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It’s gearing up to be a summer of thrills and spills at Britain’s theme parks as they launch a host of new attractions... By
Launched at May half-term, Giant Quest is a brand new outdoor play park within Greenwood, beckoning those brave enough to step into the realms of the sleeping giant and take on the challenge to become fellow guardians of future forests.
An incredible collection of handcarved wooden obstacles become the heart of this brilliantly adapted story for the award-winning park. Kids will get to test their nerves as they tiptoe across stepping stones, scale walls and race through tunnels and over balance bridges.
Acclaimed for its green credentials, Greenwood is also home to the world’s first peoplepowered roller coaster and the UK’S only solar-powered water slide. ■ Tickets £15, greenwoodfamily park.co.uk
Bringing a vibrant maritime theme to the Midlands, the new Adventure Cove area will be a family-friendly zone with a selection of new rides and fun add-ons to some of the park’s most-loved attractions.
Designed with a colourful coastal vibe, with barrels, boats and steering wheels aplenty, one of the highlights will include the new River Rapids, where riders will embark on a journey through a cartoonstyle fishing port.
Nicknamed The Yarmouth Eye, a 164ft monster wheel has popped up in the Sea Life Centre Gardens offering views of up to 10 miles from 36 capsules, each accommodating six people.
Standard tickets £8, juniors £6, family £23, group saver for six £30. Book online and save up to 35%. greatyarmouthwheel.com
Great Yarmouth’s famous Pleasure
Calling all stormchasers! The home of Peppa Pig World has unveiled a brand new land complete with eight rides and experiences for little ones.
Tornado Springs is set in a desert town in 1950s America with themed restaurants and cafes, and features a spinning roller coaster, a gyro swing ride and even a driving school with a chance to purchase your very own Tornado Springs driving licence. ■ Tickets from £35.75, paultonspark.co.uk
Favourites such as Shockwave have also been revamped in a rainbow of colours. Set to open in stages during 2021, with more attractions to be announced in due course. ■ Tickets from £29.50, draytonmanor.co.uk
Beach has also added a Supreme Waltzer for 2021 with a nightclub DJ sound.
The much-loved retro Snails and Fairytales ride, which has been at the park since 1966, has also been revamped. Tickets £13.50. Under 3s free. pleasure-beach.co.uk
There’s also a new 148ft Slingshot ride for two. £10 per person.
Comedy performer Rufus Hound is to star as Tom Good in the world stage premiere of iconic British sitcom The Good Life.
The production is written and directed by Jeremy Sams and is based on the classic BBC comedy by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey which entertained countless millions in the 1970s.
The show tours the UK from October 7. Visit thegoodlifeonstage. com for tour dates.
THE opening theatrical salvo of phase four of Marvel’s cinematic universe unveils a mechanised mercenary called Taskmaster, which perfectly mimics the fighting style of any adversary.
Imitation doesn’t end with this armoured antagonist.
This hugely entertaining spy thriller nods reverentially to Mission: Impossible, the Bourne franchise and James Bond (an excerpt from Moonraker plays on a TV screen), as well as earlier chapters in the Avengers saga that jive sweetly between explosive action set pieces and heart-tugging emotion.
Set in the tumultuous period between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow is a fitting send-off for Scarlett Johansson’s former KGB spy.
A pulse-quickening prelude in 1995 Ohio distils Natasha Romanoff’s (Johansson) formative years as one quarter of a Russian sleeper cell with fake parents (David Harbour, Rachel Weisz) and a younger sister.
Fresh from its screening at this year’s BFI Flare festival, director Zaida Bergroth’s acclaimed biographical drama about one of Europe’s most beloved artists arrives in selected cinemas this week.
In 1945 Helsinki, the end of the Second World War heralds a period of artistic and social freedom in the Finnish capital.
Painter Tove Jansson (Alma
They flee the suburban Midwest under the cover of darkness to the haunting melody of Think Up Anger’s cover of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. Twenty-one years later, Natasha is an enemy of the state. She has violated the newly ratified Sokovia Accords, which surrenders command of the Avengers to the United Nations, and is on the run from US Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt).
Hawkeye, Falcon, Ant-man and Wanda Maximoff have been captured and are imprisoned in the maximum-security Raft.
Captain America and Natasha remain at large. She goes off-grid and resurfaces in Norway, aided by smitten private contractor Rick Mason (O-T Fagbenle). (Florence Pugh)
Natasha’s past gate-crashes the Scandinavian serenity and she reunites with ‘sister’ Yelena (Florence Pugh) at a Budapest safehouse to learn the shocking truth about chemically subjugated Black Widows controlled by General Dreykov (Ray Winstone).
To assassinate the sadistic puppet master and destroy his secret facility, the Red Room, Natasha and Yelena must orchestrate an awkward family reunion with Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian (Harbour), the Soviet Union’s super soldier equivalent of Captain America, and scientist Melina Vostokoff (Weisz).
Black Widow, directed by Cate Shortland, returns the MCU to the big screen with several groundshaking bangs and thunderous blasts of Scottish composer Lorne Balfe’s score. Johansson, also an executive producer, is given space and time to rub salt into her character’s psychological wounds and add gravitas to Natasha’s sacrifices later in the franchise.
An elegiac post-end credits sequence teases conflict with a “cutie” Avenger and lays the groundwork for a Disney+ TV series later in the year. ■
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