While we're on the subject of I, Claudius, random fact I just discovered watching clips for the last hour... During Augustus' death scene, Brian Blessed *does not blink* for over 2 minutes staring into the camera for a continuous shot. Incredible series with a staggering cast.

A test photo of PATRICK STEWART wearing a wig for the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. They wisely abandoned the idea. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (1987-94)

Young whippersnappers shared the over-30s behaviour they find utterly baffling – 17 double takes to people of a certain age) www.thepoke.com/2026/06/18/young-whippersnappers-have-been-sharing-the-over-30s-behaviour-they-find-utterly-baffling-17-prober-double-takes-to-people-of-a-certain-age/

The neolithic equivalent of finding an old iphone in a drawer

This week in my "behind the headlines" US update, I'm focusing on two under-reported stories: firstly elections and how the Republicans are trying to tilt the playing field and secondly corruption, enrichment and sycophancy towards Trump. youtu.be/26GWLU3_ZAw

Netflix has canceled ‘THE BOROUGHS’ after one season. #TheBoroughs #Netflix

New teaser trailer released for David Robert Mitchell’s ‘THE END OF OAK STREET’. In theaters and IMAX on August 14. #TheEndOfOakStreet #DavidRobertMitchell

Happy birthday to the incredibly talented Jacob Anderson! 🎂 #JacobAnderson #InterviewWithTheVampire #GameOfThrones

New poster released for ‘POMPEII: OUT OF TIME’. Starring Tom Hiddleston. Premiering July 22 on National Geographic and Disney+. #PompeiiOutOfTime #TomHiddleston #DisneyPlus

You won't understand the characters' deeper motives if you don't watch POMPE first.

Kane Parsons is now 21 years old. #KaneParsons #Backrooms

Happy 74th birthday to Academy Award nominee Isabella Rossellini! 🎂 #IsabellaRossellini #BlueVelvet #Conclave

Zendaya stuns at the fan event for ‘SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY’ in Amsterdam. #Zendaya #SpiderMan #BrandNewDay

Tom Holland attends the fan event for ‘SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY’ in Amsterdam. #TomHolland #SpiderMan #BrandNewDay

Happy 40th birthday to the talented Richard Madden! 🎂 #RichardMadden #GameOfThrones #Bodyguard

‘EVIL DEAD WRATH’ is set in 1972, a decade before the original film. The film features a warm, grainy Ektachrome-inspired visual style. Directed by Francis Galluppi (‘THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY’). In theaters April 7, 2028. #EvilDead #EvilDeadWrath #FrancisGalluppi

‘TOY STORY 5’ arrives in theaters tomorrow. #ToyStory5 #Pixar

Cate Blanchett has been appointed Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University’s St. Catherine’s College for the 2026-27 academic year. (via THR) #CateBlanchett #OxfordUniversity

16 years ago today, ‘TOY STORY 3’ was released. #ToyStory3 #Pixar

Drop some HEROES 👩‍🚒🦸‍♀️🖤🦸🏼‍♂️👩‍⚕️

“In the current analysis, we have shown that a substantial decrease in cervical cancer mortality has followed the national HPV vaccination programme and that the decline in mortality is as, or better than, predicted.” This is a sentence you write in a peer reviewed article while crying tears of joy.

Yet another wonderful study about the HPV vaccine preventing cervical cancer: “In women aged 20–24 years between 2020 and 2024, in whom vaccination coverage was around 88–90% at age 12–13 years, NO DEATHS OCCURRED, compared with 23.1 expected deaths based on historical rates” (all caps mine)

‘SPIDER-MAN: BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE’ swings into theaters exactly one year from today. June 18, 2027. #SpiderManBeyondTheSpiderVerse

Drop some HEROES 👩‍🚒🦸‍♀️🖤🦸🏼‍♂️👩‍⚕️

“The first thing to know is that the baby is all right now & coming up on her second birthday… But her home holds a few clues to her past. An oddly huggable orange stuffed animal shaped like Clostridium botulinum…enshrined in plexiglass, a bottle of BabyBIG, the antitoxin treatment that saved her”

You can sort of tell she's alienated all of her normal friends because if someone you cared for started talking like this, you'd have a word wouldn't you?

Sooz Kempner cast in Grayson Perry musical

Ministers might chuckle at Palantir's sheer, bloody cheek. Before moving their digital assets into the desktop trashcan.

Really not beating those 'gone into hiding' rumours

Tip Toe cast react as Channel 4's five-star drama hailed a must-watch gets major update bit.ly/4oAlao8

the Brexit promises meeting reality:

Happy Autistic Pride Day!

Today is Autistic Pride Day ❤️ Bella Ramsey spoke about their autism diagnosis in an April 2025 interview with British Vogue. The actor said: “The label of being autistic has been so helpful to me because that’s helped me to understand myself". 📷 Getty 📷 Sony Pictures Television

If the worlds population of spiders worked together they could theoretically eat every human on Earth in just one year. The world’s spiders kill about 800 million metric tons of prey each year, the total human biomass is lower than that. Without spiders insect numbers would be far harder to control.

Not to cause your cup to run over but, Australia just discovered a new species of marsupial. Researchers studying the kultarr, a small carnivorous marsupial that lives in the arid interior of Australia. The reality is we think as much as 70% of Australia's native species remain 'to be described.'

What is overlooked in the BBC Radio 4 cuts is a simple fact: 94% of people use BBC content but only 80% of people are paying for it. Until that funding gap is closed through Government charter negotiation, cuts like these are inevitable.

Looking forward to Emma Hayes' half time analysis of events in Dallas.

Genuinely fascinated by the "clearly the specials board of a bar" making it visibly harder for her to do the analysis we're paying her for

Am I having a mini-stroke or has ITV really put the only woman on the commentating team in a kitchen? 😬

Only found it out recently when I watched A Touch of Frost all the way through for the first time But 10 years before Love & Monsters, Marc Warren & Camille Coduri had a completely different kind of relationship in the episode "Paying The Price" Thankfully... There was no sentient paving slabs

HPV jabs cut risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30 to almost zero

Stand by Me (1986) Director: Rob Reiner

"WITNESS HISTORY IN DALLAS" is certainly a *choice* for an advertising slogan, FIFA.

Bishop vs. fiddler. ‘The Maastricht Hours’, Liège 14th century. British Library, Stowe 17, fol. 160r. #medieval #medievalart

A "grim" day for BBC News, as: -World Tonight axed after 56 years -Money Box closed after 49 years -Amol Rajan won't be replaced on Today -BBC presenter and editor roles under review -BBC Breakfast on Sunday cancelled -Kuenssberg & Newsnight teams merged deadline.com/2026/06/bbc-...

Can I borrow a feeling

Emma Hayes, please use your chalkboard to tell me what I'm doing wrong with my life

Do admire how ITV have paid for the Statue of Liberty in the background and the analysis is on a chalkboard