Digital Spy - TV, Movies United Kingdom

Coronation Street's Malcolm Hebden announces permanent exit - digitalspy.com

"I absolutely adored playing Norris."

Coronation Street legend Malcolm Hebden has announced his permanent exit from the role of Norris Cole. The actor, who portrayed Norris on the ITV soap for more than 1,600 episodes since 1994, quit acting last year after suffering a major heart attack in 2017. Since his health scare, Hebden has returned to the soap to make numerous cameos, but he's now calling time on his career on the cobbles. Related: Coronation Street reveals Abi Franklin's fate after showdown with Ray Crosby "I absolutely adored playing Norris and I was pleased to be able to return briefly after my operation," he said in a statement to Digital Spy. "It took a great deal of courage to make the decision to retire, but I had come to realise that although the mind was willing the body was not so much." Corrie producer Iain MacLeod said fans will be "desperately sad" to see the legend go, adding: "Norris became an all-time great character, whose lemon-lipped barbs will be remembered forever. "But, in his brilliant double acts with Emily, Rita and more recently Mary, Malcolm has left us with countless fantastic memories." A spokesperson for the soap said: "Whilst Malcolm enjoys his retirement at home, Norris will reside at Stillwaters off screen and will continue to be referenced in scripts." Although Hebden established the character of Norris in 1994, his first appearance on the soap came in 1974, playing Mavis Riley's Spanish love interest Carlos. Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm on ITV, with occasional Friday episodes airing for one-hour blocks at 7.30pm. Digital Spy now has a newsletter – sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox. Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage Want up-to-the-minute soaps news, spoilers and gossip on your social feeds? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Soaps Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @soapscoop Twitter account. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Coronation Street and Emmerdale both suspend filming over coronavirus concerns - Digital Spy

But both soaps will be sticking to their airing schedules.

Filming has been suspended on both ITV soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale, although neither shows' airing schedules will be affected. Coronation Streetwill be pausing filming for two weeks during which scripts will be rewritten and coronavirus health and safety protocols will be reviewed. A Corrie spokesperson confirmed there had been no covid outbreak on set, telling Digital Spy: "Coronation Street will pause filming from next Monday, 25 January for two weeks to undertake some rewriting of stories and scripts as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. "We will also be taking the opportunity to review all health and safety requirements to ensure we continue to provide a safe working environment for the cast, crew and production team. "This pause in filming won't affect our ability to deliver six episodes of Coronation Street each week." Filming on Emmerdale was paused last week due to "some members of the team testing positive for Covid-19," however production on the soap is set to resume this Monday (January 25). An ITV spokesperson told Digital Spy: "We paused filming on Emmerdale last week due to some members of the team testing positive for Covid 19. "We've carried out proper track and trace measures on those cases and undertook intensive cleaning of the production building, whilst reinforcing the health and safety protocols we have in place. We're returning to filming from this Monday, 25 January. "This pause in filming will have no impact on our ability to continue to broadcast six episodes of Emmerdale each week." The information in this story is accurate as of the publication date. While we are attempting to keep our content as up-to-date as possible, the situation surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to develop rapidly, so it's possible that some information and recommendations may have changed since publishing. For any concerns and latest advice, visit the World Health Organisation. If you're in the UK, the National Health Service can also provide useful information and support, while US users can contact the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Digital Spy now has a newsletter – sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox. Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage Want up-to-the-minute soaps news, spoilers and gossip on your social feeds? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Soaps Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @soapscoop Twitter account. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Russell T Davies confirms 'new' Doctor Who script will be adapted - digitalspy.com

When we say new, we actually mean 36 years old.

