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TV & Streaming

EastEnders cast 2025 | Who is arriving, leaving and returning?

by jummy84 September 13, 2025

written by jummy84

RadioTimes.com is here with a handy update on which characters are leaving, joining and returning to EastEnders in the coming months.

So who’s in? Who’s out? And which rumours are true? Read on for all the latest details on cast changes for EastEnders.

EastEnders cast 2025

The full present regular cast for EastEnders can be found below in order of the character’s first appearance.

Gillian Taylforth as Kathy Cotton
Letitia Dean as Sharon Watts
Adam Woodyatt as Ian Beale
Alice Haig as Vicki Fowler
Michelle Collins as Cindy Beale
Steve McFadden as Phil Mitchell
Paul Bradley as Nigel Bates
Thomas Law as Peter Beale
Karen Henthorn as Julie Bates
Perry Fenwick as Billy Mitchell
Laila Morse as Mo Harris
Jessie Wallace as Kat Moon
Michelle Ryan as Zoe Slater
Nicholas Bailey as Dr. Anthony Trueman
Rudolph Walker as Patrick Trueman
Shane Ritchie as Alfie Moon
Angela Wynter as Yolande Trueman
Lacey Turner as Stacey Slater
Bobby Brazier as Freddie Slater
Gillian Wright as Jean Slater
Emma Barton as Honey Mitchell
Zaraah Abrahams as Chelsea Fox
Diane Parish as Denise Fox
Grace as Janet Mitchell
Jake Wood as Max Branning
Jacqueline Jossa as Lauren Branning
Scott Maslen as Jack Branning
Freddie Phillips as Will Mitchell
Pierre Moullier as Oscar Branning
Kitty Castledine as Penny Branning
Ellie Dadd as Amy Mitchell
Tameka Empson as Kim Fox
Lillia Turner as Lily Slater
Frankie Day as Ricky Branning
Sonny Kendall as Tommy Moon
Isabella Brown as Lexi Pearce
Kellie Bright as Linda Carter
Charlie Suff as Johnny Carter
Harriet Thorpe as Elaine Knight
Elliot Briffett as Bert Moon
Cody Briffett as Ernie Moon
Arayah Harris-Buckles as Pearl Fox
Harry Farr as Ollie Carter
Jake McNally as Louie Beale
Rocco Brenner as Arthur Fowler
Michael Jose Pomares Calixte as Raymond Fox
Isabelle Smith as Hope Fowler
Tony Clay as Callum Highway
Shiv Jalota as Vinny Panesar
Balvinder Sopal as Suki Panesar-Unwin
James Farrar as Zack Hudson
Ross Boatman as Harvey Monroe
Delroy Atkinson as Howie Danes
Heather Peace as Eve Panesar-Unwin
Aaron Thiara as Ravi Gulati
Jaden Ladega as Denzel Danes
Juhaim Rasul Choudhury as Davinder “Nugget” Gulati
Colin Salmon as George Knight
Francesca Henry as Gina Knight
Molly Rainford as Anna Knight
Sophie Khan Levy as Priya Nandra-Hart
Aaliyah James as Avani Nandra-Hart
Micah Balfour as Junior Knight
Roland Manookian as Teddy Mitchell
Elijah Holloway as Harry Mitchell
Lewis Bridgeman as Barney Mitchell
Dayo Koleosho as Kojo Asare
Laura Doddington as Nicola Mitchell
Alex Walkinshaw as Ross Marshall
Max Murray as Joel Marshall
Aayan Ibikunle Shoderu as Tobias “Okie” Okyere

And here are the changes to the cast coming soon…

DEPARTING

Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner)

Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) will be taking time out from Walford. BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

When is Stacey Slater leaving? 2025.

Lacey Turner has been confirmed to be leaving EastEnders later this year.

The fan-favourite actress is set to take a break from the soap this year to focus on life outside the show, having made her debut as Stacey Slater in 2004.

Lacey told The Sun: “It’s time for myself and Stacey to take a rest and who knows what Stacey will get up to in her time away? Knowing Stacey, it will never be boring.”

However, fans can expect Stacey to return…

An EastEnders spokeswoman told the paper: “We can confirm that Lacey will be off-screen later this year, but there is plenty of more drama to come beforehand and we will look forward to planning Stacey’s return when Lacey decides the time is right.”

RadioTimes.com has reached out to the BBC for additional comment on this story.

How will Stacey wave goodbye to Walford?

