Although it might not have the Bushtucker Trials of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! or the physical demands of SAS: Who Dares Wins, but there is no doubt that Race Across The World is one of the toughest shows on TV – and that goes for both its contestants and production team.

Now into its sixth season, with a new crop of travellers being put through their paces on a globe-trotting adventure, most viewers are now familiar with the rules of the BBC show.

But what about all the parts that we don’t know about, and the planning that goes into making the show? Well, allow us to lift the lid…

If you thought bosses just came up with a route for the contestants and hoped for the best, you’d be wrong. In fact, a whole team of people test it out beforehand.

Line producer Maria Kennedy told Radio Times: “You get some really brave people out on the road for a couple of months [from the production team]. [They tell us], ‘Here are going to be the sticking points. This is quite tricky. This bit is amazing’.”

She added: “They do it all on a budget as well so they’re not like going out and spending loads of money and having a great jolly. They’re literally looking at the budget and seeing if it’s possible to get by on less than 50 quid a day.”

According to the Guardian, only two producers go on the dry run, only one of whom actually knows the route and which way they are going.

“The other person has no idea and that person is in charge of making the decisions,” series producer Lucy Curtis said.

Each time travels with two members of the production crew, a local fixer and a security adviser, but they apparently keep enough distance to “make the trip feel authentic”, the Guardian reported.

Executive producer Mark Saben also told BBC News that a medical support vehicle also travels an hour or so behind the teams in some countries.

Mark Saben told Broadcast that a director of photography and a series director follow all the teams, capturing the atmospheric camera shots that showcase the destinations.

He explained: “Not only did they shoot those big sweeping drone shots that capture the beauty and scale of their surroundings, but also the on-the-ground shots that convey the hustle and bustle of travelling, so viewers would feel immersed in the competitors’ journeys.”

The production team have to stay quiet, even when it is clear that the teams are making mistakes.

Mark told Broadcast: “How they made their journey was up to them. This meant, as a production, we had to react to their decisions, however nonsensical.

“It was a nightmare for production management, as the competing contributors decided how and where to go. You cannot underestimate how challenging the journey could be at times.”

Executive producer Stephen Day also told The Telegraph: “We will intervene if they’re in danger, and we have a real duty of care.

“If contestants – and there have been some – who are so focussed on budget that they’re not eating then you have to get them to spend money on food.”

However, producers accompanying the participants on the road are not allowed to outright give them food, either.

Praising the embedded crews, exec Mark told the BBC: “They had to do the same journey as them, sleeping alongside them on the bus, they weren’t given a five-star hotel. So they were almost like a family, with its ups and downs.

“And while we had done recces, the teams found bits of the world which were totally surprising.”

Having done the initial recce before filming began, executive producer Mark Saben told BBC News that “one of the poor sods had to do the actual trip again”, this time with the real contestants.

“He was very stoical and didn’t tell them until the very end, though. As much as possible, we wanted it to feel like a dry run,” Mark added.

Prior to filming, exec producer Mark said the first series was “a year in the making”, but added to the BBC: “It’s all very well doing theoretically, looking at timetables and things. But until someone does it for real, you don’t know where the difficulties might lie.”

Things like visas and vaccines “for every conceivable country” were sorted in advance.

He added to Broadcast that they also “research every likely bus and train option, cost and connection”.

“We drew up protocols that set rules for how the teams could hitchhike, travel at night and cross borders safely,” he added.

“If there was a significant issue at home, we might allow them to speak to a nominated person but we really try to keep them in the bubble as much as possible,” Maria Kennedy explained (per Radio Times).

While the pamphlet of job ads is created by bosses, all the jobs are 100% real.

“We don’t go to any of those places and say, ‘For the purposes of the show, can you provide this kind of service?’” BBC commissioner Michael Jochnowitz said, according to Radio Times.

“Those are real jobs, real places, real money or accommodation and things like that so again, because they don’t have access to a phone or the internet, we basically just give them a guide of potential opportunities in the area.”

Executive producer Mark Saben added: “We use as a rule of thumb, it’s like what you’d find on a board in a hostel or something like that so we want [it] to feel absolutely as authentic as it possibly can be.”

With budgets extremely tight, eating can become a real issue for the teams, and while you might think they are being given extras off camera, this is not the case.

Series two winner Emon Choudhury – who triumphed with his nephew Jamiul – said they would often ask strangers for food and water.

He told the Daily Express: “I lost over a stone, a stone and a half and the same with my nephew, he lost quite a bit as well. The food was an issue.

“You always think on these TV shows, you get a sandwich off-camera or water or a little snack here or there but no, it wasn’t like that!”

Series one winners Tony and Elaine Teasdale also told the Telegraph that during one leg, they “wouldn’t eat unless somebody fed us or we found super-cheap street food”.

“We’d buy little packs of rice for 20p each, then eat those for three meals a day. I went down a dress size from 14 to 12!” Elaine said.

“Water is more important. We took chlorine tablets, so we didn’t have to buy bottled water. That saved both money and time because we never had to find shops. Kebabs in Europe, rice in Asia, and we never bought any drink.”

While season one of Race Across The World saw contestants travel from London to Singapore, and season two saw them begin in Mexico and end in Argentina, the third series was contained to just one country – Canada.

