Sky News Reveals New Rotating Guest Presenter Format for Sunday Morning Programme

Image: Sky TV

By Jon Donnis

Sky News is taking a new approach to its flagship Sunday morning current affairs coverage, introducing a rotating line-up of high-profile guest presenters from September.

The new format launches on Sunday 6th September with journalist and broadcaster Jon Sopel taking the helm. Sopel, who is also a co-presenter of The News Agents, will be the first of several familiar broadcasting and journalism figures to front the programme on a weekly basis.

He will be followed by Rachel Johnson on 13th September, with the broadcaster, author and LBC presenter bringing her own perspective to the Sunday morning slot. On 20th September, Kamal Ahmed, broadcaster and Fortune's Executive Editorial Director, Europe, will take over.

The line-up continues with political journalist and Times Radio Breakfast presenter Kate McCann on 27th September, before journalist, author and broadcaster Helen Lewis takes charge on 4th October. Sky News says further guest presenters will be announced in the coming weeks, with the rotating format set to continue in the run-up to Christmas.

The programme will also be renamed Sunday Morning with…, with the name of that week's presenter completing the title. The change is intended to give each host greater scope to shape the programme around their own interests, expertise and interviewing style.

Politics and major interviews will remain central to the show, but Sky News says the programme will look beyond Westminster and explore the wider issues and ideas affecting people across the UK. Discussion and debate will have a greater presence alongside interviews and analysis of the biggest stories of the week.

The new format follows Trevor Phillips' departure from Sky News to join CBS News, bringing a new chapter to the broadcaster's Sunday morning schedule. With a different presenter taking the chair each week, Sky News will be giving audiences a broader range of voices and approaches to its weekend current affairs coverage.

The first edition of Sunday Morning with Jon Sopel will air on Sky News on Sunday 6th September.

Dolly: New Six-Part Series From the Creators of Kleo Begins Filming

Image: Netflix

By Jon Donnis

Set in Berlin in 1899, Dolly is shaping up to be a dark and dangerous period thriller, as a rebellious young woman takes matters into her own hands after surviving an encounter with a serial killer.

The six-part series, currently filming under the working title Dolly, comes from Hanno Hackfort, Richard Kropf and Bob Konrad, the creative team behind Kleo. Produced by BetaBerlin Productions GmbH in cooperation with Candy Shop GmbH, the series has now begun production, with filming scheduled to continue through the winter.

The story follows Dolly Pinkus, who narrowly escapes a serial killer but quickly discovers that the authorities are unwilling or unable to take the threat seriously. Rather than simply waiting for someone else to act, Dolly decides to investigate the crimes herself.

She is joined by her best friend Mieze and Carl, a young police inspector, as the unlikely trio begins a dangerous search for the person responsible. With Berlin at the turn of the 20th century providing the backdrop, the series has plenty of scope for a tense murder mystery while also exploring the character of a woman determined to challenge the authorities around her.

Production has already taken the series to Görlitz, where the historic city centre was used to recreate Berlin at the end of the 19th century. Following the completion of that shooting block, filming has moved on to locations across the Berlin-Brandenburg region.

Dolly features Derya Akyol, Samirah Breuer, Sean Douglas, Max Hubacher, Merlin Rose, Béla Kampschulte, Karolina Lodyga, Andreas Lust, Maria Matschke Engel, Odine Johne and Jerry Kwarteng in the cast.

With the creators of Kleo behind the project and a period setting built around a serial killer investigation, Dolly has the potential to deliver another distinctive German thriller. The combination of Dolly's rebellious nature, an inexperienced police inspector and an investigation that appears to be ignored by those in authority could make for an intriguing central dynamic.

The series is currently in production, with further filming expected to continue into the winter. Details of its release date have yet to be announced.

Casualty 40th Anniversary Preview: The Biggest and Boldest Story Yet

 

 Image: BBC

By Jon Donnis

Casualty is set to mark its 40th anniversary with a special double-bill promising to deliver one of the most ambitious and emotionally charged stories in the medical drama's history.

Produced by BBC Studios Drama Productions, the world's longest-running medical drama has spent four decades putting its characters through some of television's most challenging situations. Its anniversary event looks set to continue that tradition, with a major incident throwing Holby into chaos and leaving the emergency department team facing an unprecedented crisis.

