TV has the power to get everyone talking
Standing in the rain with pink umbrellas, quietly but stoically preparing to go without food for nearly a week, was not how most mums would choose to spend Mother’s Day.
But six brave women staged a peaceful five-day hunger strike outside Parliament this week to demand free school meals for all children.
The mums from the pressure group Mothers Manifesto wanted to draw attention to the many parents who are skipping meals to feed their kids.
Organiser Emma Hopkins said: “We’ve got millions of children who are below the poverty line in one of the richest nations… shameful.”
The Government insists it’s committed to tackling the problem but one in five UK families cannot always afford to buy enough food.
In this day and age, that’s truly shocking.
Cat and Ben
There’s nothing like a list of top telly to start an argument – or at least an intense social media slanging match. As long as everyone agrees that Mrs Brown needs killing off and Claudia Winkleman should host everything (in tweed), then we’re all on the same page.
BAFTA this week opened voting for the nation to pick the most memorable TV moment of 2023 – and there are some obvious contenders.
“Firstly, are you OK?” were perhaps the most iconic words uttered all year.
Holly Willoughby’s bizarre speech after Phillip Schofield’s exit from This Morning seemed like a cry for help – or at least a duvet day.
Kim Cattrall’s phoned-in cameo in the finale of And Just Like That, with feuding Kim and Sarah Jessica Parker clearly not talking, was about as genuine as a pair of knock-off Manolos.
Pop star Robbie Williams narrated his Netflix series almost entirely in his pants, for reasons only known to him, while Naga Munchetty lost it when BBC Breakfast showed a pigeon hitting a man in the head.
Mary Earps yelled “F*** off!” after saving a World Cup Final penalty, while the ghost of Princess Diana turned up in The Crown to tell Charles he looked “broken and handsome” in the morgue.
The ridiculous supernatural moment was even more unhinged than the explosive “Sixmas” carving fork climax in Eastenders. And let’s just gloss over Nigel Farage’s shower scene in I’m A Celeb before we all throw up.
But none of these moments have even made BAFTA’S list of six nominees, all vying to win a gong at the Television Awards in London in May.
It’s a strong shortlist, taking in some culturally defining and influential shows – and Posh Spice.
Happy Valley, starring Sarah Lancashire, absolutely nailed its finale. The BBC drama gave us a clever conclusion with twists, tears and James Norton on fire.
The reveal of Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Time Lord, as David Tennant’s body glowed before being pulled in two, showed BBC’S cult hit Doctor Who can still surprise, while Sky’s gay love story sub-plot on The Last of Us sent everyone into raptures.
When tyrannical media mogul Logan Roy dropped dead on a plane in Sky’s Succession, it sent the nation into dumbfounded denial.
Blind 13-year-old virtuoso Lucy brought commuters to a standstill on C4’s The Piano while on Netflix, Victoria Beckham, pictured left, pretended to be working-class but was outed by Becks for going to school in a Rolls-royce.
Only one can win but this all proves we still love event television. If it’s shocking and debate-worthy, it’s probably worth watching.
Tennant & Gatwa
The one thing to come out of the extraordinary Royal Family photo drama is that we have all now had a crash course in image editing.
If someone else’s head was photoshopped on to my relative in a family photo, I probably wouldn’t notice, so it was a real education to study the Mother’s Day snap.
It seemed obvious once it was pointed out. From a dodgy zip to a missing wedding ring and Prince Louis’s joint-straining finger crossing, the sloppiness sent everyone into a spin.
Agencies issued a “kill notice” on the photo and Kate even apologised.
A Palace PR gaffe or a mum’s quest for picture perfection in the face of wild speculation? Either way, you can’t blame her.
LEGO’S profits have hit a brick wall as the Danish company says it is facing the toughest toy market in more than 15 years.
But don’t get the violins out just yet – the world’s biggest toy firm still made £1.5billion profit. And I have been doing my bit to build the business.
My house is covered on nearly every surface with the eye-wateringly expensive bricks.
And if the price doesn’t make you cry, stepping on them will.
Then the creations either remain untouched, as immortal dust-collecting castles, cars or random buildings (Alpine lodge, anyone?) or they disperse into sole-destroying individual blocks.
And I can’t just blame the kids, either – I’d line up round the block for it myself.
But faced with a cost-of-livingcrisis profit slump, maybe more affordable LEGO could be a winner?