This was because when the show was filmed, there were still many Covid travel restrictions still in place, which would have been an added complication for the teams and the production.

The third season and the celebrity edition were originally planned to air much earlier, but production was pulled early into the pandemic.

Season three winners, Tricia Sail and Cathie Rowe revealed that they first applied for the show in 2019, but didn’t hear anything back until 2021 because of Covid.

Race Across The World continues on Thursday nights at 8pm on BBC One.

The new TV follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale is already being hailed by critics as a worthy successor to the Emmy-winning original series.

Adapted from Margaret Attwood’s book of the same name, The Testaments takes place decades after the events of the Handmaid’s Tale finale, but while time has moved on, things are still as bleak as ever in Gilead.

In this new chapter for the franchise, the action is centred around teenagers at a finishing school for girls being primed for marriage – which has led to surprising comparisons to everything from Gossip Girl and High School Musical to Pretty Little Liars, albeit with a nightmarish undercurrent.

Led by Oscar nominee Chase Infiniti, who recently won acclaim for her work in One Battle After Another, and Bafta winner Lucy Halliday, the show has already won a wave of near-unanimously positive responses from critics.

Here’s a selection of what the early reviews for The Testaments have had to say…

“In some ways, it is slightly lighter and brighter than its precursor – a kind of YA reboot. Set a few years after the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, it focuses on the next generation of Gilead women. But it’s a YA version that still encompasses bloody punishments, rotting corpses swinging from gibbets and indoctrination and abuse – with the youth of the protagonists making it even harder to watch. The iconography remains ravishing, though.”

“A story that feels fresh and vital and every bit as compelling as the original […] this is Bridgerton meets Lord Of The Flies; a young adult epic for the ages.”

“The Testaments is a triumph. The ten-part series achieves what few sequels or spin-offs do, to stand as an impressive entry outside of its predecessor and feel disturbingly familiar, while offering something new entirely.”

“A stunning follow-up […] The Testaments is a show about sovereignty and rebellion. It’s about having the courage to pull the rug out from under oneself, even when a soft landing place isn’t guaranteed. It’s a reminder that while the youth may be naive, once their eyes are opened, they can never unsee what they’ve discovered.

“Finally, it’s a stellar examination of the uniqueness of girlhood and how the patriarchy underestimates the power of female connection, often to its peril.”

“Not only does it succeed as a sequel, The Testaments is also a wonderfully defiant adaptation of the source material. The changes that have been introduced keep this story fresh in ways that better suit the medium of television without sacrificing the original tone or message that underlies it.

“This first season is about as perfect as a retelling of The Testaments could be, and it’s the best this franchise has been since The Handmaid’s Tale first peaked with seasons one and two.”

“There’s no case of sequel-itis here. The Testaments feels just as urgent as its predecessor – and just as darkly enjoyable.”

“Dystopian or not, there is always fun to be had watching young people navigate the trials of growing up. Aunt Lydia’s academy may be hell on earth, but it’s also Mean Girls with a dystopian twist.

“You have to admire the sheer chutzpah that the producers have displayed in taking a respected sci-fi text and turning it into a sort of George Orwell version of High School Musical – a potentially disastrous gamble carried off with style and assurance.”

“Plum-cloaked in a YA-leaning, high school drama that owes as much to Pretty Little Liars or Gossip Girl as it does to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments gives us an apocryphal version of the Epstein files.”

“There are terrific performances here, from budding star Chase Infiniti, up-and-comers like Lucy Halliday and Mattea Conforti, and known commodities like Ann Dowd and Amy Seimetz.

“But there’s something creatively suffocated about The Testaments, from the endless references to events featured in The Handmaid’s Tale to the cameos by key Handmaid’s figures to the various recycled archetypes to 10 episodes spent withholding a revelation I’m convinced every single Handmaid’s viewer will have already guessed.”

“On a school trip Lydia’s charges stand before a gibbet of hanged rapists and at a school assembly they scream for violent punishment against a man caught masturbating. But we’ve seen it all before, and it doesn’t feel shocking any more.

“Within the strains and tensions of a teen coming-of-age story there is a compelling sense that while the girls may be victims of male-dominated religious intolerance, they can also be complicit in authoritarian cruelty. But the show feels like another teenage drama set within an all-too-familiar landscape.”

The first two instalments of The Testaments are now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes coming every Wednesday.

It’s looking increasingly like Strictly Come Dancing will be a noticeably different show when it returns to our screens in the autumn.

Over the last few months, a number of the show’s resident professional dancers have parted ways with Strictly under a variety of circumstances, while it’s also been suggested that companion show It Takes Two could be getting something of an overhaul, too.

Then, of course, there’s the search for a new presenting team in the wake of Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s exits at the end of last year.

Before her departure, Tess had been with Strictly since its inception in 2004, with Claudia joining on a permanent basis a decade later, taking over presenting duties from the late Sir Bruce Forsyth.

When the duo began hosting together, they made history as the first female presenting team to front a primetime show, and there’s no denying that Strictly viewers are going to miss their unique dynamic on those wintery Saturday nights.

But, with Tess and Claudia having now left the ballroom for good, fans are now looking to the future, and speculating over exactly who could be brought in to fill their shoes.

Rumours began circulating late last year, with The Sun publishing a list of names supposedly doing “chemistry tests” with the aim of landing the coveted Strictly role.