Russell T Davies has confirmed that a 'new' Doctor Who script will be adapted into an audio episode. While appearing on The One Show today (January 18) to promote his new Channel 4 series It's a Sin, the screenwriter and producer revealed that he recently stumbled across an old piece of writing. That piece of writing just so happened to be a completed Doctor Who script he wrote back in the '80s, which is now going to be making its way into fans' earholes. Related: Whoopi Goldberg reveals hopes to be cast as first American Doctor Who "It's a strange thing," he told presenters Alex Jones and Ronan Keating. "I reached into one of those boxes you have at home full of old papers and old bills, and I found this, which is a Doctor Who script I wrote in 1985 on an electric typewriter in a bedsit in Cardiff." "I think someone's going to make it," he continued. "My friend Scott Hancock is going to make an audio version of this with a company called Big Finish, so that will be nice." With the project clearly in the early stages of development, we'll have to wait a little bit longer for any plot details. Elsewhere, Christopher Eccleston is set to reprise his role as the Ninth Doctor for his first-ever audio adventure in the TARDIS. Titled The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Ravagers and set for release in May 2021, the new odyssey will be a full-cast audio box set with three stories written by Nicholas Briggs. Doctor Who airs on BBC One in the UK and BBC America in the US. Series 13 is due to premiere later this year. Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Access the latest edition with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+. Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

WandaVision — Who is the mysterious beekeeper? - digitalspy.com

You won't bee-lieve the answer.

WandaVision spoilers for episodes one and two follow. WandaVision'sepisode 2 opens with more domestic bliss, following that Bewitched-style premiere. Sat in separate beds, Wanda and Vision are enjoying married life to its PG extreme when a loud banging (from outside) suddenly interrupts the couple. Afraid of what the noise might be, Wanda pulls the two beds together to bring her husband closer. The pair soon discover that the sound just came from tree branches hitting against their window. But a strange sense of unease follows, hinting that everything might not be what it seems in their suburban haven... Cue a gorgeous animated sequence, a bizarre radio transmission, and the world's best magic show, all of which adds more mysterious layers to this world the two Avengers now live in. And then, just as the episode starts to wind down, Wanda suddenly finds herself pregnant. With no onscreen hanky-panky to speak of, the origin of this miracle pregnancy is a mystery too, one that unfortunately has to wait when that loud banging noise suddenly returns. This time though, it's not a tree making all that racket. Wanda and Vision venture outside to discover a strange person climbing out of a sewer drain in the middle of the street. The identity of the man in question isn't clear because his face is obscured by a large beekeeping mask. Although he does briefly turn towards the camera, his face is covered in shadows. While Wanda doesn't seem to recognise who he is specifically, her reaction is still a hostile one, suggesting that he doesn't belong in this suburban dreamscape that she's (possibly) created. With just a thought, time suddenly rewinds, taking them (and us) back inside where Wanda and Vision celebrate the news of their pregnancy. The couple kiss, and when they do, colour suddenly explodes everywhere, updating the world of Westview to something that wouldn't look out of place on The Brady Bunch. But even as the credits start to roll, that crackly radio voice appears once more, calling out to Wanda. "Who is doing this to you Wanda," it asks. "Who?" And that mystery speaker isn't the only one asking this question either. Back when the 'beekeeper' briefly appeared in an earlier trailer, some fans suspected that he may be a member of AIM, a criminal organisation who wear big yellow hazmat suits which bear more than just a passing resemblance to beekeeping gear. However, we can now confirm that this is not the case. Sure, it wouldn't be hard to bring in AIM given their close association to Hydra (another group who plagued Captain America in the movies). But a closer look at the symbol printed on the beekeepers back suggests that he actually belongs to another organisation altogether. Last year, WandaVisionset photos confirmed that SWORD (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) would debut in the show, and our first proper glimpse of them now comes courtesy of the beekeeper's SWORD logo pictured on his back (as seen above, via Comicbook.com). So what is SWORD exactly? In the comics, this space-based intelligence agency deals with extraterrestrial threats to world security. Think SHIELD, but with more aliens and space stuff. Their MCU debut was actually teased a little while back at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home in one of the film's post-credits scenes when Nick Fury could be seen relaxing on a Skrull ship. When he stated that it was time to get "back to work", this may have hinted at the origins of a new space-bound counterpart to SHIELD. If that's true, then what is SWORD doing all of a sudden in Westview? Well, we know for a fact that something's not right with this suburban landscape... if the comics are anything to go by, it looks like Wanda has suffered a break from reality, likely brought on by Vision's death at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Using her powers, Wanda has (probably) reshaped reality to create a better world for herself, but unfortunately for Westview, it looks like the entire town has been sucked into her delusion too. If so, then that ghostly voice on the other end of that radio transmission likely belongs to a SWORD agent trying to break through and help Wanda, not realising that she's the one who started this whole mess. But then who is that beekeeper? If he is indeed affiliated with SWORD, then how did he end up in Westview while his colleagues all look in from the outside? The most obvious answer is that he found a way to break through Wanda's defences, possibly in the now miniaturised SWORD helicopter pictured below. Or perhaps he simply got caught up in Wanda's initial spell? Whether that's true or not, that doesn't explain the beekeeper attire. Our guess is that this suit helps shield him from Wanda's magic, although as we all saw, it didn't stop her from sending him back where he came from. There's also the question of whose face lies under that mask. While the beekeeper could just be an anonymous agent brought in to look creepy, it's also possible that he might end up playing a more pivotal role later on. Perhaps that might be Jimmy Woo under the mask, reprising his role as Randall Park from Ant-Man. Or what if this is someone more sinister? it looks like someone higher up might be pulling some strings here too. Whoever might be under the mask, the bees that accompany him also feed into the surprising amount of flower motifs dotted throughout the first two episodes. Was this agent warped into a beekeeper when he entered Westview? Or is he a puppet of some other entity, one who's more powerful than even Wanda or SWORD? (Internet rumours currently point to Mephisto or Baron Von Strucker, the Nazi who gave Wanda her powers in the first place.) Expect answers to eventually come our way by the end of season one, or perhaps even in a second season if this hint from Marvel producer Kevin Feige is anything to go by... WandaVision airs weekly every Friday on Disney+. Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Check it out with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+. Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Spider-Man spin-off Morbius hit with major release date delay - digitalspy.com

