International Insider: Bad Times For BBC; Gaspard Ulliel Remembered; Berlin Competition Bonanza; David Kosse’s Masterplan

READ MORE: BBC EastEnders star Patsy Palmer shares mental health struggle and emotional fans praise her 'beautiful' message In November 2020, Adam Woodyatt announced he would be taking a break from Albert Square due to pursuing another opportunity. However, he hasn't returned since and in 2021 his break extended as he became a contestant in I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Speaking to his campmates, the 53-year-old said: "I just had another opportunity, there was this play came up and I just fancied doing something different.

Welcome to this week’s International Insider. Max Goldbart here bringing you the latest in what’s been a busy seven days in the world of international TV and film.

Sainsbury's and Waitrose are asking people to continue to wear a face covering in their stores when restrictions ease in England on Thursday.A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: "Safety remains our highest priority."From Thursday, we're asking our customers and colleagues in England to continue to wear a face covering in our stores if they are able to."In Scotland and Wales face coverings remain mandatory for those who can wear them in our stores, in line with the latest government restrictions."They added: "We continue to have a range of safety measures in all of our stores, including screens and sanitising stations."John Lewis and sister company Waitrose are also "suggesting" customers and staff should wear a face covering when inside their stores.Another high street giant, electronics specialists Currys, is asking staff to wear masks in-store. A release from the company said it would "continue to assess our approach based on infection rates and colleague feedback".Stay in the loop with all the latest Daily Star news by signing up for one of our free newsletters here.USDAW, the retail workers’ trade union is also urging shoppers to "observe Covid safety measures”as much as possible in order to protect its 360,000 members.

coronavirus.Covid-19 began spreading rapidly once the new Omicron variant emerged.In early January, cases soared past the 200,000 mark despite Plan B restrictions that were put in place in England.Thankfully, although they are still high, the number of confirmed cases are much lower than they were at the beginning of the year.They are now down to 88,447 as of January 25, up from the previous day's figure of 78,317.Boris Johnson and his Cabinet are hoping this means the variant has now peaked, while some experts feel the changes still present a risk.As a result, restrictions that have affected when we wear a face mask and the way we act in shops, nightclubs and other public places are being lifted.So what are the changes?As the clock ticks down on Plan B restrictions, people can legally stop wearing them in public indoor spaces from Thursday January 27; Plan B expires the day before.The Prime Minister has already announced they no longer had to be worn inside the classroom by secondary school pupils and staff, but now people do not have to wear them in indoor public places if they so choose.People can still wear masks if they want to.Johnson said they now hope to be able to allow Plan B measures to expire and move to 'Plan A' Covid rules.The PM said: "The Cabinet concluded that because of the extraordinary booster campaign together with the way the public have responded to the Plan B measures - we can return to Plan A in England and allow Plan B regulations to expire."This means the end of NHS Covid passes needed for large venues and work-from-home guidance has already been scrapped.Venues can choose to enforce the use of Covid passes on entry to their venue if they wish to do so.People will be able to visit care homes

Former Channel 5 Director of Programmes Dawn Airey has been appointed Interim Chair of Channel 4 and will likely steer the network through the upcoming privatization decision.

Naman Ramachandran The pioneering Young Audiences Content Fund, funded by the U.K. government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), will conclude its three-year pilot program on Feb. 25.The fund offered up to 50% of the budget of programs aimed at children and young people from U.K.

Nicola Sturgeon has said she is "determined" that Scots will be able to vote at a second referendum on independence by the end of next year.

Monty Don, 66, did not appear to be in good spirits when he took to Twitter last night to hit back at an account that asked him not to share his political views with fans online.Their tweet came after the BBC star utilised the social platform to share an opinionated piece about Prime Minister Boris Johnson by The Guardian.In the essay, writer Max Hastings asserted that Boris “is utterly unfit” to be the head of the government in the UK before going on to claim that he “cares for nothing but his own fame and gratification”.Along with a link to the article, Monty wrote in view of his 247,000 followers: “Every word is prescient.“I was Boris Johnson’s boss: he is utterly unfit to be prime minister | Max Hastings”And while the tweet received well over 1,300 likes, the Twitter user @HughNTJohnson didn’t seem to agree with the Americans Gardens author’s decision to use his social media account to discuss political matters.“No politics Monty, you work for BBC, tax payers don’t need to pay for opinions, just gardening,” they wrote.Clearly unamused by the remark, Monty tweeted out a fiery response, starting off with laying things bare on his working relationship with the Beeb.“For the record I don’t work for the BBC- i work for myself,” he wrote. (sic)“And I wasn’t aware you paid to read my comments on twitter.“However I defend to the death your right to disagree with them and express your own views- on any subject.”The user later apologised to Monty for their comment.Max laid into Boris in his opinionated piece, adding that while he’s known him since they both worked at the Daily Telegraph in the 1980s, the 57-year-old was deemed more of an entertainer than a solid candidate to be running for national office.And according to Max,