Since then, there’ve been a fair few developments, including one report claiming that BBC bosses could be looking to boost Strictly’s presenting team from two to three to shake things up even more.

As we wait for further news, here’s a quick round-up of everyone who’s been rumoured for the gig so far…

When we first heard that there were two vacant spots on the Strictly presenting line-up, our minds immediately went to Zoe Ball, who competed in the third series before going on to front companion show It Takes Two for 10 seasons.

She’s even guest hosted the main show, filling in for Claudia Winkleman back in 2014.

Zoe has also expressed interest in the job, with the rumour mill going into overdrive when she was included in The Sun’s supposed presenter shortlist, with the tabloid naming her the “frontrunner” for the gig as recently as February.

The Sun’s piece naming Zoe Ball as a frontrunner claimed that the job search had become a “straight shoot-out” between her and another popular British presenter, Emma Willis.

Emma is best known for her work fronting a variety of reality shows over the years, including The Voice, The Circle and Big Brother.

More regularly, she’s also become a regular face on This Morning, and gained a more international audience when she began co-hosting the UK edition of Love Is Blind alongside her famous husband Matt Willis.

According to The Sun’s “source”, the BBC were hoping to pair either Zoe or Emma with a “more left-field person” with a “female stand-up comedian” being the preferred choice.

Just days after this, the Daily Mail published a piece saying that Mel Giedroyc was being “eyed” for a presenting role at the helm of Strictly.

It was claimed that Mel’s “gentle touch” and ability to “use humour to relieve [any] tension”, as displayed during her time in the Great British Bake Off tent, had made her a favourite for the job.

Mel can currently be seen in action in the latest season of Last One Laughing, and has recently competed on The Masked Singer and fronted the TV quiz show adaptation of Pictionary.

She also took part in the annual Strictly Christmas special back in 2021, where she was paired with Neil Jones.

Self-professed Strictly super-fan Miranda Hart was mentioned as a possible new host by The Sun in late March 2026.

According to the tabloid, Miranda was being considered for the role due to the fact that she and Claudia Winkleman share a similar sense of humour, with a source describing the rumoured signing as a “massive coup for the BBC”.

Another former Strictly star rumoured to be on the BBC’s “golden ten” shortlist late last year, Angela Scanlon competed on the show in 2023, where she was paired up with now-reigning champion Carlos Gu.

The Irish presenter is best known for her work on shows like Robot Wars, Your Home Made Perfect and The One Show, and will next be seen trying her luck on The Celebrity Apprentice.

In March 2026, the Daily Mail said it was increasingly likely that Angela would bag one of the Strictly presenting jobs, following “meetings over the past few weeks with show bosses”.

A week after the Mail named Angela Scanlon as a top pick to take over as one of Strictly’s new hosts, the same publication claimed that she and Rylan Clark were a potential new duo.

They cited a “Strictly source” who suggested that bosses liked the idea of creating a new presenting pair rather than relying on an existing TV duo, and that Angela and Rylan would definitely fit the bill.

Meanwhile, The Sun claimed more recently that bosses were looking to add a male presenter into the mix, rather than trying to replicate Claudia and Tess’ dynamic, with Rylan one of three names mentioned as being in the frame.

Like Zoe Ball, Rylan previously fronted the spin-off show It Takes Two for four seasons between 2019 and 2022, and is a regular fixture on the BBC thanks to his Radio 2 show, his coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest and his travel series Rob And Rylan’s Grand Tour, which he co-presents with Rob Rinder (more on him in a sec).

Even before he was included on The Sun’s list of the “golden ten” stars supposedly in consideration for the Strictly gig, Bradley Walsh was named in the press as a top pick to take over at the helm of the dance show.

Currently known for his work at the helm of The Chase, Gladiators and Blankety Blank, the tabloid reported in November that Bradley was being “lined up” by higher-ups at the BBC to take over from Tess and Claudia, as part of an apparent “revamp” for the show.

Last month, The Sun revived the speculation when they included him in their shortlist of three male stars reportedly in consideration to join Strictly’s new presenting team.

However, despite the persistent rumours, Bradley has repeatedly cast doubt on the suggestion that he’ll be taking over at the helm of Strictly.

Last year, when Bradey’s name was mentioned in the press for the first time as a possible Strictly host, The One Show host Alex Jones was also suggested as a potential co-host.

Back in November 2025, The Sun cited “insiders” who claimed that Alex and Bradley were being “courted as the perfect partnership” to take over the show.

Later, Alex was also one of the 10 names listed to be on the rumoured shortlist, and while many other names have been mentioned in the months since, the tabloid insisted as recently as March that she was “still the favourite” in producers’ eyes.

Since competing on The X Factor in 2014, Fleur East has carved a new career for herself as a presenter, fronting Hits Radio’s breakfast show, as well as a recurring segment on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.

Fleur has most notably fronted Strictly’s companion show It Takes Two since 2023, a year after competing on the main show, making it to the final alongside her professional partner Vito Coppola.

In March, The Sun mentioned that the Sax singer was still “in the mix”, indicating she could still land one of the coveted presenting slots.

One of the most recent additions to the ever-growing list of rumoured hosts is Striclty pro Johannes Radebe.