The scale of the storyline immediately raises the stakes. With lives hanging in the balance, the ED team will be pushed to their limits as they attempt to deal with the aftermath of the incident. The story will bring together some of Casualty's most beloved characters, while placing them in situations where there may be no easy answers.

At the centre of the drama is Dylan, played by William Beck, who finds himself attempting to lead his team through their darkest hour while also dealing with personal tragedy. His leadership will be tested as the pressure mounts, with the anniversary storyline promising to explore the emotional toll of being responsible for others when everything around you is falling apart.

Meanwhile, Stevie, played by Elinor Lawless, and Flynn, played by Olly Rix, will be fighting for survival as a major rescue operation unfolds. Their situation adds another layer of urgency to an already chaotic scenario, with the race against time forcing characters to make potentially life-or-death decisions.

The promise of a major rescue operation suggests that the anniversary episodes will move beyond the familiar confines of the ED, giving Casualty the opportunity to stage a large-scale disaster story while retaining the character-driven drama that has been central to the series for 40 years.

What makes the double-bill particularly significant is that it is not simply looking backwards. While the episodes will celebrate Casualty's extraordinary history and the characters who have helped make the show such an enduring success, they are also intended to signal an exciting new chapter for the series.

After four decades on screen, the challenge is finding a way to make an anniversary feel genuinely important rather than simply nostalgic. By placing its characters in a major crisis and promising a story on an unprecedented scale, Casualty appears ready to meet that challenge head-on.

With Dylan, Stevie and Flynn all facing enormous personal danger, and the wider hospital caught up in the fallout from the major incident, the anniversary double-bill looks set to be an emotional and high-stakes celebration of everything that has kept Casualty at the heart of British television for four decades.

The promise from the cast and crew of "the biggest, boldest" episodes yet certainly sets expectations high. If the anniversary storyline delivers on that ambition, Casualty's 40th birthday could prove to be one of its most memorable chapters yet.

Pablo: Next Level brings autistic hero to the challenges of mainstream school

Images: Paper Owl/Crayola Studios/BBC

By Jon Donnis

Pablo is heading into a whole new world in Pablo: Next Level, a new animated comedy series for CBBC and BBC iPlayer aimed at children aged five to eight.

The series follows Pablo as he takes on the challenges of mainstream school, where unfamiliar rules, busy corridors and everyday classroom dramas can make navigating the school day anything but straightforward.

As Pablo tries to understand this new environment, his creativity becomes more important than ever. With the help of his book animal friends and his vivid imagination, he finds his own ways of making sense of the situations he encounters.

A key part of Pablo's approach is his sketchbook diary. By recording what happens through drawings, he can process his emotions while also showing the world from his own perspective. It gives the series a distinctive way of exploring the experiences and challenges faced by autistic children.

Pablo: Next Level continues the groundbreaking legacy of Pablo, which became the first animated children's series to feature an autistic central character when it screened on CBeebies and beyond. The original series became a major international success, selling into 190 territories in 35 languages, while also receiving multiple awards and a BAFTA nomination.

The new series continues to place autistic experiences at its heart, with the writing and voice work contributed by a team of young autistic talent. While the stories are built around comedy and the everyday adventures of school life, the series also offers a perspective on the world that is rarely seen in children's animation.

With children across the country preparing to start new schools or return to different classes, Pablo's experiences could prove particularly relatable for families navigating those changes together.

Pablo: Next Level airs weekdays on CBBC at 4.10pm from Monday 7 September, with five new episodes arriving on BBC iPlayer every Monday.

Labels: Pablo: Next Level, CBBC, BBC iPlayer, children's animation, autism, Pablo

150 character description: Pablo takes on mainstream school in a new animated comedy exploring friendship, imagination, emotions and the autistic experience.

Your Time Starts Now: Channel 4 Orders New At-Home Gameshow From Taskmaster Creator Alex Horne

Image: Ch4

By Jon Donnis

Channel 4 has commissioned a full series of Your Time Starts Now, a new play-at-home gameshow devised and developed by Taskmaster creator and host Alex Horne and Andy Devonshire.

