TV HIGHLIGHTS I bought my milk as a schizophrenic Russian banker E
MERGING from the shallows in a pair of swimming trunks, sipping on cocktails in a tux and jetting around the globe in pursuit of bad guys, James Norton is doing little to derail the Bond rumour mill.
But he insists his latest brooding role in new BBC1 drama McMafia is far from an intended audition.
“I did warn creators James [Watkins] and Hoss [Amini] that if they wrote the first scene [with me] getting out of a black cab in a tux, they would stir it!” he says with a laugh.
Masterfully dodged, the 32-year-old adds: “To be honest, for me, and for all of us, I am personally very thankful that Daniel Craig is going to do at least one more film. Or maybe two or five. I’m a big fan of his.”
Inspired by Misha Glenny’s best-selling book of the same name, McMafia – an eight-part, fast-paced thriller – charts the journey of Alex Godman (James), an English-raised son of Russian mafia exiles who has spent his life trying to escape the shadow of their past, building his own legitimate business and forging a life with his girlfriend Rebecca (Juliet Rylance).
However, what starts out as a He’s been tipped as a potential future 007, and by totally immersing himself in his latest role as a man grappling with the murky mob underworld in McMafia, James Norton is doing little to scotch those rumours. He tells why the BBC drama is so pertinent and about his terrifying training in Russian martial arts story of survival and revenge soon becomes an epic tale of a man’s struggle against the lure of corruption in modern society – and in himself.
“It’s a world we’re aware of but afraid to confront,” says James. “I hadn’t read Misha Glenny’s book before I got the role, but that was an eye-opener. I was amazed. It’s so pertinent, and it’s an important conversation to have.
“It’s that slightly subversive, dark world. Those people that live on the fringes of criminality which we, as law-abiding citizens, find fascinating.
“But the great thing about this show,” he claims, “is it’s so much bigger than just a mafia show. There are these incredibly intimate portrayals, so it felt very, very familiar.
“The fact that they were exiled gangsters, in a way, was irrelevant to the actual nitty-gritty of our domestic relationships. Which was incredibly reassuring and wonderful to play.
“It’s been an extraordinary THE Olivier Award-winning Mischief Theatre Company returns to the small screen with another festive spoof.
After mauling JM Barrie’s classic Peter Pan last year, disaster-prone am-dram troupe the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society has been blacklisted by the BBC.
Determined not to accept the ban without a fight, the group resolves to force itself back onto the screen by hijacking the jewel in the corporation’s Christmas crown – a live production of A Christmas Carol.
What follows is an anarchic hour of TV in which the performers quickly find themselves JOOLS HOLLAND presents his 25th annual New Year party, headlined this year by Ed Sheeran, who performs tracks from his recent album Divide with the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, as well as a cover of a classic British rock song.
Other acts taking to the stage tonight include Mavis Staples, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Jessie Ware, Soul II Soul, Beth Ditto. cakes. And if you’re in search of inspiration in that department, then the second of two yuletide specials should work wonders.
Noel Fielding, Sandi Toksvig, Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood welcome back four past contestants to compete once more, taking on a series of Winter Wonderland-themed challenges. AND so it begins. The 21st series of Celebrity Big Brother and this time it’s an all-female affair to mark 100 years since women won the right to vote.
Journalist and sister of Boris, Rachel Johnson, has confirmed she will be among the housemates, saying: “I am a firm believer that you only regret the things in life you don’t do, not the things you do do.”
Obviously something she learned from her dad, Stanley, who appeared in I’m A Celebrity.
Emma Wills returns to host. NEW series. Chef Tom Kerridge recruits and mentors a group of struggling dieters, offering them advice on ways they can lose weight with long-term results. After losing