Johannes has been a favourite of Strictly fans ever since he first joined as a professional dancer in 2018, and in March, The Sun named him as a wildcard third male star near the top of bosses’ wishlists, alongside Bradley Walsh and Rylan Clark.

If the South African performer did land the job, it wouldn’t be the first time a former Strictly pro moved to a different role within the show.

Current It Takes Two host Janette Manrara was previously a pro dancer on Strictly, as was resident judge Anton Du Beke.

Tess and Claudia’s Strictly exits were announced in the middle of last year’s series of The Celebrity Traitors, meaning plenty of people’s minds immediately went to scene-stealer Alan Carr as a favourite for the hosting job.

Already a popular stand-up comic, Alan has plenty of TV experience to his name now, not just as host of his talk show Chatty Man, but also series like Picture Slam, Interior Design Masters and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

Unfortunately, he quickly poured water on the rumours, insisting the gig would be “too nerve-racking” for him.

That being said, he was still named in The Sun’s subsequent list of possible hosts, even if the man himself seems less keen on the suggestion.

Also on that list was Amanda Holden, with whom Alan has now shared the screen on a number of occasions.

Like Alan, Amanda was mentioned on The Sun’s rumoured shortlist, but also dispelled the rumours, insisting that her commitments with Britain’s Got Talent would mean she wouldn’t be able to do Strictly.

“We are so flattered to be in that mix,” she told her Heart listeners. “[But] we both are not doing it.”

Of course, it was always going to be inevitable that rumours about Holly Willoughby landing the gig would also start to circulate.

Former Dancing On Ice host Holly – who has been keeping something of a low profile since her This Morning exit in 2023 – was named as the bookies’ favourite for the hosting gig almost immediately, after which Daily Mail reporter Richard Eden wrote in his column that he’d heard from former BBC One controller Peter Fincham that a reliable source had told him that the job was Holly’s for the taking.

He alleged: “My hairdresser also cuts the hair of a well-known channel controller. What’s said in Harry’s the hairdresser stays in Harry’s. But he says with great confidence that Holly Willoughby will take over.”

Tabloid reports stretching as far back as 2023 even suggested that the BBC had been hoping to “lure” Holly over to them from ITV via a rumoured offer to present Strictly, two years before Tess and Claudia even announced they were departing.

More recently, Holly was included on the “golden ten” list published in The Sun.

Daytime legend Alison Hammond was also reported by The Sun to be one of the stars undergoing “chemistry tests” to try and land the co-presenting gig on Strictly Come Dancing.

Following this, she made an appearance on Loose Women where the Great British Bake Off presenter made no secret of her hopes to end up with the Strictly hosting job.

When she was still more of a beloved cult figure than a full-blown national treasure, Alison competed on Strictly back in 2014, where she was partnered with Aljaz Skorjanec.

The Sun’s much-cited piece about the search for the new Strictly hosts mentioned that bosses were considering existing presenting teams, mentioning travelogue stars Rylan and Rob Rinder.

Rob – who first rose to fame as the host of Judge Rinder and now regularly co-presents ITV’s Good Morning Britain – was also reported to be taking “chemistry tests” with a variety of different potential co-hosts with the prospect of forming a new duo to front Strictly Come Dancing.

Oti Mabuse is undoubtedly one of the most popular Strictly pros in the show’s history, and since parting ways with the show, has become a regular fixture on screen, judging Dancing On Ice, fronting the dating show Romeo & Duet, briefly landing her own ITV daytime series and regular popping up on the Loose Women panel.

The same day Tess and Claudia’s departures were announced, Strictly staple Craig Revel Horwood (now the show’s longest-serving fixture) named Oti as his top pick to inherit the presenting job, alongside Alan Carr.

We are going to continue manifesting this as long as we possibly can, alright? Give. Her. The. Job.

Race Across the World returns for its sixth series on Thursday night, with five new intrepid teams taking on the journey of a lifetime in the hopes of getting their hands on a hefty cash prize.

This time around, the pairs must race more than 12,000km across Europe and Asia, taking in the sights of Italy, Greece, Türkiye, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. With no smartphones, internet access or bank cards, the duos are armed with nothing but the cash equivalent of flying the same route, in the hopes of reaching the finish point before their time or money runs out.

As fans get ready for the exciting launch show, here are those taking on the challenge of the most extreme race to date in this year’s series of Race Across The World…

Childhood best friends from Liverpool, Jo and Kush, are the youngest duo in the race, both aged just 19. Still living at home, and fresh from finishing their A-levels, the pair are taking on independence in the most extreme way.

Both at a crossroads in their lives, the two thought Race Across The World would be a great opportunity to travel before going to uni.

“When the opportunity came up, we thought it would be a fantastic experience and something we could look back on and learn from,” Kush said.

Though they may be young, they have some experience travelling, as Kush has spent three months backpacking through Thailand – although the idea of making their way across Europe and Asia without their phones will no doubt still come as a shock to the duo.

Jo and Kush hope their social skills and ability to talk to strangers will help them on this mammoth journey, although it sounds like they are far more concerned with enjoying new experiences than winning the competition.

“I believe hardship builds personality and this is a very niche but intense situation so coming out of the experience with a bit more maturity and different perspective on life – it’s not just Liverpool,” Kush said.

Katie, a 21-year-old account manager, and her 23-year-old brother, finance assistant Harrison, hope their opposing personalities will help them during the race.