Freddie Slater (Bobby Brazier)

Bobby Brazier as Freddie Slater. BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

When is Freddie Slater leaving? 2025.

Actor Bobby Brazier has quit his role as Freddie Slater after three years on the soap.

Brazier’s departure was first reported in The Sun, with an EastEnders spokesperson confirming the news.

They told the publication: “We can confirm that Bobby Brazier will be leaving EastEnders, and we wish him all the best for the future.”

Since he started on the soap, Brazier’s storylines have included Freddie’s ADHD diagnosis, an upsetting reunion with his biological father Graham Foster, and almost killing Stacey’s stalker Theo Hawthorne when defending his cousin.

Anna Knight (Molly Rainford)

Molly Rainford as Anna Knight in a white coat in a crowd looking to her right in EastEnders. — Will Anna Knight (Molly Rainfrod) get a happy ending? BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

When is Anna Knight leaving? 2025.

Despite having been absent in Walford of late, Anna Knight will be back in the soap soon – but not for long.

The BBC One soap has confirmed that Molly Rainford will be leaving the role of Anna as the character leaves Walford later this year.

“We can confirm that Molly Rainford will be leaving EastEnders later this year, and we wish her all the best for the future,” the BBC told RadioTimes.com in a statement.

We have no further details on her exit, but given that Freddie is also off soon, could the pair romantically reconcile and leave together?

Who is joining EastEnders?

At present, no new cast members have been confirmed or reported for EastEnders.

RETURNING

Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ)

Ricky Champ as Stuart Highway in a suit without a tie for EastEnders. — Ricky Champ is back as Stuart Highway after 3 years away. BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

When is Stuart Highway returning? Autumn 2025.

It has now been confirmed that Ricky Champ will reprise his role as Stuart Highway for a short stint in the Autumn.

The character was written out of the soap in 2022 as Stuart left Walford for a new life with wife Rainie and their baby away from the Square.

Now Stuart will return to join his younger brother Callum and say goodbye to his nasty father, Jonno Highway.

Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden)

Max Bowden as Ben Mitchell with facial hair and in a suit with black tie for EastEnders. — Max Bowden reprises his role as Ben Mitchell as the character is on day release. BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

When is Ben Mitchell returning? Autumn 2025.

Max Bowden is reprising his role as Ben Mitchell for a guest stint in EastEnders later this year, it has been confirmed.

The character was seen exiting the BBC One soap in early 2024 after the decision was made to write him out.

Previously, The Sun reported that new executive producer Ben Wadey has decided to bring Bowden back for a short stint, with the possibility that it could lead to a permanent return.

A source told the paper: “Ben had a list of characters he wanted to bring back and Ben Mitchell was one. It’s taken a little while to sort out but Max will be back filming on Albert Square later this year.”

Ben Mitchell is currently in prison for credit card fraud in the US, but his husband Callum Highway (Tony Clay), daughter Lexi Pearce (Isabella Brown), dad Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), and mum Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) all remain in Walford.

Of course, a complication has arisen in Ben’s absence: namely, husband Callum’s affair with their friend Johnny Carter (Charlie Suff).

Now, Ben returns on release to support Callum at the funeral of father-in-law Jonno Highway – will Ben return to the US with his marriage in tatters?

Which characters departed EastEnders in 2025?

Matthew James Morrison as Felix Baker and Clair Norris as Bernadette Taylor sitting at a table in the cafe, with his hand on hers. — Matthew James Morrison as Felix Baker and Clair Norris as Bernadette Taylor. BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

The following character departed EastEnders in 2025.

Nish Panesar
Julie Bates (guest, voice cameo)
Mr Lister (guest)
Councillor Donald Barker (guest)
Garry Hobbs (guest)
Minty Peterson (guest)
Peggy Mitchell (guest)
Eric Mitchell (guest)
Angie Watts (guest, cameo)
Reiss Colwell
Martin Fowler
Grant Mitchell (guest)
Brenda Collins (guest)
Gaz (guest)
Andy (guest)
Ruby Allen
Roman Allen
Tom “Rocky” Cotton (guest)
Terry Cant (guest)
Bex Fowler (guest)
Julia Fowler
Bianca Jackson
Sonia Fowler
Felix Baker
Bernadette Taylor
Jay Brown

Which characters departed EastEnders in 2024?

Laurie Brett as Jane and Clay Milner Russell as Bobby in EastEnders — Jane Beale (Laurie Brett, left) returned for the exit storyline of Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell, right). BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

The following characters have departed EastEnders in 2024.