Martine McCutcheon has been household name for many years now, from her role as Tiffany Mitchell in EastEnders to being Hugh Grant's love interest in Love Actually — she's always been a favourite household name. Recently the 45-year-old wowed fans with her 'French bob' transformation after braving a big change and having the chop. During her time in the spotlight we have seen the actress sport a variety of different looks from red carpet moments to off-duty daytime ensembles, but one thing we can always count on is that she always ticks the style boxes.

EXCLUSIVE: Amid its continuing drive to ramp up local feature productions, Netflix has a host of ambitious titles coming out of Europe in the next year. Already, Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-shortlisted The Hand Of God launched on the service in late 2021, hitting the Top 10 in 11 countries, while ahead are films from such directors as Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Louis Leterrier, Romain Gavras, Edward Berger, Roar Uthaug and Oscar winner Sébastian Lelio, among others. Currently in production for later down the pike are J.A. Bayona’s Society Of The Snow and the Spanish feature spinoff of Netflix hit series Bird Box.

Boris Johnson has been told to “in the name of God,go” by one of Conservative party’s most senior MPs.

Dan Walker hit out at Boris Johnson for 'not knowing the rules' amid the government's lockdown party scandal.The BBC Breakfast host ranted about the prime minister in front of the nation on his BBC morning show - where he joined co-star Sally Nugent on the red sofa.At one point, he even suggested Boris should get the boot as he asked: "How can that be the man in charge?"Dan vented his frustration to Armed Forces Minister James Heappey on Wednesday's Breakfast (January 19).Dan said: "The vast majority of people are judging him from what they’ve seen in public because that’s the only opportunity they get."Yesterday, they did see him in public. You just said he’s a man with his head in the detail and a man who has his hand on the tiller is the way you were describing him.

Gardeners' World presenter Monty Don has taken to Twitter to address the future of his BBC shows following the news that the BBC licence fee is set to be frozen at £159 for the next two years.The presenter of Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens, 66, explained that his shows are now "less likely" to be made in the face of the freeze after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced the changes yesterday.In view of his 246,800 followers, the star explained what the licence fee freeze meant for the future of his programmes.Monty wrote: "Although there is a debate to be had over the extent and duration of the licence fee, the government freeze will save payers the grand sum of 15 pence per week over the coming year."However it will mean that programmes like Adriatic Gardens will be much less likely to be made," he warned his fans.Following the news, many of the horticulturalist's followers took to the comments to weigh in on the news.Jo Mirzoeff told the gardening star: "Adriatic Gardens is an absolute joy and worth the licence fee all on its own."While Jo and Sky Woodhouse commented: "I think that will be a tragedy and it’s the thin end of the wedge, it’s not just the wonderful tv, like your Adriatic series, but also the radio, think of Radio 4 for example."Joyce Jordan chipped in: "I would rather pay the licence fee than risk losing quality programmes like Adriatic Gardens."And many other shows I love on the BBC especially GW." (sic)Jo Barlow added: "Which is a tragedy as Adriatic Gardens is just a delight x."Joseph Wicks replied saying: "That would be a great shame. Loving Adriatic gardens and all the BBC does.

Line of Duty's crack trio have reunited to grill Boris Johnson in a new spoof episode.

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.

Dan Walker has defended the BBC after it was hinted that the license fee would be scrapped. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted about plans to overhaul the funding model for the BBC, revealing that the next announcement about the fee would "be the last".The annual payment usually changes on April 1 of each year, however, reports suggest that it will be frozen at the rate of £159 for the next two years.

EXCLUSIVE: As the BBC dominates the headlines and the future of the licence fee is placed in doubt, another major British public broadcaster Channel 4 looks set to have to wait longer to discover the fate of its own future-defining government decision on privatization.

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.

Boris Johnson’s sudden move to freeze the BBC licence fee, and possibly abolish it altogether, have been branded an act of “cultural vandalism” to distract from the partygate scandal engulfing his government.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has confirmed the Conservatives ' snap plan to abolish the BBC licence fee, in what was branded as a "pathetic" attack on journalism.

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.