Seven more months.

Jared Leto's Morbius has been hit with another release date delay as Sony continues to reshuffle its schedule amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Spider-Man and Venom spin-off was most recently set for a March 19, 2021 release, but it's now been moved to October 8, 2021. This marks the third time Morbius has been pushed back by Sony, having originally targeted a theatrical release date of July 31, 2020. Related: Jared Leto reveals new look at Morbius as he teases expanded universe While most movies that were scheduled for early 2021 have been pushed back by the pandemic, Sony is yet to change the date for Camila Cabello's Cinderella. It seems likely it'll be moved from its February slot, unless it ends up going straight to streaming or a premium video-on-demand service. Directed by Daniel Espinosa and based on the Marvel Comics character, Morbius centres on a biochemist (Leto) who turns himself into a vampire after attempting to cure his rare blood disease. Matt Smith, Jared Harris and Tyrese Gibson also star. The official synopsis reads: "Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success soon reveals itself to be a remedy potentially worse than the disease." While the film will exist in Sony's newly-established Marvel universe alongside Tom Hardy's Venom, the first trailer revealed that Michael Keaton will feature as the Vulture, which confirms it's also connected to Tom Holland's Spider-Man and the MCU. Morbius is now aiming for a release date of October 8, 2021. Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Check it out with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+. Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Sex and the City returning for new series without Kim Cattrall - Digital Spy

It's officially happening!

Sex and the City has long been rumouredfor a reboot, with creator Darren Star's latest series Emily in Paris making people keen to see a return for the envelope-pushing HBO show. Well one is finally happening over at streaming service HBO Max, but there's a twist: while Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon are returning as Carrie Bradshaw, Charlotte York and Miranda Hobbes, respectively, Kim Cattrall's Samantha Jones is out. The three stars shared the above trailer for the new chapter, which is titled And Just Like That, and features a lot of 'and the City' but not much else. Beyond that, it's been announced that the series will consist of 10 half-hour episodes, and production is expected to begin later this year. Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max, said in a statement: "I grew up with these characters, and I can’t wait to see how their story has evolved in this new chapter, with the honesty, poignancy, humour and the beloved city that has always defined them." The Sex and the City franchise has been trying to come back for a while now, with a third movie previously planned until Cattrall said she wouldn't do it. At one point she said it was because of proposed plot elements, but she's since said she would never return to SatC regardless. Nixon suggested last year that the franchise should take the opportunity to improve its diversity and bring it in line with modern shows. "I've heard many people say, including Kim Cattrall herself, that if we were to have a different fourth woman that maybe it would be a woman of colour this time and I think that would be amazing as well," she stated. Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Check it out with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+. Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Loose Women's Christine Lampard confirms she's pregnant - digitalspy.com

"A new year and a new baby on the way for the Lampards!"

