January 18 | 2023 Pull on your puffer It’s the jacket we can’t get enough of Brrr! Influencers Gitta Banko, left, and Sonia Lyson
2 Wednesday January 18 2023 | the times times2 Stand back now, however, for another explosion. Nigel Biggar’s book Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning is about to be published. It almost didn’t make it. Commissioned by Bloomsbury after the 2017 rows, and well received on the manuscript’s delivery, JK Rowling’s publisher decided to delay publication indefinitely. It told Biggar that “public feeling” was “not currently favourable”. “I was shocked. Being a man, I’m not always in touch with my emotions, but my wife tells me I was devastated,” he says. “Apart from the disappointment of not having my book published, I was just aghast at the thought that we in this country had come to this place. Suppose every publisher behaved as Bloomsbury did?” Bloomsbury did not comment when contacted. Happily the book was taken up by William Collins. It is a fascinating read, informative, surprising and written with panache and clarity. Biggar is not a professional historian and the book is light on primary sources (if heavy on footnotes), but it comes with warm testimonials from academics and our own Matthew Parris, who judges Biggar’s assessment of the British Empire “fair and accurate”. Still, he expects to be attacked with a vehemence he will find hard to understand. H ave you seen that irritating Wickes TV advert in which a couple panic when friends living abroad call on Zoom saying: “Surprise! We’re coming to you for our hols”? What? Tell these rude hellpeople to naff off and book a hotel. Or pretend that you’ve died. Anything to stop them coming to stay. But no, it’s a TV ad, so the nice couple gaze around sadly, ashamed of their crappy kitchen with its pan-stained Formica surfaces and wonder what to do (practise being dead, that’s what!). They are, says the ad, “housebarrassed”. We’ve all been there. I’m housebarrassed whenever someone drops round unannounced and I must fling myself, arms outstretched, in front of the radiators to hide the jeans and bras that are always drying squalidly (yes, this causes mould, but the alternative is buying E.On executives another yacht by switching on the tumble dryer). I too have a big pan ring on my kitchen work surface and there are skanky, pet-hairclogged blankets atop the kitchen cupboards because my cats like to sit up there. (Sorry, “cat”. One died last week. Let’s move on before I sob over her garden grave again.) I’m embarrassed by my paintwork, clutter, unmade beds, the puddle of water that is permanently in front of the fridge which I step in, soaking my socks. I’m worried that we have gone “noseblind” and no longer notice the pong from the dog bed or the cat litter tray. As a child I was embarrassed that we were the only house in the street without a shower. (We had a bath. We weren’t animals.) But anyone who feels similarly should count their blessings. Because it is nothing compared with the housebarrassment suffered by Prince Harry. Did you know that when he When Oxford theologian Nigel Biggar wrote that the British Empire was not all bad, he faced a backlash. Here he defends his views to Andrew Billen F ive years ago Nigel Biggar feared that his 40-year career was about to meet a sudden and unpleasant end. Academia had cottoned on that the Oxford University theologian and priest thought that the British Empire had not been all bad. He aired this apparently anodyne thought in a column in The Times in November 2017. The article was Biggar’s third thought crime, the first being his resistance to a noisy (and ultimately unsuccessful) campaign to remove the imperialist Cecil Rhodes’s statue from an Oxford college wall. The second was a series of conferences he had held on Ethics and Empire, a project some academics thought should be strangled at birth. As Biggar puts it, all hell broke loose. “I didn’t know what to expect and when you don’t know what to expect you fear everything. I feared complete loss of reputation,” Biggar says as we sit in his apartment overlooking Castle Mill Stream in Oxford. Academic freedom, at least at Oxford, prevailed. His Ethics and Empire course — “holed,” he says, “under the waterline for a year or so” — was relaunched in 2019 and survived. So did he. Primed for your chastity cage? Regular readers will know I have a mild obsession with people who find time to review banal objects such as clothes pegs and bin liners (Waitrose pan scourer: “Holds well in the hand. 4 stars”; 45p bag of carrots: “Nice shape but delivered wet. Disappointed”). This week, I was shocked to discover that not only does Amazon sell lockable “chastity cages” but gentlemen gamely review them like they would a pair of driving gloves. “Good quality finish, no sharp edges”, said “Steve”, delighted with his £21.99 “willy kennel”. Less pleased was “Colin”, who wrote: “Doesn’t stay on . . . Very disappointed”. On and on it goes. Amazing. I must have led a sheltered life because I never knew such things existed. If your chastity-cage needs can’t wait you can even get Prime next-day delivery. Tread carefully, though. The A&E queues are a nightmare. The delights of death Obviously you need to leave enough to cover it, because no one wants to be left propped up by the wheelie bins, but I never think about the detail. Which is why I find the avalanche of TV ads for budget “direct” cremations so crassly hilarious. Very bad actors play people utterly thrilled to have paid in advance to be incinerated at 1,000C “without a fuss”. You’d think they’d won the lottery. “Now we have peace of mind, we can relax and enjoy life, eh, Mum?” says a daughter, salivating over her mother’s funeral plan. So you couldn’t enjoy life before? “Yes, love — give me a top-up,” replies “Mum”, holding out her glass. Careful, Mum. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s arsenic. It reminds me of the appalling FiftyLife insurance ads in which a father and daughter walk along a beach after the sudden death of his wife and her mother and all they give a stuff about is that her policy paid out for her funeral. “Just like Mum!” trills venal daughter, delighted not to be out of pocket. Go on, “Mum”. Haunt them. The cost of a basic funeral fell 2.5 per cent to under £4,000 last year, but I don’t find myself doing cartwheels. When the time comes for mine I think I’ll be past caring. first brought Meghan to his rent-free, chocolate-box cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace he was ashamed? Yes. He was embarrassed by Nottingham Cottage’s small rooms, low ceilings, “shabby furniture”, Xbox console and bean bag. It may have been in the palace grounds, wrote the multimillionaire, but it was “no palace”. It was merely “palace adjacent”. Can you bear it? Meghan said it looked like a “frat house” and Oprah Winfrey, when she visited, looked around and said: “No one would ever believe it” (also a bit rude, don’t you think? It’s basically Oprah walking into someone’s home and saying: “Well, this is a bit of a shithole”). You can bleat about the plaster coming off your walls, the boiler you can’t afford to fix or the mortgage/ rent you can’t afford to pay but tell me this. Have YOU ever felt humiliated by your grace and favour cottage with roses round the door which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in one of London’s poshest postcodes and for which you paid naff all? Have YOU ever felt that your cottage, designed by Wren and for which you pay naff all, was on “a slight lean”? No, you have not. It’s enough to make the homeless people of London gather outside “Nott Cott” playing a sad tune on a string of violins. But security guards would chase them away, so phew for that. My husband bought a corduroy bean bag (Dunelm, £89, FYI) so I know that particular housebarrassment. But I haven’t suffered like Harry. As Meghan said: “Kensington Palace sounds very regal, of course it does . . . But Nottingham Cottage was so small.” Appalling. Let’s hope that their $15 million Montecito mansion with its gym, theatre, pool, orchards and five-car garage helps to erase the terrible memory of the hovel near Hyde Park. Carol Midgley I’ll admit to suffering housebarrassment. In the form of a bean bag The academic who dared to say Rhodes should stay
the times | Wednesday January 18 2023 3 times2 ourselves.” His previous ruling in 1877 that the British, “the finest race in the world”, should rehabilitate “the most despicable of human beings” is not quoted. “There’s really,” Biggar tells me, “a distinction between biological, scientific racism, whereby you’ve got non-white skin, therefore you are a natural slave, and saying, ‘You haven’t got any O-levels, but we can help you with that.’ ” The book has some curious omissions and near omissions. Despite the fuss over the toppling and removal of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol two years ago, there is no reference to the slave trader at all. (When I press him on the matter, Biggar concedes that if “non-white people really went past it and were offended by it, that would be a good reason to take it down”.) Robert Clive (of India) is mentioned just twice, even though his castle in Powys has been in the news for the National Trust’s “contextualisation” of the vast hall devoted to his Indian booty. “How do I feel about that? I would think, OK, this was a result of an 18th-century practice, which was unscrupulous but was common and wasn’t the monopoly of the British. You went to war and you rewarded yourself by taking spoils. Everyone did it.” He would not feel embarrassed walking in a Welsh castle past a tiger’s head finial torn off the throne of the king of Mysore? “I guess I’m a bit disinclined to feel embarrassed.” Biggar well knows that in saying such things he is out of kilter with progressive principles of curation and certainly with the swelling support for the return of artefacts. He is even at odds with his own faith. Last week the Church of England committed to donating £100 million to compensate for its earnings from Queen Anne’s Bounty, a scheme predicated on the transatlantic slave trade. “I just don’t buy it because, as I argue, yes, there was slavery, but there was then 150 years of antislavery based on partly Enlightenment and partly Christian views that we, as human beings of whatever race, are equal under God.” He is not against spending £100 million to tackle current racial problems, but not on account of ancient investment policies. “I think the leadership of the church shares the prejudices of the British elite generally.” I am so much less of an ethicist than Biggar that I cannot coherently argue for my hunch that the evil men do lives after them for a reason, and the reason is that some things can never be excused. But I have no quarrel with Biggar for disinterring also the good. Then we can survey it all. The historian David Olusoga, born in Nigeria, has strong views on what he calls “systematic and deliberate” looting of the Benin Bronzes by the British from the west African kingdom. So does Biggar, but he believes their “removal” legitimate. I would love to hear them debate on Times Radio. Biggar recalls that when Priya Gopal, a professor of postcolonial studies at Cambridge, read the description of his Ethics and Empire project, she tweeted: “We must shut this down.” But should any history be a Pandora’s box for ever sealed? If we dare open our imperial record, Colonialism will be among the tools we can use to examine it, and a sharp-edged one at that. doing in Ukraine and President Xi is menacing Taiwan. So if you care about the global future of liberal democracy, then the self-confidence of liberal powers of the world is quite important.” We may be liberal, but he does not dispute that Britain suffers from racism, nor that it existed abroad in empire days. “Less among colonial officials, more among settlers and businesspeople, but there was appalling racial prejudice,” he says. What he cannot perceive is the link between the two, because the “glorification” of empire ended long ago and the British establishment has been under assault since the Sixties. Biggar’s constant pleas of mitigation (“less among colonial officials”) for imperial offences can grate. I take issue with the idea that the West’s conquests were justifiable because they obeyed western-made treaties. I say I’d be morally outraged if someone waving a legal document entered my back garden and started drilling for oil. “But I think you need to put yourself back in the shoes of the white man dividing territory which often was not heavily populated. Initially the question was ‘is this actually occupied?’ So there’s some ambiguity as to whether this territory is virgin or not.” Elsewhere Biggar implies that the slave trade can be excused by Britain’s lead in the antislavery movement. But if I renounce my living as a sex trafficker and join a campaign against it, does that place me in the clear? “Well, no. With regard to past sins, there are plenty of past sins we cannot make up for.” Is slavery one of those? “Yes. I mean, the poor people who were enslaved are dead. There’s nothing we can do for them. I lament that Britons ever got involved in it but there’s no making up for it in that sense.” Some of his analysis is so alarmingly out of kilter with received opinion it gives one pause. In Robert Hughes’s history The Fatal Shore, the Australian writer called the eradication of the first Tasmanians the “only true genocide in English