Ashton (Guest)
Harold Martin (Guest)
Sam Mitchell
Keanu Taylor (Guest, hallucination)
Lucas Johnson (Guest)
Ben Mitchell
Gloria Knight (Guest)
Eddie Knight (Guest)
Keeley Wainwright (Guest)
Britney Wainwright
Dolly Dean-Hudson
Whitney Dean
Monique Knight (Guest)
Xavier Knight (Guest)
Karen Taylor (Guest)
Stevie Mitchell
Debbie Colwell (Guest)
Ayesha Siddhu (Guest)
Dean Wicks
Chrissie Watts (Guest)
Jake Moon (Guest)
Jane Beale (Guest)
Bobby Beale
Pastor Gideon Clayton
Lola Pearce-Brown (Guest)
Joe Wicks (Guest)
Holly (Guest)
David Wicks (Guest)
Micky Miller (Guest)
Nancy Carter (Guest, fantasy)
Lee Carter (Guest, fantasy)

Which characters departed EastEnders in 2023?

Brian Conley as Tom "Rocky" Cotton in EastEnders. — Brian Conley as Tom “Rocky” Cotton in EastEnders. BBC

The following characters have departed EastEnders in 2023.

DCI Samantha Keeble (Guest)
Ricky Butcher (Guest)
Scarlett Butcher
Edward “Jed” Chadwick (Guest)
Ryan Malloy (Guest)
Dr Ash Kaur
Vi Highway
Shifty Shiv (Guest)
Roxy Mitchell (Guest)
Duncan Boyd (Guest)
Lola Pearce-Brown
Lauren Branning (Guest)
Louie Beale (Guest)
Finlay Baker
Jo Cotton (Guest)
Peggy Taylor (Guest)
Lisa Fowler (Guest)
Arthur “Fatboy” Chubb (Guest)
Graham Foster (Guest)
Dorian Gates (Guest)
Nadine Keller (Guest)
Theo Hawthorne
Karen Taylor
Mitch Baker
Bailey Baker
Mia Atkins
Mackenzie Atkins
Keanu Taylor
Tom “Rocky” Cotton

Which characters departed EastEnders in 2022?

Danny Dyer as Mick Carter and Charlie Brooks as Janine Carter in EastEnders. BBC

The following characters departed EastEnders in 2022.

Iqra Ahmed
Mila Marwa
Kioni Marwa
Gray Atkins
Keegan Baker
Tiffany Butcher
Isaac Baptiste
Aaron Monroe
Nancy Carter
Avery Baker
Rainie Highway
Roland Highway
Stuart Highway
Dana Monroe
Frankie Lewis
Dr Nina Gupta
Kheerat Panesar
Lofty Holloway (Guest)
Mary Smith (Guest)
Disa O’Brien (Guest)
Ian Beale (Guest)
Colin Russell (Guest)
Barry Clark (Guest)
Kirsty “Dotty” Cotton
Jada Lennox
Alyssa Lennox
Mick Carter
Janine Carter
Shirley Carter

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer. Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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September 13, 2025 0 comments

TV & Streaming

11 Most Cringeworthy ‘Friends’ Moments Ever

by jummy84 September 13, 2025

written by jummy84

Friends was a cultural phenomenon that TV audiences are still binge-watching now, more than 20 years after its final episode. But it’s also a product of the 1990s, when sitcom writing was more reckless and less responsible. And as Zoë Kravitz recently pointed out, Friends certainly shows its age.

In a recent interview with People about her new ’90s-set movie Caught Stealing, Kravitz said she’s nostalgic for the decade, except when it comes to “super homophobic jokes on mainstream television.”

“If you watch Friends now, you’re like, ‘Whoa,’” she added. “Like, things that aren’t punchlines are punchlines. It’s wild.”

She’s not wrong, as you’ll see below. And yes, Friends was progressive in some aspects — it featured a same-sex romance from the jump, for example, and it depicted interracial relationships and casual sex without judgment. And perhaps there’s an argument to be made that the six lead characters and their narcissistic, toxic, fragile, biased traits are the punchline. But you still can’t excuse away Friends’ worst transgressions, including the following fails — our picks for the sitcom’s most offensive moments, presented chronologically.