Loose Womenpanellist Christine Lampard has confirmed that she is expecting her second child with her husband Frank Lampard. Christine announced the news on her Instagram earlier today (Saturday January 9) as she posted a picture of herself cradling her baby bump. The presenter captioned the picture, writing: "A new year and a new baby on the way for the Lampards! It’s been a strange and worrying time to be pregnant but we’re hoping and praying that cuddles from family and friends are not too far off. Sending all my love to everyone going through pregnancy during this crazy time." The couple are well known as Frank is the manager of Chelsea Football Club and Christine presents Loose Women and sometimes covers for Lorraine Kelly on her morning show on ITV. This will be the couple's second child together as they already have a two-year-old called Patricia, named after Frank's late mother, who passed away in 2008. Frank has two more daughters – Luna and Isla – from his previous relationship with Elen Rivas. Speaking on Loose Women, Christine revealed that she met Frank at the right time in her life and that she was grateful for that. Related: Loose Women's Stacey Solomon confirms new book Tap to Tidy, and you can pre-order it now She also mentioned that she knew Frank was the ideal match for her, explaining: "I sort of probably did, I was very tentative as I think we naturally sort of are or I am anyway about everything. But definitely, that makes a big difference meeting a bit later on. I'm very very glad we met when we did, it was definitely about timing for us. "We just felt a bit more grown-up and we knew what we wanted and I think that's the way, it's a good foundation isn't it." Loose Women airs on weekdays on ITV. Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Check it out with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+. Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

RuPaul's Drag Race UK judge 'disappointed' with how some queens handled filming break - digitalspy.com

Production shut down during the first lockdown.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK had an added problem with its second series, with the coronavirus hitting during filming. Everything was put on hold during lockdown with the queens returning to their homes, before coming back after a break. Speaking about the halt in production, judge Alan Carr told Digital Spy and other media: "Halfway through there was this pandemic and I actually said to Graham [Norton] 'some of the queens, now they know what the standard is, you hope they get to a sewing machine and get the old needle out'. Related: Drag Race's Michelle Visage reveals which gay icon has turned down the show every single year "When they came back, no spoilers but there was some that went 'right', and improved and got better. Some of them thought 'nah, I'm alright'. "Some of them thought, 'wow, okay the standard is that good so I'm going to do something about it', so I was disappointed that some of them hadn't. "But, wow the ones that had, mind blown." Michelle Visage added: "The smart ones thought about it over the break and went and improved their craft and when they came back it was with things we weren't expecting so get ready for a rollercoaster ride in season two. Related: RuPaul's Drag Race UK star hits back at "advantage" claims following pause in filming "The standard is high." The formerStrictly Come Dancing star continued: "Every series is different but this one is an incredible lot of kids. I think you are all going to be blown away by the talent, I was blown away." RuPaul's Drag Race UK series 2 premieres on January 14 on BBC Three. In the US, you can watch the show on WOW Presents Plus. Netflix also premieres new episodes of the US series weekly. In the US, season 13 is airing on Friday nights at 8pm ET on VH1. Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Check it out with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+. Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Drag Race's Michelle Visage reveals star keeps rejecting the show - digitalspy.com

"At the end of the day it’s scheduling."