colonial history”. That seems measured. Biggar insists, however, that although individuals may have killed with “genocidal intent”, the devastating aboriginal decline was for a variety of reasons “above all disease” and “far more tragedy than atrocity”. When I counter that the Australian historian Lyndall Ryan estimates that more than 10,000 Aboriginals and Torres Straight Islanders were lost in more than 400 massacres, Biggar responds that she is “among historians who I think, from my reading, have exaggerated figures”. And so to Cecil Rhodes, the mining magnate and coloniser of what is now Zimbabwe and Zambia, the onetime hero who dragged Biggar into the spotlight when he offered a qualified defence of the imperialist during the statue row. Rhodes, whom I thought I regarded as irredeemable, emerges from Colonialism more nuanced. A 1894 speech on Africans is cited: “I don’t believe they are different from If it hadn’t been the British it would have been somebody else Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning by Nigel Biggar is published by William Collins on February 2 at £25 “You know, if you face someone who is saying things you disagree with or don’t like then you might show some curiosity as to why they think that. You’d ask questions and then you’d say, ‘Well, that doesn’t make sense because . . .’ But I’ve been really struck by how that’s not been the posture. The posture has been, on the part of some, and some people at major universities, from the get-go — it’s been the fist.” Towards the end of Colonialism he compiles a tally of the evils of the British Empire. It includes “brutal” slavery, fatal epidemics, displacement of natives by settlers; settler abuse, famine and “elements of” racism. On the credit column lie the empire’s pioneering renunciation of slavery, its promotion of free markets, creation of regional peace by imposing authority and developing public infrastructure, agriculture methods and modern medicine. So, I ask, would the world have overall been better off without the British Empire? “Not obviously. I mean, if it hadn’t been the British it would have been somebody else,” he replies. “Modernity was going to hit unmodern peoples in North America, South Africa and Australasia sooner or later.” Biggar — born in Dumfries and Galloway 67 years ago, educated in Somerset, married but with no children — is tall, thin, quietly spoken and polite. You would not necessarily predict he was a man of courage, although by siding with the dean of his old college, Christ Church, during Martyn Percy’s long dispute with almost everyone else on its governing body, he certainly showed some of that (both men left Christ Church last year). Since he accuses his anticolonialist critics of “deeper, darker” motives, I feel entitled to interrogate his own, however. If his critics are of the left, isn’t he a right-winger? He protests that he regards himself as centrist; until about five years ago, and its leftwards drift, he read The Guardian as well as The Times every day. He is, however, friendly with the eccentric right-wing Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson. Indeed, when we meet he has newly returned from recording a series of lectures, Deconstructing Decolonisation, for the forthcoming Peterson Academy, being set up by Jordan’s daughter Mikhaila. Is he a lobster, I ask, referencing Peterson’s famously bizarre role model for enfeebled modern man. “What’s a lobster? It’s got a carapace? Well, I am of a certain generation growing up in the shadow of the Second World War, where our parents lived in a world where people died a lot and people could not afford to emote a lot. I have a certain stoicism in the face of suffering.” He writes that at stake is not the “pedantic truth” but the self-confidence of the British today. So he has a political motive? “We all have them, and I’m upfront about mine. Yes, there’s a political motive in that I do think Britain is an important global power. We’re not a superpower. We have global interests, we have global experience, we have significant both soft and hard power and we’re a liberal power at a time when Putin is doing what Putin is Nigel Biggar outside the Radcliffe Camera library in Oxford. Above left: students protesting in 2016 for the removal of the Cecil Rhodes statue from the wall of Oriel College, Oxford