September 13, 2025 0 comments

TV & Streaming

David Jonsson Prison Movie Hits TIFF

by jummy84 September 13, 2025

written by jummy84

Prison yards contain a multitude of characters, but prison movies tend to focus on the same handful of archetypes: The badass that nobody dares to mess with, the tougher-than-he-looks newcomer who teaches everyone a lesson after they foolishly think they can mess with him, or the charismatic leader who gets the cell block to see past their differences and work together. You don’t often see movies centered around the guy who easily can be messed with and becomes everyone else’s punching bag while his own life gets worse and worse.

But prisons are filled with those guys who never make their way onto a movie screen, and Cal McMau’s directorial debut “Wasteman” centers around one of them. Taylor (David Jonsson) isn’t anybody’s worst nightmare or fearless leader. He’s a soft-spoken man whose eyes are filled with regret and whose posture suggests a deep desire to just be invisible. He desperately wants some kind of relationship with his young son on the outside, but any time he manages to place a call to his kid’s mother, he’s quickly dismissed and asked not to contact her again because his son “doesn’t know” him.

The only thing that occasionally dulls his pain is opioid use, as the British prison has a thriving drug-trading industry involving a variety of goods and services. It gets him through the day, but he’s all too happy to walk away from it when he’s presented with an opportunity for early parole (due to issues with prison overcrowding, rather than any of his own behavior). The chance to get his life back is nothing short of a godsend, but Taylor is warned that his last months need to be entirely mistake-free.

That shouldn’t be a problem, as Taylor would never be mistaken for a troublemaker. But he is soon assigned a new cellmate, Dee (Tom Blyth), who is looking to deal drugs and make a name for himself. Overflowing with machismo and misplaced aggression, he quickly assumes that Taylor is someone who can be broken and molded into an asset for himself. He seems like he might have heard the old adage that you need to find the biggest guy in the yard and beat him up on your first day in prison, but thought that going after the smallest and weakest guy would work just as well.

Their relationship is toxic from the get-go, painting a clear portrait of the ways that hard drugs can take a man’s soul and the violent personas that prisoners end up wearing as disguises without even realizing that they’ve changed. Taylor’s entire incarceration has revolved around keeping the peace and fitting in, but his new circumstances force him to consider how far he’s willing to push his own boundaries in order to survive.

The film alternates between cinematographer Lorenzo Levrini’s carefully composed shots, which often reflect Taylor’s loneliness and regret with cool colored lighting and deep shadows, and vertical phone camera footage of impromptu prison fights. But by switching between found footage and something more traditional without committing to either extreme, “Wasteman” finds itself in an unpleasant middle ground that puts a significant ceiling on its visual storytelling potential. And while much of the film’s message revolves around the senselessness and brutality of prison violence — a point that nobody could possibly miss — McMau and Levrini often lean too heavily on shaky camerawork during their fight scenes, creating their (presumably) desired sense of chaos at the expense of imagery that would give us a clearer picture of the actions they’re condemning.

Amid all the barbarity for barbarity’s sake, Jonsson carries the film with a deep well of unspoken regret. There’s an innocence that shines through all of his actions, showing that even a man who has spent most of his adult life incarcerated doesn’t have to let it change his priorities. Blyth provides a fitting foil to Jonsson’s softness with his endless spring of ruthless aggression, forcing Taylor’s primal survival instincts to butt against his more civilized sense that there has to be something more for him in this world. It’s the kind of high level character work that illustrates why Jonsson is one of the most exciting actors of our time. He simply deserved a better movie to showcase this particular character.

Grade: C+

“Wasteman” premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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September 13, 2025 0 comments

TV & Streaming

Vince Vaughn Reveals Hidden Talent for Crooning

by jummy84 September 13, 2025

written by jummy84

Who knew Vince Vaughn could carry a tune? Turns out, the actor’s been singing right under our noses for years, from the ironic Alanis Morissette cover he delivered in “The Internship” to his cringy rendition of “All the Gold in California” in the movie “Arkansas,” but it wasn’t until “Easy’s Waltz” that it became clear Vaughn could’ve been a crooner in another life.

“Easy’s Waltz” is like a window into that life, and maybe a sigh of relief that the “Swingers” star took a different path — since he’s certainly had it easier than his character does trying to sustain his career as a cabaret act. Vaughn plays Lew Evans, whose friends call him “Easy.” He’s like a laidback Dean Martin who never got discovered, despite regular appearances at one of Las Vegas’ decaying older venues, where he sexily saunters his way through unconventional ’80s standards like “Against All Odds” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” before blowing the roof off with his take on Ultravox’s “Vienna.”

