GOOD to KNOW
YOUR MONTHLY ENTERTAINMENT ROUND-UP
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF Laurence Llewelyn-bowen
The interior designer, 57, lives in The Cotswolds with his wife Jackie, 58.
WAKE UP I nearly always wake a minute before my 7am alarm. I’m that fool who jumps out of bed, whistles a merry tune and rushes downstairs to let the dogs out. My wife throws a pillow over her head.
MORNING Running outside reminds me of school cross-country, so I do two miles on a treadmill listening to something empowering and racy like disco, then Tchaikovsky. Then I go back upstairs with a vat of tea to ease Jackie into the day.
BREAKFAST My go-to is Greek yogurt and nuts. It’s rocket fuel and gets me most of the way through the afternoon if I’m filming and lunch is delayed.
WORK If I’m not working away I’ll be at my office and shop in Cirencester, where I also run a design studio. It’s a family business and Jackie is chairman, so she’ll come in and cast an eye over the accounts.
LUNCH Jackie and I often have lunch together and there are some lovely restaurants locally. I’m notorious for being off-road adventurous with menus, like ordering sweetbreads and liver. I love a bit of internal organ!
AFTERNOON I’ll catch up with my London-based agency and PR teams, then someone will go out to get coffee.
EVENING I finish around 5pm, then we have drinks in the drawing room. Our daughter Hermione, her husband Drew and baby Romney are in the top-floor flat; our other daughter Cecile and her family are in a house on the other side of the courtyard. We’ll work out what needs to be done and the girls can talk to Jackie about childcare needs.
DINNER Jackie cooks dinner for no later than 7.30pm and is incredible at harvesting from our vegetable garden.
BEDTIME I’m in bed by 10pm, once
I’ve shepherded the dogs several times around the garden and possibly watched a box set downstairs. We’re just come to the other side of Vikings, which left me battle weary. Reading in bed is good for sleep.
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EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT CALL THE MIDWIFE
The nuns and midwives of Poplar’s Nonnatus House are back for another season of gripping drama.
Who’s in it?
Much of the main cast we’ve come to love will be back for the latest outing. Helen George (pictured right, with Linda Bassett and Megan Cusack) returns as Trixie Franklin, while Olly Rix will be returning as Trixie’s love interest, Matthew Aylward. Favourites including Stephen Mcgann, who plays Dr Patrick Turner, Laura Main as Shelagh Turner and Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne are also back. But we said goodbye to Sister Hilda (Fenella Woolgar) and Sister Frances (Ella Bruccoleri) during the Christmas episode.
Where did we leave them? Season 11 came to a dramatic end with a train crash threatening the lives of Sister Julienne and Dr Turner, who were trapped in the train. They survived but the driver – whose wife was giving birth at Nonnatus House – died, leaving the midwives to break the devastating news to the new mother.
What can we expect? Now set in 1968, there is change in the air as Enoch Powell’s infamous speech criticising immigration casts a shadow over the borough and tensions begin to rise between residents of Poplar. We’ll meet a new member of the team too, as energetic Sister Veronica (Rebecca Gethings, below, on a moped) has joined as a newly qualified health visitor and impresses everyone except Nurse Crane (Linda Bassett). Trixie is busy trying to open Matthew’s eyes to her fight for social justice, while there could be a wedding on the cards for the pair.
Meanwhile, we’ll be seeing much more of Dr Turner’s son, Timothy, played by Max Macmillan, and Shelagh Turner is excited to get stuck into home visits once more now her children are older.