Following a successful pilot, the broadcaster has ordered an eight-part series, with each episode running for 60 minutes. The format takes the spirit of the Taskmaster universe and brings it into viewers' homes, challenging households across the UK to take on a series of deliberately devious tasks without ever leaving home.

The new show builds on Horne's previous at-home formats, including The Button, which he devised and narrated in 2018, and HomeTasking, created during the 2020 lockdown as an attempt to keep audiences entertained while people were confined to their homes.

Your Time Starts Now will see five teams made up of friends and families compete against one another, with each household required to demonstrate creativity, lateral thinking, speed, knowledge and teamwork. As with Taskmaster, the challenges are designed to test how contestants approach problems, rather than simply how quickly they can complete them.

There is also a potentially significant financial incentive. Every task comes with a cash reward, while the household with the most money at the end of each episode must decide whether to take their winnings or risk them by playing for double the amount the following week.

That decision could prove particularly tempting as the series progresses, with the format offering the possibility of a cash prize running into millions by the end of the series.

With Horne and Devonshire behind the format, Your Time Starts Now looks set to take the inventive, unpredictable spirit of Taskmaster and apply it to a much larger group of contestants, with ordinary households across the UK becoming the players.

Hercule Poirot gets a new face in first look at BBC's Hercule

Image: BBC/Mammoth Screen/James Stack

By Jon Donnis

The BBC has unveiled the first look at Edward Bluemel as Hercule Poirot in the forthcoming six-part drama Hercule, which is now filming in Liverpool.

Produced by Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited, the series will offer a different perspective on one of fiction's most recognisable detectives, exploring Poirot as a man while also portraying Britain in the years between the two World Wars.

Hercule will draw on three of Agatha Christie's early Poirot stories, while expanding the character's world by introducing him to several future friends and allies, as well as a particular nemesis.

Bluemel leads an ensemble cast that includes Henry Ashton, James D'Arcy, Calvin Demba, Phil Dunning, Jack Gleeson, Tamsin Greig, James Nesbitt, Guy Remmers, Rebecca Rittenhouse and Mawaan Rizwan.

The new series marks another screen interpretation of Christie's celebrated detective, whose novels have sold more than 750 million copies worldwide and have continued to attract readers and viewers for more than a century.

Written by Benji Walters, Hercule will see Jonny Campbell direct the opening two episodes. Chanya Button will direct episodes three and four, with Alrick Riley taking charge of the final two instalments.

Charlie Palmer serves as series producer, with executive producers including Walters and Campbell, James Prichard for Agatha Christie Limited, Rebecca Durbin and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, Nick Lambon for the BBC, and Robert Schildhouse, Jon Farrar and Stephen Nye for BritBox.

The six-part series will consist of six 60-minute episodes and is being made for BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK, with BritBox set to carry the series in North America.

Hercule is due to arrive in 2027. Fifth Season is handling global distribution.

EastEnders to bring Nancy and Lee Carter back to Walford in autumn 2026

Image: BBC

By Jon Donnis

EastEnders is set to welcome back two familiar faces later this year, with Nancy and Lee Carter returning to Walford for a short stint.

Maddy Hill and Danny Hatchard will reprise their respective roles, marking the latest reunion for the Carter family. Their return is expected to have a significant impact on Linda Carter, although the circumstances that bring Nancy and Lee back to the Square are being kept under wraps for now.

The Carter family has been through plenty since Nancy and Lee were last in Walford, meaning their return is unlikely to be entirely straightforward. With Linda having plenty to catch up on, the reunion could quickly become complicated.

Hill said she was "SO excited" to return to EastEnders and step back into Nancy's shoes, adding that she had missed the character and was particularly looking forward to working with familiar faces and her on-screen family.

Hatchard, meanwhile, said he was "absolutely over the moon" to be returning as Lee, describing Albert Square as a "home away from home" and saying he was "proper buzzing" to be back.

Executive producer Ben Wadey said: "We are absolutely thrilled to have Maddy and Danny back in Walford, bringing two much-loved pieces of the Carter family back together."

He added that while Linda will be delighted to have her children together again, "she's got a lot to catch up on".

Nancy and Lee's return is currently scheduled for autumn 2026, with further details about their storyline yet to be announced.

EastEnders is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.