There’s a version of this guy who could easily support another one of Vaughn’s brash bro comedies. Instead, as “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto sees Easy in his beautifully written feature directing debut, he serves as more of a tragic figure: Grounded, loyal and honorable to a fault, the man’s got talent, as well as a tendency to self-sabotage. How else to describe the way he’s been dragging along his no-good younger sibling Sam (Simon Rex), who pawns Easy’s prized ring behind his back and siphons off his brother’s success?

A low-key cousin to ’80s movies like “Tender Mercies” and “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” in which pathetic middle-aged musicians circle the drain of their own existence, “Easy’s Waltz” is a character-driven indie drama of the kind that launched Vaughn’s acting career. Watching Vaughn embody Easy during a precarious late-career moment of opportunity, I was also reminded of “Bob le Flambeur,” in which the incorrigible French gambler stumbles home from the backroom poker games at dawn and drops a coin into the slot machine behind the door of his own apartment. In Easy’s case, he never risks enough to win big — but that also protects him from losing everything.

Movies like this don’t exactly light up the box office, but they stick with the folks fortunate enough to see them. Years earlier, Easy made that kind of impression on Al Pacino’s Mickey Albano, a louche local personality who books talent for the Wynn casino. Mickey has power, but more importantly, he has taste, and when he happens to catch one of Easy’s performances at a moment when the singer is pouring just a little too much of his soul into the show, he calls Easy over and offers his a chance the singer never thought would come: How would he like to play the Wynn?

By this point, we’ve already seen what bad news his brother Sam can be, via one of those smart Pizzolatto-classic scenes — this one set at a seedy pawn shop off the Strip — that reveal volumes about his characters’ personality and past relationships. Now Sam steps in as Easy’s manager, jeopardizing the deal even before it’s signed (in a weird coincidence, Sam had hit it off a few nights earlier with Lucy, the same young woman Mickey brought to his brother’s show, played by Kate Mara). Easy has secrets of his own, as when he runs the contract by an old acquaintance (Cobie Smulders), a lawyer who might have been his life partner had things turned out differently — though most of those details are nestled between the lines.

The arrangement between Mickey and Easy suits them both, and we sense that the older man is living out some kind of vicarious thrill opening doors for his grateful new act. Easy belongs to an earlier time (just don’t call him a Boomer) and honestly doesn’t realize what a viral moment he’s having when someone records his version of Mike and the Mechanics’ “Silent Running” and posts it online. Suddenly, Mickey is offering him a chance to play the main stage, which sets Sam’s greedier instincts into overdrive. Not only is he playing with fire by seeing Lucy behind Mickey’s back, but he hatches a scheme to steal and resell the QR codes off casino vouchers.

The pieces of Pizzolatto’s script don’t quite fit together, but the overall shape is clear. He has mapped a Faustian dilemma on top of a modern-day Greek tragedy, in which Easy must choose between the two things he wants most: a singing career and saving his brother, the latter being a responsibility no one ever asked him to shoulder. Pizzolatto turns out to be strong with actors, getting great performances from everybody, even Rex, a loose cannon whose role in “Red Rocket” created opportunities far beyond his abilities. Pacino hasn’t been this good since “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

As the film winds down, Pizzolatto reveals some tough existential insights personal enough to cut past the hard-boiled shorthand such movies so often serve up. It feels like an indulgence to give Easy a climactic concert in which nearly every significant person in his life is present — all but his mother, who makes an earlier appearance in a devastating single-scene cameo by Mary Steenburgen. Still, there’s something touching in the man’s belief that music can bring people together.

September 13, 2025 0 comments

TV & Streaming

‘Two and a Half Men’s Jon Cryer Made “A Third” Of Charlie Sheen’s Pay

by jummy84 September 13, 2025

written by jummy84

A decade after Two and a Half Men concluded, Jon Cryer has some choice words about his onscreen brother Charlie Sheen.

The 2x Emmy winner recently compared his former co-star to a dictator, recalling that he was paid “a third” of what Sheen made for their CBS sitcom, which ran for 12 seasons from 2003 to 2015.

“He’s in the midst of falling apart in every way that I can imagine, and he’s renegotiating his contract for another year of a show that I’m supposed to be on too,” he explained in the Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen.

“The dictator of North Korea was a guy named Kim Jong-Il. He acted crazy all the time and thus got enormous amounts of aid from countries who were so scared of him that they would shovel money at him,” added Cryer. “Well, that’s what happened here. [Sheen’s] negotiations went off the charts because his life was falling apart. Me, whose life was pretty good at that time, I got a third of that.”

