News

Australian satirist Barry Humphries, known for his onstage and TV drag persona Edna Everage and for his character Sir Les Patterson, has died. He was 89.

The BBC reported that Humphries had been in hospital in Sydney, Australia, and had been suffering from complications following surgery in March.

“A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said following the news of Humphries’ death.

“Rip Barry Humphries – one of the greatest ever Australians – and a comic genius who used his exuberant alter egos, Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, to say the otherwise unsayable. Also an infallibly brilliant Spectator contributor. What a loss,” said former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Twitter.

Rip Barry Humphries – one of the greatest ever Australians – and a comic genius who used his exuberant alter egos, Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson,...

Alex's series looking back at the film careers of actors who've played the Doctor finishes with Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi...

Feature

Read the previous part in this series: the film careers of Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant, here.

By 2009, the new version of Doctor Who had become not only an integral part of Saturday night television and a huge Christmas ratings winner but also an international success all over again. David Tennant, who had played the Time Lord since 2005 and was, arguably, more popular than any Doctor since the mighty Tom Baker hung up his scarf in 1981, had announced his resignation from the part he loved in October 2008. Many wondered how the incoming showrunner, Steven Moffat, would follow Tennant and what kind of show would emerge.

Tennant spent much of 2009 on stage in Hamlet and was only able to devote small amounts of time to Doctor Who. Occasional specials...

Exclusive: Fox 2000 and Chernin Entertainment have teamed on a deal for screen rights to the upcoming Robert Harris novel The Fear Index, a thriller Knopf will publish in January in the Us after a September UK release. The pic will be produced by Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark and Jenno Topping. I'd initially heard that director Paul Greengrass might be involved, but his reps say that while he and the author go back to their BBC days, the filmmaker isn't part of this deal. The thriller involves a scientist who figures out how to use a revolutionary system of computer algorithms to trade on the world's financial markets. His hedge fund, which is built around the standard measure of market volatility--called the Fear Index--reaps huge returns. Late one night while he's asleep with his wife in their house beside Lake Geneva, an intruder awakens them. Over the course of a day,...