RuPaul's Drag Race UKjudge Michelle Visage has revealed the one star the show has been trying to get on the judging panel for years. Speaking to The Huffington Post ahead of the new season of Drag Race UK, the former Strictly Come Dancing star reeled off a list of names she'd like to see as a guest judge on the show, including Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, Madonna, Adele and Victoria Beckham. But the one she really wants has turned them down year after year. "Just to let everybody know we have asked Dolly Parton for eleven, twelve, thirteen years," she said. "At the end of the day it’s scheduling, and it’s a very long day for these people." The '9 To 5' singer may not have appeared on the judging panel yet, but she did send a video message during an episode of RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag race last year, in which the contestants competed in a Parton-inspired challenge. Visage continued: "To just calm everybody down we do ask Cher, we do ask Madonna, we do ask Liza [Minnelli], we do ask Dolly, we ask everybody, and scheduling is always the conflict." "It took years to get [Lady] Gaga, but we got her," she added. During a recent appearance on The One Show, Visage, who is known for harsh critiques on the judging panel, addressed whether she's actually got meaner over the years. "I'm a mother, of course I got meaner over the years," she joked. "I judge what is needed, what is fit for the situation. If they are indignant, or not learning, or belligerent, then I get a little tougher. If they understand and are open, then I'm kinder. It's really about what I'm critiquing in the moment." Related: RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star hits back at "advantage" claims following pause in filming Making it clear that she never personally attacks the drag queens, she added: "It's not them as a person because I don't know them. I've never met them! "I've not spent time with them, so I'm literally critiquing the brief that they were given. Did they do it well? Are they listening? Are they open? The same way I parent my kids. I don't know whether that's good or bad." RuPaul's Drag Race UK series 2 premieres on January 14 on BBC Three. In the US, you can watch the show on WOW Presents Plus. Netflix also premieres new episodes of the US series weekly. In the US, season 13 is airing on Friday nights at 8pm ET on VH1. Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Check it out with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+. Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Death in Paradise viewers "outraged" by series 10 change - digitalspy.com

"Mum and I are protesting greatly here!"

Death in Paradise returned for its 10th series on BBC One tonight (January 7), but it came with a most unwelcome change. Fans of the Caribbean-set murder mystery show were incandescent with rage to discover that the classic theme tune (a genuine banger that has viewers dancing around the living room on a weekly basis) has been slightly altered. The BBC drama has stuck with the same, more upbeat version of the theme tune since the first series in 2011, and it would seem viewers aren't quite ready for a change. Related: Death in Paradise stars reveal worst thing about filming the BBC show "The most criminal thing about #DeathInParadise this week is the destruction of the classic theme music. Life is hard enough guys, please change it back. (Appreciate this is a first world problem)," tweeted one person. Another wrote: "No, no, sorry, put the theme music back to how it was please. Mum and I are protesting greatly here!!" "Change the music back!!! I can't get my Sumer groove on to that theme tune! [sic]" added another. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. One alteration that received a warm welcome, however, was the return of Joséphine Jobert as DS Florence Cassell. In tonight's premiere, she was acquainted with Ralf Little's DI Neville Parker before investigating the murder of a TV news presenter. Speaking about her return to the show, Jobert recently told Digital Spy: "She's been through a lot. She's lost her fiancé... And I was really interested in how she would come back, how is she going to feel... is she going to be okay – I was a bit worried about her, honestly." She continued: "I think she's still struggling because when you lose someone that you love so much, I mean do you ever recover? I don't think so. But the fact that she meets Neville, who is very special too in his way, and I think she wants to take care of him. "Because she sees the potential. And I think maybe it's a way for her to think of something else and to get closer to somebody else. I think their relationship will help her to heal..." Death in Paradise continues next Thursday (January 14) at 9pm on BBC One. Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Check it out with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+. Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

ITV addresses Dancing on Ice status amid Lockdown 3 - digitalspy.com

The series is set to start in under two weeks.

