BBC bosses defend new EastEnders set as it goes over budget by £20million amid delays

EXCLUSIVE: Emerging U.S. production company Marginal MediaWorks has attached Squid Game actor Anupam Tripathi to star in its upcoming scripted audio series Scammers.

Wilson Chapman editorAnne del Castillo has been reappointed as the commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday.Del Castillo was first appointed as commissioner of media and entertainment in 2019, shortly before the pandemic, by former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. In her role, del Castillo focuses on partnering with all areas of New York’s creative economy, including the film industry, the nightlife sector and the theater industry.

Michelle Pfeiffer has been taking advantage of the warmer weather, and showed fans what she'd gotten up to over the day in her latest social media post.MORE: Michelle Pfeiffer is the picture of elegance in sheer black dressThe actress took to Instagram to share pictures from her day at the beach, starting off with a selfie in a straw hat, sunglasses, a jacket, and her hair tied into two braids.WATCH: Michelle Pfeiffer shows off her gym toned body in her home gymShe then added several other pictures of the interesting items she'd found on the beach, including twisted branches, a rather horrifying rock formation, and even coral.Michelle ended her adventure with another picture of herself, this time of her shadow reflecting on the sand, making her appear to be almost 10-feet tall.MORE: Michelle Pfeiffer extends heartfelt support to Regina King following tragic lossShe captioned her post: "Nature's Museum," and many of her fans and friends took to the comments to gush over the natural wonders.Helena Christensen commented: "Always open always free," while her sister-in-law Rona Pfeiffer also wrote: "What a visual…truly magnificent."A post shared by Michelle Pfeiffer (@michellepfeifferofficial)Michelle showed off the fascinating items she uncovered during her beach outingA fan added: "Love these pics xx," with a second saying: "Have fun, what a wonderful place," and a a third writing: "Nature is my favorite museum, these pictures are so beautiful."The actress is enjoying some of nature's wonders before she gets thrust back into the entertainment world for her upcoming release, the Showtime series First Lady.MORE: Michelle Pfeiffer shares pictures from bittersweet reunion with rarely seen sistersMORE: Michelle Pfeiffer dons

After filing a wrongful-death lawsuit last week against Rust producers and pic’s star/producer Alec Baldwin over the death of Halyna Hutchins, her husband Matt Hutchins told Today’s Hoda Kotb that he was “so angry” at Baldwin for his ABC News interview, and found it absurd that the Oscar nominee finds himself “not responsible” for the death of the cinematographer

Ed Sheeran was reportedly spotted offering his support to grieving mum Brenda Edwards and paying tribute to his late friend Jamal Edwards at the vigil to remember to music mogul in West London Tuesday evening. The Shivers hitmaker and his wife Cherry Seaborn were said to be in attendance to pay their respects to the music star, who helped a number of aspiring singers achieve their dream when he set up SBTV. Jamal and Ed became firm friends early on in the singer-songwriter's career, with Ed's music taking off due to his friend Jamal's efforts to get him exposure on the airwaves.

The Academy’s plan unveiled yesterday to cut Best Editing and seven other categories from this year’s live Oscar telecast to resuscitate viewership has received reactions of shock, disappoint and outrage – and that’s from the people who are being polite.

Warner Bros. Television Group will support Historically Black College and Universities (HBCU) on and off screen by partnering with the NAACP to create the WBTVG All American: Homecoming Grand Slam Scholarship.

Lindsay Lohan's debut on TikTok, the actress revealed something stunning: we've been pronouncing her last name wrong for decades.In a short video, the "Parent Trap" star said, "Hey everyone. It's Lindsay Lohan, and guess what? Now I'm on TikTok."Her name is lowen not LoHan pic.twitter.com/tzurjan6e9Fans quickly noticed that Lindsay didn't pronounced her last name as "Lo-han," but rather "Low-en." Mind.

Back to business! Days after Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II had tested positive for coronavirus, she has resumed her daily schedule of meetings and appointments — from afar.

South Park favourite to be re-recorded with a group of Broadway stars and a 30-piece orchestra to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary – you can watch the performance below.Arranged by Broadway veteran Stephen Oremus, the new rendition once again features singers Nikki Renee Daniels, Tamar Greene, Jeff Kready and Elizabeth Stanley. “I like it,” Stan adds at the end of the clip, with Kenny murmuring in agreement.“I was thrilled to get to reimagine these South Park classics in a more traditional orchestral concert setting,” Oremus previously told The Hollywood Reporter.