4 Wednesday January 18 2023 | the times fashion Would you pay £1,460 for a cardi? They do New York label Khaite is what all the Upper East Siders are wearing. Anna Murphy meets its founder L ast week I was talking to a famous — and especially covetably garbed — influencer. I asked what was her favourite brand, as I always do when I encounter such an individual. “Khaite” was her answer. This is the New York label that these days is almost always the answer for a woman like her, not to mention anyone else seeking to appear contemporary without seeming try-hard; who wants to look stealth but with a smidgen of the look-at-me at the same time. Though, that said, Khaite is only the answer for those who also have the financial wherewithal to stump up, say, almost £1,500 for its bestselling cashmere cardigan, the Scarlet. More on that particular beauty in a bit (it represents about 5 per cent of the business on its own). Khaite understood before many other luxury brands that the modern way to dress up had to seem less effortful, but still special. That’s why the brand has become something of a way of life for stars such as Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber. The Duchess of Sussex sported a white Khaite bodysuit to the Invictus Games that went viral last year. Not bad for a brand that only launched in 2016. There is no one more surprised than Cate Holstein, its founder, who I am talking to over Zoom from New York. “I wouldn’t have dreamed when I started this that we would be where we are today,” she says. Khaite has had triple-digit growth every year to date, if you are interested in the numbers. “It’s been so fast. We grew 45 per cent in 2022.” As Libby Page, the market director at Net-a-Porter, puts it, “Before you knew it, Khaite was the destination for elevated, luxurious wardrobe staples.” Back to Jenner. She was wearing Khaite caramel shearling in Aspen the other day, and Khaite white sequins on £1,460 the evening that Holstein picked up the CDFA Womenswear Designer of the Year award at the end of last year. She lives — like many other fashion types I know — in Khaite denim. What’s more, she and Bieber were two of the celebrities who ensured that an oversize brown corduroy Khaite blazer picked up another unofficial award this winter: designer item of the season. That blazer’s also been spotted on Alexa Chung, Carey Mulligan and Katie Holmes. Ah yes. Katie Holmes. It was a paparazzi shot of the newly single actress photographed in 2019 flagging down a New York cab that was a “game changer” for the brand, says Holstein. Holmes was wearing that Scarlet cardigan, but that wasn’t what the fuss was about. She was also sporting a matching cashmere bra, and had accessorised her ensemble with what Holstein calls a “revenge body”. (Holmes had just split from the actor Jamie Foxx.) New York Magazine named it one of the paparazzi shots of the decade. It was certainly one of the fashion moments of the century so far, so much so that it launched a new coinage, the bra-digan, and transformed the trajectory of a them he gave them to me, and I put them on my trousers and I just immediately felt exhilarated. It kind of blew me over.” Ever since then, she continues, “this is the feeling I have been chasing”. She started Khaite because “I couldn’t really find the pieces I liked. I am a shopper, a consumer. Everyone kept telling me that fashion was oversaturated, but then I would ask myself, ‘Why can’t I and every woman I know find the pieces that we want?’ ” Where, she pondered, were the equivalents of the items she treasured in her own wardrobe? A “really old Loro Piana sweater of my sister’s that had holes all over it”. Her mother’s Hermès Kelly bag. A Balenciaga biker jacket that she left in a cab in Mexico. “I spent the rest of the trip tracking it down.” (It tells you something about Holstein’s strength of character that she succeeded.) “These were things that if I lost them I would feel as if a part of me had died. Super dramatic, I know!” She was cautious, having launched another failed brand in her twenties — “I hope nobody ever sees those images” — but felt that her time consulting at both expensive and affordable brands had taught her what she needed to know. “Women would come back for the same pieces and the same materials again and again. Cashmere, denim, leather. Those pieces that, when you find the right example, you are exhilarated by and hang on to forever. They are the pieces that you feel you can wear five days in a row, that feel like an extension of you. That was the kind of thinking behind the brand. I have been really touched, quite frankly, that the customer has reacted so well.” What Khaite