it’s fine’. But no, I love him.”

Regarding whether we may see Sheeran or another one of his collaborators show up at one of his upcoming concerts, he says, smiling: “Who knows? Who knows who’s in town on the day?”

Tickets for the Forever tour dates in Dublin, Edinburgh and London go on sale on Friday, 31 October.