Cryer noted that CBS “pre-sold a couple extra seasons of the show,” which motivated them to “spend this astonishing amount of money on Charlie.”

Two and a Half Men

Warner Bros. 2023

In Two and a Half Men, hedonistic jingle writer Charlie Harper’s (Sheen) life is thrown for a loop when his recently divorced brother Alan (Cryer) moves into the bachelor’s beachfront house with his son Jake (Angus T. Jones). Following Charlie’s death on the show, billionaire Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher) bought the house and filled out the trio.

Amid his addiction battle, Sheen was fired from the show in 2011 after taking public swipes at CBS, Warner Bros. and series co-creator Chuck Lorre. Season 8 was cut short amid the ordeal, and Kutcher replaced Sheen for the remainder of the series.

September 13, 2025 0 comments

TV & Streaming

The Hollywood Reporter Sets Emmys 2025 Preshow

by jummy84 September 13, 2025

written by jummy84

The Hollywood Reporter is counting down to the 2025 Emmy Awards with a streaming preshow on Sunday that will deliver exclusive interviews, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes coverage ahead of television’s biggest night.

Straight from the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre at the Saban Media Center, THR’s awards and television experts will weigh in on the ceremony’s top categories, including best drama series, best comedy series and best limited or anthology series. The preshow will also feature interviews with Emmy nominees including Patricia Arquette, Quinta Brunson, Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Seth Rogen, Adam Scott, Jessica Williams, Noah Wyle and more.

Which Hollywood-centric show will receive more Emmys love: Hacks or The Studio? Is The Bear‘s awards reign over? Which White Lotus star will shine brightest? Will The Pitt win big? And how will this year’s most-nominated show, Severance, fare? THR’s experts will explore these questions and many more during THR’s Awards Countdown: Emmys Edition.

Additionally, the preshow will include a behind-the-scenes look at the telecast; an interview with this year’s host, Nate Bargatze; a deep dive into television’s most memorable characters; a look at fashion on television; nominee spotlights; and much more.

As Hollywood’s premier entertainment authority, THR has brought audiences the most informed coverage leading up to the 2025 Emmys. This special awards preview will give viewers an industry insider perspective ahead of the ceremony, featuring insight and interviews you can’t see anywhere else.

THR’s Awards Countdown: Emmys Edition is hosted and produced by THR‘s Tiffany Taylor with reporting and analysis from chief television critic Daniel Fienberg, awards editor Beatrice Verhoeven and deputy awards editor Brande Victorian.

The preshow will stream on THR’s YouTube channel at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 14.

The special is executive produced by Emmy-award winner Lesley Corral and Jason Rovou, and was directed by Harry Buerkle. Segment producers include Neha Joy and Dominoe Ibarra. The program was shot by Buerkle, Jason Bass and Jean Martin. Paul Silva, Bass, Buerkle and Kyle Desiderio served as editors.

September 13, 2025 0 comments

TV & Streaming

Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker says her Doctor celebrated neurodiversity

by jummy84 September 13, 2025

written by jummy84

Speaking to Doctor Who Magazine, she said: “I don’t think it was a discussion, but it was absolutely there. The Doctor’s response in certain situations felt, to me, so authentically her that it celebrated a neurodiverse character without slapping on a label. It was just ‘the Doctor’.

She added: “So, me? I absolutely was aware. It’s playing it without the label, in a way. Just: the Doctor responds like this. That’s what I loved about it. And that’s why the Doctor is such a brilliant part to play.

“Sometimes we explain certain traits by saying, “This person is neurodiverse, or has ADHD, or is autistic,’ and that can be a positive thing – explaining is not negative. But with the Doctor, it wasn’t about explaining.

Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill star in Doctor Who. BBC

“She has characteristics that potentially, in a human form, would be associated with autism, but the joy is – as you said – it’s not in any way negative, in any way something to be fixed. It’s something to be celebrated. The Doctor is the Doctor. What is so beautiful about playing the Doctor is that there is no conforming.”

Then-showrunner Chris Chibnall added that it was a part of the Doctor that developed over time – and he’s blown away by how much the character means to neurodivergent audiences.

Whittaker made history as the first female Doctor and, following her exit in 2022, returned for Ncuti Gatwa’s final episode, The Reality War, earlier this year.

Doctor Who Magazine is on sale now.

Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Dive into our Doctor Who story guide: reviews of every episode since 1963, plus cast & crew listings, production trivia, and exclusive material from the Radio Times archive.

Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

September 13, 2025 0 comments

TV & Streaming

‘The Rainmaker’ Boss Breaks Down Sarah’s Power Move Against Rudy

by jummy84 September 13, 2025

written by jummy84

The creator of the John Grisham adaptation talks about why Rudy Baylor flubbed on two fronts in the latest episode.

September 13, 2025 0 comments

TV & Streaming

Sam Nivola Stars in a Generic Teen Movie Throwback

by jummy84 September 13, 2025

written by jummy84

In the new comedy “Driver’s Ed,” Sam Nivola (of “White Lotus” incest fame) plays a lovesick high school senior, Jeremy, who has a passion for movies. He made a short film that won some kind of prize, and he frequently pulls out a little video camera to capture a moment that strikes him as cinematic.

If you told me that “Driver’s Ed” was itself made by Jeremy, I’d believe you; it has all the distracted, hurried texture of typical teenage creative output, batting at big emotions it doesn’t quite understand and zigging haphazardly in various directions as it makes its way to the most obvious of conclusions. Were I his film teacher, I’d give Jeremy a solid B on the assignment but suggest maybe he consider majoring in accounting.

Jeremy didn’t make the film, though. Bobby Farrelly did, he of “Dumb and Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary” fame. Farrelly is 67, and Thomas Moffett, who wrote the film, is 47. So I’m not sure what their excuse is. “Driver’s Ed” is almost shockingly generic, a boilerplate teen road-trip movie whose only distinct personality trait is having no personality at all.

Were it not for the iPhones and a “lit” here and a “no cap” there, “Driver’s Ed” could have been made in the early 2000s, those waning days of the last great teen cinema epoch. It has all the requisite components: a nerdy-cute boy protagonist, a wise-beyond-her-years dream girl, a funny stoner friend. Its sensitivities are more evolved than those of, say, “American Pie,” but “Driver’s Ed” would otherwise fit cozily alongside any of the movies that “American Pie” inspired.

There are glimmers of originality in Moffett’s script, flashes of idiosyncratic detail that suggest something richer, more personal that could have been had Farrelly not sanded down every edge he could. Farrelly takes broad swings at comedy, but few of his jokes land. Whatever magic he used to have has gone; his instincts have faded, his timing is off.

The film concerns Jeremy’s madcap adventure to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his bitterly missed girlfriend, Samantha (Lilah Pate), is a freshman at UNC. Jeremy is pretty sure he’s going to lose Samantha to the temptations of college life if he doesn’t do something big. So he steals a driving instruction car and steals off into the Carolina backcountry, with three mismatched fellow students in tow. What ensues is meant to be a comically odyssean journey in pursuit of blind passion. In reality, a few minor things happen and then the movie ends exactly as we expect it to.

At least the company is welcome. Nivola is a charming, natural actor. He breathes something like real life into Moffett’s bland characterization. He has able support from Aidan Laprete as an affable slacker, Mohana Krishnan as a Type A overachiever, and TikTok star Sophie Telegadis, doing very convincing Samaire Armstrong-on-“The O.C.” drag. The kids have a lively, winsome rapport and manage to register some specificity in the face of Farrelly and Moffett’s myriad tired clichés.

The adults don’t fare quite so well. Molly Shannon does her noble best with a Bad Principal role, while Kumail Nanjiani strains for anything resembling humor as a loser substitute teacher. I’m sure both saw some value in working for one of the Farrelly brothers, even in 2025, but they maybe should have held out for something better.

“Driver’s Ed” is kindhearted and well-intentioned enough that one can’t outright hate it. But Farrelly seriously tries that good will as the movie lurches along. Its 98 minutes feel like twice that. The expected tangents and vignettes of a road movie—in this case a meet-cute with a dog owner, a run in with a petty thief who has the whitest veneers I’ve ever seen, a quick trip in the back of a refrigerated truck full of fur coats (yeah I don’t get it either)—are to a one fatally dull and wholly unnecessary. “Driver’s Ed” has all the arbitrary comedy of a bad improv set, seeming to figure that randomness itself is funny. There are a few laughs to be found in the film, little moments of wit or weirdness, but the film is otherwise a mirthless drag rescued only by its bright leads. Maybe let them make the movie next time.