offers now is the very best quality schmutter at prices to match, plus a series of aesthetic contradictions — cool/chic, effortless/polished, masculine/feminine, sexy/ strait-laced — encapsulated into a covetable, and often slightly unexpected, new whole. The label will take a go-anywhere cowboy boot and sprinkle the toes with diamanté. It will render a body-con dress in a girl-next-door ribbed knit. It will offer up a theoretically practical hobo bag in bright yellow suede. It will design a twin set that is a cardigan plus bra. Above all, the label is the epitome of women dressing for women. “What makes women feel empowered might not necessarily relate to the male gaze,” says Holstein. “I think about how a woman will feel in the clothes. And I think you always need balance. For me the sexiest sheer lace dress is only going to be sexier if you put a huge Mad Men tweed coat over it.” Plenty of women evidently agree. Instagram: @annagmurphy brand from successful to stratospheric. Asked about the look at the time, Holstein quipped, “I want everything in cashmere. I want a cashmere house. Why not a bra?” Now she says, “I still don’t know quite what it was all about. She looked beautiful. She looked amazing. But there was some kind of magic sauce there. I mean, my merchandising team had actually been trying to get me to phase out the cashmere bra because people weren’t buying it!” Holstein, 40, has been obsessed with fashion her whole life, she tells me. And she means her whole life. “I have flashes of being in the crib, not as a newborn, but maybe at two or three, and adjusting my diaper. I remember pulling it down because it was more comfortable worn lower on my hips. I know it sounds insane!” She is currently pregnant with her first child — a boy — by her architect husband. By the time she was three, “I remember admiring my brother’s suspenders [braces], which had cars on them, from afar. When he was through with £1,282 Below: Tilda cashmere sweater, £670, Khaite at net-a-porter.com; Dallas ankle boots, £1,050, khaite.com Kendall Jenner and Cate Holstein Katie Holmes wears cashmere bralette, £450, and cardigan, £1,460, Khaite at net-a-porter.com Hailey Bieber wears corduroy suit jacket, £1,282, Khaite at farfetch.com
the times | Wednesday January 18 2023 5 fashion Baby Bubble puffer comes in pale pink, beige or black (was £180, now £90, levi.com), or there’s the floralprinted Roland, which has a defined waist but still an oversized look (was £210, now £105). Maje has a few marked down in the January sale, one sea-foam green and one black with a pixelated blue floral print and a hood (£314.30 and £239.50 respectively, uk.maje.com). I love the unexpected addition of duffle toggles to AllSaints’ Allais (was £359, now £215, allsaints.com). One of the best printed puffers around is Marimekko’s Judea, which is covered in a supersized version of the brand’s Unikko poppy print (£425, marimekko.com). The ecologically conscious brand Jakke has a range of great bright colours and prints at about £200 each (jakke.co.uk). Styles are discounted on The Outnet — see the Patricia style in wide lilac and cream stripes or caramel swooshes of abstracted animal print (£130, theoutnet.com). And there are veganfriendly faux leather options too. Performance-wear brands are catering to outdoor sporting types, so you know their coats will be properly warm. Perfect Moment’s Nevada, in black and white or pink with a red funnel-neck collar, would look just as good with jeans as salopettes (£735, perfectmoment.com). The North Face’s Nuptse is one that I spot on every walk, especially in the solid black colourway on bright young things (£270, thenorthface.co.uk), although I like the colour-block versions too. Pulling that hemline down a little longer to just below the bum, and turning that bubble shape into more of an A-line, Uniqlo’s collaboration with Marni has two great colour-block coats, orange with a brown hood and trim or two shades of blue (was £179.90, now £89.90, uniqlo.com/uk). Free People’s Haley puffer is trapeze-shaped and filled with recycled polyester, and comes in bright fuchsia or emerald green, or a classic alpine white (was £158, now £89.95, freepeople.com). If you prefer the even longer lengths, look for something that’s similarly A-line, or size up and look for oversized elements such as a supersized funnel neck (see Hobbs’ knee-length burgundy Heather, was £189, now £149, johnlewis.com). I will now and forever hear my mother saying “pupa” in my head when I see