Harrison wanted to join the show to push himself and his sister out of their comfort zones. The competitive siblings have their eyes on the prize and think their money-management skills will help them cross the finish line first.

Their weakness? Harrison might want to blow their limited budget on food.

“I think mine will be hunger, or not even hunger but just wanting to eat,” he claimed when asked about his biggest challenge.

While competitive, neither sibling is very adventurous, so Race Across The World promises to broaden their perspective and build their confidence as travellers.

“The motivation isn’t the money at the end, it’s to try and live a different life for a couple of months and just experience everything, and if we can win it whilst doing it, that is great,” Harrison added.

Hilariously, one of the items Harrison brought on his journey was a list of Man United fixtures, so he knew when to ask people for the football scores on his travels.

Junior doctor Molly wants to prove to her geography teacher dad, Andrew, that she’s more capable than he gives her credit for.

For Andrew, backpacking is a lifelong dream that the 54-year-old has never had the time or money to complete. While travelling on the cheap was his wife’s nightmare, he finally gets to live out his dream with his daughter.

Their strengths and weaknesses on this trip might be the same, as 23-year-old Molly is very sociable and chatty – but her dad worries that he might not be able to keep her quiet!

“I kind of just go and lead by directness, and I need to rein that in every now and then, but Molly is quite good at reining that in for me,” Andrew explained, but admitted that it can balance out his quiet personality.

He added: “I can sometimes get caught in my own world instead of externalising it which in some ways is good, but I need to work on it.”

While the duo are inexperienced travellers, they hope their competitive edge and strong father-daughter relationship will help them take the lead in the competition.

However, Molly does worry about being away from her beloved celebrity gossip and hair-dryer.

Cousins Puja and Roshni spent their twenties building successful careers in London, but are looking for some adventure now they’re in their early 30s.

Puja, a big fan of Race Across The World, was inspired to sign up after hitting a career block and feeling like her life was passing her by too quickly.

“I think living in London and having a job, you kind of live your life in fast forward, and then before you know it, you’re 50 years old,” she admitted.

Doctor Puja had previously backpacked, and her software engineer cousin Roshni has also travelled around Cuba, so both were experienced at visiting a country without fancy hotels or pre-planned itineraries.

Because of their jobs, Puja and Roshni feel confident racing under pressure and think their strengths will be keeping to the tight budget and staying organised.

Although a win would be great for the cousins, the duo are more concerned with making the most of their time off, spending much-needed time together, and learning about new cultures.

Puja explained: “Being able to accomplish that and get to the end, I think is going to be a massive accomplishment and proof to both of us that we can pretty much do anything we set our mind to. The other bits of it are just like what we learn from local people, from different lifestyles, different cultures, and learning more about how life can be a lot slower than what we live at home.”

Lastly, there is the unlikely duo of 66-year-old Mark and his 59-year-old sister-in-law, Margo. The retired London-based architect and the Liverpudlian hypnotherapist have had a fractious relationship for the last four decades, but recently became close after the death of Margo’s sister and Mark’s wife.

Margo signed the pair up for Race Across The World to celebrate their late loved one.

“We’ve been through this experience with losing my big sister and him losing his wife,” she said. “It seemed like a celebratory thing that we could do together. This was a new journey that could be exciting and like a renewal.”

Both are adventurous and don’t believe in living life with limits, having interrailed in their youth, as well as skydived, hiked, and done… well… pretty much any other dangerous thing they could think of.

“There isn’t a limit on what we’d have a go at. We’re going to live as dangerously as they’ll allow us,” Margot revealed.

Mark and Margo admit they are in it to win it, with a track record of travelling the world, although the duo do admit they can get a little cranky when hungry and tired, and Mark fears he could crumble under pressure.

Race Across The World airs on Thursday nights at 8pm on BBC One.

Netflix’s new horror series Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen has already drawn comparisons to genre classics like Rosemary’s Baby and Carrie thanks to its nightmarish themes.

Created by Haley Z Boston, the writer of another Netflix horror Brand New Cherry Flavour, and produced by the Duffer Brothers (of Stranger Things fame), the series follows the unnerving events leading up to a young couple’s wedding.

If you’ve dared to watch it, you might have spotted one or two familiar faces among the cast. Wondering which of their past jaunts you’ve seen them in? Here’s a quick guide to where you could have spotted them before…

You’re most likely to recognise Camila Morrone from her Emmy-nominated performance in the series Daisy Jones & The Six, where she played band photographer Camila Dunne, the wife of Sam Claflin’s character.

More recently, Camila appeared in the second series of The Night Manager as Colombian businesswoman Roxana Bolaños, a reluctant ally of Tom Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine.

Over on the big screen, you might have seen her in the Eli Roth thriller Death Wish, Never Goin’ Back, Marmalade, Gonzo Girl or Mickey And The Bear.

Adam DiMarco is best-known for playing the socially-awkward-yet-immensely-privileged Albie Di Grasso in The White Lotus’ second outing (yes, the Sicily season).

He currently stars as Peter in Prime Video college comedy series Overcompensating, and has also been seen in Pillow Talk, The Good Doctor, The Order, The Magicians and Charmed.

This isn’t Gus’ first foray into the horror world, as she’s probably most well-known for playing Gaynor opposite Courteney Cox in the comedy-horror series Shining Vale.