ITV has confirmed that the new series of Dancing on Ice will go ahead, despite the UK being plunged into its third national lockdown earlier this week. The 2021 series is set to debut on Sunday, January 17, with celebs including Denise van Outen, Rebekah Vardy and Emmerdale's Joe-Warren Plant taking part. A spokesperson for the show confirmed that the new episodes are still happening as planned, telling The Mirror: "We have stringent protocols in place to ensure the health and safety of all our contributors and staff which are routinely monitored and updated to reflect the current guidelines." Also joining the ice this year will be Coronation Street's Faye Brookes, Myleene Klass, Jason Donovan, Sonny Jay, Colin Jackson, Graham Bell, Lady Leshurr, Billie Faiers and Rufus Hound. The contestants have formed 'mini-bubbles' with their professional partners to ensure things can go ahead and they've been training for the past few months. Last month, Denise van Outen spoke of how the coronavirus pandemic has affected her training with partner Matt Evers for the series. "A lot of the rinks are shut, as you know. In Essex we're in Tier 4, so we're having to commute," she explained. "We have got the rink at the studio where we do the show, where we're eventually going to the lives. So we're able to use the rink there. "But we're just having to travel around, and we've been very lucky that we have been able to carry on training, even though it's all been socially distanced." Dancing on Ice returns on Sunday, January 17 at 6pm on ITV. Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Check it out with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+. Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Yoda plays a critical role in Star Wars' new series The High Republic - digitalspy.com

Avert disaster, he will.

Light of the Jedi spoilers follow. The Skywalker Saga is no more (well, until the Obi-Wan Kenobi series) and Star Wars has begun its bold new era, The High Republic. For the most part, the epic story of the High Republic – set around 200 years before The Phantom Menace – won't be told on screen. Instead, it will be an interconnected universe of books and comics, but upcoming TV show The Acolyte will be set during the late High Republic era. Given when it takes place in the Star Wars timeline, there won't be too many appearances from established characters (although we might see their ancestors). However, the first adult novel, Light of the Jedi, does see OG Jedi legend Yoda play a critical part in the huge event that kickstarts the series. In case you're yet to delve into Light of the Jedi, there will be minor spoilers ahead so look away now if you want to remain completely spoiler-free. The thrilling first part of Light of the Jedi centres on the "galaxy-wide disaster" that was teased before the book's release. The Legacy Run is on a standard journey through hyperspace to the Outer Rim when it's forced to manoeuvre around an object in hyperspace, something that absolutely should not happen. Since it's an old ship, the strain of the manoeuvre proves too much for the Legacy Run and it breaks apart in hyperspace, sending fragments of the ship flying out of hyperspace and appearing all over the Outer Rim without warning. The Hetzal system and its main planet, Hetzal Prime, finds itself the unwitting landing site of most of the fragments. Fortunately, the Jedi are on hand to help save lives and led by Jedi Master Avar Kriss, they coordinate a huge rescue mission in the system, but it might all prove to be for nothing. One part of the Legacy Run contains liquid Tibanna, a highly explosive substance, and it's heading straight for one of the Hetzal system's three suns. If it hits, it would put out radiation that "would cook the entire system in a matter of moments", so Avar Kriss needs the help of the Jedi across the galaxy to push the fragment out of the sun's path. It's here where Yoda comes into play, as the ancient master (although not quite as ancient as in the Skywalker Saga) is part of this huge effort: "Even Yoda, wherever he was with his little crew of younglings – his great, wise mind sang its own part of the chorus, heartbreakingly beautiful, a voice of pure light belying his physical appearance." While we don't see Yoda during this moment, he plays a key role alongside his fellow Jedi to successfully move the fragment enough so that it only glances the sun, saving countless lives in the process. The rest of Light of the Jedi is centred on the Jedi's investigation into the Legacy Run disaster and its connection to the High Republic's main villains: the Nihil. The discovery they make is sure to have ramifications for the remainder of the High Republic series, but we'll leave that for you to find out. Once he's helped save the Hetzal system, Yoda presumably goes back to teaching his younglings the ways of the Force, before he pops up at the end of Light of the Jedi at the dedication ceremony for the Starlight Beacon. The Beacon will serve as a new outpost for the Jedi in the Outer Rim and is sure to play a part in future novels. Nobody knows why Yoda is there because he's on a Sabbatical from the Jedi Council when he attends the ceremony with his class of younglings: "His reasons for attending the dedication of the Starlight Beacon were his own. Yoda kept his own counsel." Perhaps Yoda's reasons will come to light in future High Republic outings, especially in the Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures where Yoda will feature prominently as he teaches his younglings with a hands-on approach as they travel around the galaxy. But maybe Yoda just likes being mysterious. Light of the Jedi is out now. Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Check it out with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+. Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io