Netflix has announced the launch of Breakout, a new programme designed to seek out and fund new UK filmmaking talent.The streaming giant is partnering with non-profit organisation Creative UK, a merger between Creative England and Creative Industries Federation, on the low-budget filmmaking and training project.An open application process will see six teams receive £30,000 in development funding to take part in an intensive training and professional development programme (per Deadline), delivered by Creative UK.Residential workshops, mentoring, support and input, including from Netflix executives, will be provided in pursuit of “bold, distinctive” new UK talent, with at least one film to be greenlit with an approximate £1.5m budget and a global launch on the Netflix.Breakout will be open to creative teams whose work has already garnered industry or public attention, but have yet to make a funded feature.

EastEnders bosses have responded to the schedule shake-up for the hit ITV soaps, Coronation Street and Emmerdale. In January, ITV confirmed that it would be moving the two hit soaps to a new air time that would conflict with the beloved BBC series. The ITV soaps are moving their scheduled times so Emmerdale will now air at 7.30pm every day, rather than 7pm.

BBC Three controller Fiona Campbell has revealed that the channel is planning to launch a new soap, saying that it will reflect "modern Britain" in an area of the country in "all its glory".BBC Three, which went off air in 2016, is set to return on February 1 and will broadcast at 7pm every night. The channel has had a six-year hiatus and originally had a target audience of 16 to 34 years old, with 70% of their programmes originally made for the channel, ranging from comedy to drama and cartoons.The return was confirmed in September after television regulator Ofcom gave permission for its induction back onto our screens.

EASTENDERS bosses have broken their silence over ITV’s decision to move Emmerdale and Coronation Street into direct clashes.  The changes mean the ailing soap will face its rivals multiple times per week in a move fans say could kill it off.  However BBC chief Tim Davie has insisted the soap will survive.  Addressing the House of Commons’ Accounts Select Committee he said: “We’re not immune from competitive pressure, let’s be honest about it.  “And you may have a marginal impact or an impact during that hour, but we’re confident that the overall case for the EastEnders development remains strong.” He also defended the soap’s over-budget £87m new set insisting the soap needed investment.  The director general added: “That whole set wasn’t going to work anyway so it needed investment.  “We’re also confident about EastEnders as a strand; we’ve just put a new showrunner in there.” Earlier this week ITV announced a raft of changes that could kill off EastEnders in the ratings battle.  ITV has all but declared war on the BBC soap by announcing Corrie and Emmerdale will now air later in the evenings - clashing directly with the ailing rival. In a huge shake-up of its early evening output, ITV will now air a full hour of news from 6.30pm, pushing the soaps further into prime time.

EXCLUSIVE: “Bringing BBC Three back to linear TV” would have been far down former BBC Director General Tony Hall’s list of predictions for his successor’s first major piece of business.

K.J. Yossman BBC Studios has unveiled the line-up for its annual Showcase and it includes creatives such as “Happy Valley” creator Sally Wainwright and the hosts of “Top Gear.” The three-day event, which will again be virtual for 2022, will be fronted by talent including “Strictly Come Dancing” co-host Claudia Winkleman, Clara Amfo and Anita Rani, as well as BBC Studios execs.BBC Studios is the commercial arm of broadcaster the BBC and among those appearing at the Showcase will be the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie, BBC Studios CEO Tom Fussell and BBC chief content officer Charlotte Moore.

Sally Wainwright, Daisy May Cooper and the hosts of Top Gear, along with senior BBC execs, will address next month’s BBC Studios Showcase, as the commercial outfit unveils a packed lineup for the online-only event.

BBC director general Tim Davie has said that the freezing of TV licence fees will cost the broadcaster £285million.Davie said the new settlement, set to stop the cost of licence fees increasing for the next two years, “will affect our frontline output” and prompt cuts across services and content.Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said of the decision yesterday (January 17): “The BBC must support people at a time when their finances are strained, make savings and efficiencies, and use the billions in public funding it receives to deliver for viewers, listeners and users.”“Inevitably, if you don’t have £285million, you will get less services and less programmes,” Davie subsequently told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday (January 18).“Now, I still think the BBC can offer extraordinary value for £13 a month.”Regarding potential cuts to accommodate for a stagnating licence fee until 2024, Davie continued: “We go first to those cuts where we don’t affect our output…We are not at the place where you can never make cuts, but this will affect our frontline output. There’s no doubt about that.”He went on to acknowledge the BBC “[needs] to reshape ourselves for a digital age”.“The media market is moving extremely rapidly,” he added.

BBC Director General Tim Davie has said yesterday’s licence fee settlement will leave the public broadcaster with a shortfall of £285M ($390M) in 2027/2028 and needing to save around $1.5BN (£2.1BN) across the next five years.

The BBC licence fee will be frozen for the next two years by the UK government before returning to an inflationary rise, which will likely cripple the corporation’s programming budgets.

High-profile figures were rallying behind the beleaguered BBC yesterday after reports emerged that the UK government plans to freeze the licence fee for two years and scrap it entirely in 2027.