Gus has also appeared in Netflix’s 2025 miniseries Black Rabbit as hostess Mel, and had a recurring role in the Apple TV+ Dickinson, which stars Hailee Steinfeld as the writer Emily Dickinson.

You might have also caught her in The Last Frontier, The Blacklist, Insatiable or The Mist, as well as movies like I’m Thinking Of Ending Things, Plan B, Giving Birth To A Butterfly, Happiness For Beginners and Asleep In My Palm.

British actor and writer Karla Crome is a regular on telly, following her major breakthrough in the E4 series Misfits, playing Jess in seasons four and five.

Since then, she’s gone on to appear in Lightfields, Prisoners’ Wives, The Level, You, Me And The Apocalypse, The Victim and Carnival Row.

She also played Lucy in Daisy May Cooper’s BBC series Am I Being Unreasonable?, as well as Pattie Walker in the much talked about Netflix show Toxic Town and Bella in Harlan Coben’s Lazarus.

Jeff had his major breakthrough playing Moishe Lefkovitch in the Emmy-nominated Netflix miniseries Unorthodox.

You might have also seen him in Park Chan-wook’s acclaimed BBC spy series The Little Drummer Girl, which also starred Florence Pugh and Alexander Skarsgård.

He has also had roles in TV productions Oslo, Keep Breathing, The Calling, and in German horror film Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes.

A fixture on our screens since the 1970s, Jennifer’s big break was in teen movie Fast Times At Ridgemont High.

She’s perhaps best known for her role in iconic ’90s thriller Single White Female, where she played the unhinged roommate Hedy opposite co-lead Bridget Fonda.

She later picked up a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination for her depiction of fugitive “Crazy” Daisy Domergue in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight.

You might have also seen her in many of the other projects in her vast filmography, which includes big hitters like Last Exit To Brooklyn, Miami Blues, The Machinist, Annihilation, Possessor, The Jacket, Synecdoche, New York, Margot At The Wedding and In The Cut.

TV fans will know Jennifer for her playing Elsa in Netflix comedy Atypical, as well as roles in Fargo, Weeds, Revenge, Twin Peaks: The Return, Patrick Melrose, The Affair, Lisey’s Story and Hunters.

Ted Levine has a certain knack for roles that make your blood run cold, and is most famous for playing serial killer Buffalo Bill in everyone’s favourite cannibal film The Silence Of The Lambs.

He’s also appeared in Heat, Shutter Island, The Hills Have Eyes, Memoirs Of A Geisha, American Gangster and The Report, balancing it out with roles in lighter titles like Flubber, Jurassic Park: Fallen World and The Fast And The Furious.

Ted is also a big name in TV, and you might know him for playing Leland Stottlemeyer in 2000s show Monk or for his appearances in Ray Donovan, Wonderland, Luck, The Bridge, Mad Dogs, The Alienist and Mayfair Witches.

Croatian-Danish actor Zlatko is most recognisable for playing Russian oligarch Dimitry in the dark comedy Triangle of Sadness.

You might have also seen him in films like The Bride, 2012, Wolfs, Rumours, Mayday, Bleeder, 2025’s Superman and the Pusher trilogy.

Zlatko is less well-known for his TV work, but you might still recognise him from Wonder Man, Copenhagen Cowboy, Snatch or 1864.

What with being a child, Sawyer doesn’t have too many roles under his belt just yet.

However you might have spotted him in medical drama The Good Doctor, after it gained a new audience when it was added to Netflix at the start of the year.

All eight episodes of Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen are now streaming on Netflix.

If you’re a fan of a binge-able series with a central mystery that slowly starts to unfold, Netflix has a new addition you’re going to love.

Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen is an unsettling new series directed by Haley Z. Boston (best known for her unsettling work in the horror genre) and executive produced by Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers.

The show centres around a young couple – played by The White Lotus’ Adam DiMarco and Emmy nominee Camila Morrone – gearing up for their wedding, but as the big day approaches, a series of sinister events begins to unfold.

And that’s pretty much all the plot that the streaming giant wants us to know before settling down to watch the new series, which arrived on the platform on Friday.

Reviews so far have been pretty positive, with some of the more impressed critics calling the show “fresh and original”, a “masterclass” in tension and “one of the best Netflix horror shows of all time”.

The praise hasn’t been unanimous though, and while most would agree that it’s worth giving Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen a whirl if you’re intrigued by its premise, some have taken issue with the show’s pacing and the way it’s been shot.

Here’s a selection of what critics have said about the new miniseries…

“The plot is deftly crafted as it chronicles the tumultuous seven-day period before their vows, from unsettling beginnings through genuinely frightening revelations to a conclusion that will satisfy, although you may not want to watch with your dinner on your lap […] While those in the market for jump-scares galore may be disappointed by the relative restraint here, the show is a masterclass in slowly building a sense of tension and anxiety while not being afraid to bring in the blood and gore when required.”

“I am not good with horror. Either it is Too Much – too bloody, too insistent, too preposterous – in which case I roll my eyes and become irate, or it is Too Effective – too uncannily at odds with reality, too nicely judged, too convincing – in which case I end up hysterical on the sofa and unable to sleep for four days […] Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen has me firmly in the latter camp.”