Grade: C

“Driver’s Ed” premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

September 13, 2025 0 comments

TV & Streaming

Bobby Farrelly’s Terminally Tame Teen Comedy

by jummy84 September 13, 2025

written by jummy84

Both an obvious product of ’90s nostalgia and the definitive cure for it, Bobby Farrelly‘s terminally innocuous “Driver’s Ed” can be described as a youth comedy, but whose youth? Though technically it is set in the current day, because smartphones exist and someone mentions Ritalin, the sensibilities of both director and screenplay (by Thomas Moffett) are so trapped in the past that the whole movie feels like a defrosted caveman sporting a pair of earbuds — which is essentially the plot of 1992’s “Encino Man,” apropos of nothing much except that after “Driver’s Ed,” all your comparisons will for a time gesture toward pre-millennial pop-cultural artifacts.

It’s hard to remember that era being quite so unfunny, though, nor quite so tame, which is especially disappointing given that Farrelly, working with his brother Peter on films like “There’s Something About Mary” and “Dumb and Dumber” was responsible for some of its best and most iconically risqué gags. Nothing in “Driver’s Ed” even aspires to “Mary”‘s semen-hair-gel moment, and the closest we get to the “frank or beans” sequence is some frat dude at a party who randomly punches guys in the groin, causing them unhilariously to double over in pain. The rest of “Driver’s Ed” — aside from some effortful F-bombing and the occasional reference to boners — is just as wholesome as apple pie used to be before “American Pie” (1999) defiled that simile forever.

Speaking of wholesome, here comes Jeremy (Sam Nivola), the film’s clean-cut, starry-eyed, curly headed lead, an 18-year-old high school senior determined to make a success of a long-distance relationship with his recently graduated girlfriend Samantha. Movie-mad Jeremy (whose conversation is peppered with namechecks of only the most canonically revered of Hollywood films) is so convinced he and Sam will stay together until he can graduate and join her at college, that when she drunk-dials him and expresses some doubt, he goes into a tailspin. The next day, during driver’s ed class, left momentarily in the instruction car by the substitute teacher played by Kumail Nanjiani in two broken-arm casts for wackiness, Jeremy decides on a whim to steal the vehicle and drive the three hours to see Sam in person.

However, in the car with him are three classmates: prim, rule-obeying valedictorian Aparna (Mohana Krishan); apathetic, drug-dealing stoner Yoshi (Aidan Laprete); and perky yet cynical Evie (Sophie Telegadis), whose feathered, flippy, pastel-barette bob gives extreme mid-’90s Drew Barrymore/Reese Witherspoon and does not give it back. You do not need to be a hair historian to know that no young person has worn her hair like this, outside of “come as your mom when she was your age” costume parties, in about 30 years.

Anyway, despite the group not being particularly close, and despite all three others expressing their disapproval of Jeremy’s plan in no uncertain terms, they all suddenly decide to join him because that way we get to have a movie. Once on the road, they have a bunch of bizarre yet oddly flat encounters — with a three-legged cat, a robber, a cop, a refrigerated truck full of vintage furs and a hot lesbian with an open-top car and a large St. Bernard — before arriving at Sam’s college having learned some inevitable lessons about life, love and friendship. Meanwhile, the usually reliable Molly Shannon delivers an inexplicably manic performance of exasperated adult ineptitude as the school principal trying, with a lot of faffing about but very little urgency, to track the kids down.

To be strictly fair, “Driver’s Ed” doesn’t only reference the 1990s high school comedy. It also has an only too obvious yen for the 1980s, and specifically for “The Breakfast Club,” which is cribbed from here in a brief makeover scene and the cloyingly extended finale when the kids all marvel at just how much they’ve bonded. But while John Hughes’ soon-to-be-Criterion-approved classic has its implausibilities, it never attempts any setpiece as frankly ludicrous as the one in “Driver’s Ed” where three 2025 teenagers stand dumbly to one side while a fourth attempts to “hide” their beloved iPhones on a tiny ledge on a bridge over a river, with utterly predictable results.

Not that this is the fault of an appealing young cast gamely doing their best to inject energy and personality into inert, exposition-heavy, joke-light dialogue that could not sound less like the way modern teenagers talk if every second word was “rad.” “Everybody changes all the time,” Shannon’s principal scoffs at the doggedly faithful Jeremy at one point. It’s a shame that “Driver’s Ed” seems to believe that, in the decades since the high school comedy first came of age, teenagers haven’t changed so much as a hair on their heads.

September 13, 2025 0 comments

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