“[A] thrillingly creepy romantic horror show […] The show excels at casting a spell through odd details, nasty red herrings, disturbing clues. And underlying them all is an unexpectedly sincere exploration of what true love can or should feel like, pitched right on the knife’s edge between sentimentality and cynicism.”

“Just about anyone who has experienced the build-up to a wedding ceremony knows that the final week can be exhilarating and hopelessly romantic—but also filled with anxiety, misgivings, and extended family drama. Something Very Bad… shines a blood-spattered spotlight on these rituals with precise and insightful cruelty.”

“It’s macabre and unsettling and filled with people dying in a particularly alarming way (if you faint at the sight of blood, give this a miss), but there’s a knowingness to it all, a gleeful smorgasbord of genre tropes.”

“Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen includes a well-crafted storyline packed with fun twists and shocking reveals. It makes a promise from the get-go that something very bad is going to happen, and it follows through. While I can’t reveal the specific ‘very bad’ thing, I can tell you it’s worth the wait […] Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen will go down in history as one of the best Netflix horror shows of all time.”

“Despite some flaws and untapped potential to push its impressive themes a little further, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen brings something fresh and original that’s absolutely worth your time.

“Without going into specific details, so you can experience it for yourself, episode four is a game-changer and sets the stage for a truly gripping series of events that takes the show in a new and unexpected direction. The final episode is also phenomenal.”

“Ever witnessed a wedding where a happily ever after just doesn’t seem on the cards? Netflix’s blood-soaked new horror series takes that fear to the extreme, shouting from the rooftops with every title card, that Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen by the end of its eight episodes. You can’t say you weren’t warned…”

“Ultimately, I quite liked the show Something Very Bad becomes once Boston and her team put their cards on the table. But that show is different enough from the initial presentation, and takes long enough to reveal itself, that I’m not convinced Something Very Bad is best served by its chosen format.”

“By the third aimless episode, I felt more dread about having five more instalments to go than I did about anything that was happening to the characters […] The back half of the season is better overall. The ending isn’t revelatory, in the sense that it doesn’t quite complete Something’s thoughts on matrimony or family or inherited attitudes toward either, but it’s clever and kind of exhilarating.”

“There’s wit here. Some snappy edits draw out the specific horror of Rachel’s situation […] but the overwhelming feeling is frustration. Potential lost to plod. The percussive soundtrack – dum, dum, dum, what’s around the corner? Is it a scary nephew? – started to drive me crazy in a good way. The greige colour palette – I was watching under optimal conditions: in bed at night with my screen brightness all the way to 11 – started to drive me crazy in a bad way. It all makes for a very long engagement.”

“It’s a tedious axiom at this point to complain about Netflix’s allergy to good lighting set-ups […] But the drab and colourless look of Something Very Bad undermines everything else about it, neutering horror and drama alike.”

“Camila Morrone’s compelling performance in Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen isn’t enough for us to get past the cartoonish supporting characters, the foreboding with little payoff, and a plot that just seems to consist of little more than tense moments.”

All eight episodes of Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen are streaming on Netflix now.

With The Simpsons currently gearing up for its 38th season, the beloved animated show continues to extend its record as the longest-running sitcom in American TV history.

After premiering at the end of the 1980s, it didn’t take long for the show to ascend to TV phenomenon status, and is now considered one of the most iconic and influential shows of all time.

But what might fans might not realise is how close The Simpsons came to being axed before it even aired.

It’s well-documented that The Simpsons got off to a bit of a bumpy start, with its planned debut episode Some Enchanted Evening being nowhere near ready for broadcast, resulting in the show launching with the Christmas special Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire instead.

But former producer Mike Reiss has now revealed that the situation was so disastrous, the show came to close to being “cancelled” altogether.

Speaking on the podcast My Roman Empire, Mike admitted: “It’s a famous story, they sat down and watched the first episode of The Simpsons – and it was catastrophic.

“Here’s all the Fox brass sitting down to see what they just spent $13 million on – and it wasn’t funny, the animation was bad, the animators had stuck their own jokes in the background, and the show was almost cancelled before it came on the air.”

“Luckily, the next week the second show came back fully animated, and it was great,” Mike continued. “But it was now too late to put the show on the air. We were supposed to come on in September, and instead we waited for episode nine, our Christmas show, and we debuted with a Christmas episode, and that gave us four or five months to fix all the other episodes.”

Mike added that Fox execs had “so little faith in our show” that the launch party took place – fittingly – in a bowling alley.

Back in 2024, Simpsons creator Matt Groening shared his version of the story during a conversation to mark the show’s 35th anniversary.

He claimed: “We were supposed to debut in the fall of 1989 and we got back the animation for the first episode, and it was so horrendous.

“We lied to Fox and we said we hadn’t gotten the animation back. We delayed the premiere of the show from a fall premiere to December 17, 1989. We took that very first episode and we buried it until we made it airable. It was quite dramatic in those months before the show actually came on.”

Last year, The Simpsons was renewed for four more seasons, meaning it will run until at least 2029.

A second big-screen adventure for the Simpson family is also due for release next year, marking two decades since the first Simpsons Movie hit cinemas.

Medical drama fans can finally hit pause on their 500th rewatch of their old favourite in favour of something new, as buzzy series The Pitt has finally landed in the UK.

Despite the vast TV landscape of shows like Grey’s Anatomy, ER and House over the last few decades, it’s been a while since we’ve had a decent fresh addition to the genre – until now.

In The Pitt – which was developed by the team behind ER – viewers are planted directly into a fictional Pittsburgh hospital emergency department.

The hit show follows staff in real-time over the course of a 15-hour shift, spread out over 15 episodes, as they frantically navigate the influx of medical emergencies, as well as wider issues like their personal trauma caused by Covid and the American healthcare system.

Sounds like a hoot, right? Perhaps not, but if the piles of awards and critical praise are anything to go by, you’re going to want to make this your next watch.

The Pitt premiered in the US over a year ago in January 2025, and has already picked up five Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series and a Lead Actor win for lead Noah Wyle, as well as a Golden Globe and three Critics’ Choice Awards.

Katherine LaNasa and Shawn Hatosy have also picked up Emmy Awards for their performances as Nurse Dana Evans and Dr. Jack Abbot, respectively.

Despite all the hype, there hasn’t been a way for UK fans to get in on the action until today. Thankfully, as of Thursday 26 March, viewers can stream the show on the newly-launched streaming platform HBO Max.

Those who already have a Now subscription will be given immediate access to an ad-supported version of HBO Max, while new viewers will have four different payment options to use the service.

Reviews on this side of the pond are already lauding The Pitt as a “punchy, gory and totally addictive series” and “well worth the wait”.

You’ll also be able to watch Friends star Lisa Kudrow as she reprises her role as anti-heroine Valerie Cherish for the third and final iteration of The Comeback.

Completing the line-up are HBO classics like Sex And The City, The Sopranos, Succession and Game Of Thrones.

The first episode of Saturday Night Live UK went down a storm with both viewers and critics.

Over the weekend, SNL launched its UK counterpart with Tina Fey as the inaugural guest host.

While there may have initially been questions raised about how well the format would translate across the Atlantic, the episode has received a wave of praise – and pulled in some impressive viewing figures.

According to BARB data, SNL UK had a 3.2% share, with just shy of a quarter of a million people watching live on Saturday night.

While at first glance, this figure (226,000 viewers) might seem a little on the low side, it’s important to keep in mind that these are big numbers for a pay-TV channel like Sky.

Impressively, SNL UK also managed to pull in a bigger audience than Channel 4’s offering in the same timeslot, the Mission: Impossible movie Rogue Nation.

Critical reception to the episode has also been pretty positive.

The Guardian gave it three stars, as did The Independent, with the former calling the broadcast promising for the rest of the series and “refreshing” in its ambitiousness, while the latter praised its “willingness to push the envelope” and “notes of new ingredients that could offer something fresh”.

Meanwhile, The Telegraph was even more impressed, calling the show “shockingly competent” in its own four-star review, while Metro claimed that SNL UK was an “astonishing achievement” that “might just mark the beginning of a new era in British comedy”.

A slightly more critical piece in The Times said: “This show’s success could only ever be a good thing. That day might come, and there are small signs in this first outing that it might. I do not want to condemn this whole endeavour outright. But the spark is not there yet.”

This piece also argued that if the show leans more into its British sensibilities, “we could be in business here”. “SNL UK needs work, but I’m not giving up on it yet,” its critic concluded.

However, reviews from US outlets seemed less enthused with the British spin-off.

Deadline called it “painful” and “beyond seriously unfunny”, while Variety, like The Times, pointed out the show was at its best when it “took the basics of what makes the US version successful – sketch comedy, rotating guest hosts and the unpredictability of live television – and left the Brits to it”.

Before episode one had even aired, it was announced that the first season of SNL UK had been extended by an additional two episodes.

As is often the case with a brand new TV format, there were a couple of bumps in the road when The Claudia Winkleman Show launched last week.

Claudia’s BBC talk show premiered on Friday 13 March, and was quickly met with somewhat mixed reviews from critics.

The Guardian gave it just two stars, branding the debut episode a “mess”, although it fared slightly better in The Telegraph, where it received three stars even if it was described as a “bit of a bore”.

In The Independent’s three-star review, the outlet’s critic compared her interviewing style unfavourably to Graham Norton, claiming that the format “might need a few tweaks” to achieve its “brilliant potential”.

Radio Times questioned whether the show was “too reliant on its audiences participation”, lamenting there aren’t more of the “off-script moments” Claudia has excelled at in her past, although The Times called it a “respectable first shift” and The Sun gave it a glowing five stars, calling it “awkward, endearing, and full of fun banter”.

Graham Norton – whose production company helped create The Claudia Winkleman Show – has now weighed in on the Traitors host’s first outing, praising the presenter for doing things her own way.

“What Claudia did was The Claudia Winkleman Show, and that’s what she’s supposed to be doing,” he told the Daily Mail.

“She shouldn’t be trying to be me. She should be trying to be Claudia, and she nailed that.”

The second instalment in The Claudia Winkleman Show’s initial seven-episode run will air on Friday night on BBC One.

Her guests this week include pop singer Niall Horan, musical theatre legend Rachel Zegler, actor Guz Khan and comedian Joanne McNally.

When her new show was confirmed in December, the former Strictly Come Dancing presenter said in a statement: “I can’t quite believe it and I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for this amazing opportunity.

“I’m obviously going to be awful, that goes without saying, but I’m over the moon they’re letting me try.”