skintight knee-length puffers that follow the shape of your figure so closely that they bind you slightly at the knee, so think loose and casual, not chrysalis. Instagram: @charliegowans While it’s freezing cold, you’re going to need a bigger coat, says Charlie Gowans-Eglinton I am typing this with a hot water bottle shoved up my jumper. I’m not complaining — I got a sheepskin hot water bottle cover from Toast for Christmas, so this feels like the height of luxury. Still, there is no mistaking that drop in temperature, even without the health alert and travel warning. My warmest wool coat felt like a little wisp of cobweb yesterday, so it’s either a puffer jacket or constructing some sort of harness that will allow me to wear the hot water bottle on my walks. And I am not talking about a lightly quilted jacket: insulation is key, and if we want to be warm, we’re going to need a bigger coat. Or so I keep telling my mother. She needs a bit more convincing. At 65, she doesn’t own a puffer, and never has, likening the look to “zipping up a whole pupa case”, especially over big boobs. I can’t say I blame her — in the past, puffers were either cartoonish Michelin Man inflatables, shiny and logo-stamped designer ski jackets that cost more than a week in Verbier, or those uncomfortably close-fitting versions (sometimes with a matching waist belt) worn by women my mother’s age to walk their dogs. Usually very slim women, because this was an exclusionary aesthetic. Yet I am determined to convince my mum that puffers have changed, not least because I am old enough now for our relationship to have turned topsy-turvy and for me to worry that her coat isn’t warm enough. So, to the puffer 2.0, and it’s quite an evolution. Considering their obvious bulkiness, it’s peculiar that “slimline” used to be the desired look. That’s the biggest difference: the latest versions lean into puffiness. These are oversized and exaggerated, with space for a proper jumper underneath, although you’re unlikely to need one. They don’t look taut and overstuffed with feathers or fluff, and they don’t zip onto the body like a second skin. There is more ease all around. Take Loewe’s puffer bomber jacket in black, pale blue or green leather. I would, if it wasn’t £5,550 (although the dark green is reduced to £2,750 on net-aporter.com), but instead we’ll have to “take” it theoretically. This is the influencerapproved puffer du jour, with an extreme enough silhouette to be instantly recognisable — and that cloudlike shape looks great with wide-leg trousers and narrow-fit jeans. Unlike much influencer flim-flam it’s wearable, practical and warm. Moving on to something less spherical but keeping the cropped hip-length, which feels particularly modern. Levi’s hooded Why we can’t stop wearing puffers From left: influencer Felicia Akerstrom; £950, Canada Goose x Reformation at thereformation.com; £35.99, mango.com; £498, Norma Kamali at freepeople.com In the past, puffers were Michelin Man inflatables £919, Nicholas K at freepeople.com
6 Wednesday January 18 2023 | the times times2 downtime and you still get the results. I’ve tried I haven’t yet but I have my eye on it because I know it can give results for loose skin around the eyes. Pain The plasma is hot, between 70C and 120C, so you need to be well numbed-up beforehand. Using a growth-factor serum afterwards will help to speed up healing/recovery. Cost About £3,000 for a high-intensity one-off treatment, or £750 a go for a low-intensity one. NB Not to be confused with the cheap and awful “plasma pen” or “fibroblast” treatments that are widely advertised online. These stud the skin with a series of tiny burns that can leave many tiny scars. Radio frequency This kind of energy (let’s just call it RF) comes from the radio-wave spectrum and works by heating the skin to the point where the collagen starts to contract (a bit like flash-frying a steak). In turn that collagen will repair itself. Send that RF into the skin through a bunch of tiny sharp microneedles and you have an even more powerful treatment — RF needling — and one brand of this, Morpheus8, is what Todd used on Murray. Treatment takes Up to an hour, and you’ll need three or four sessions. I’ve tried A type of RF needling called Secret RF that wasn’t too painful (and I was only red for a day afterwards), but I never followed with the rest of the treatments, so didn’t get the tightening and lifting effect. Pain Manageable with plenty of numbing cream. Cost From £750-£1,500 per session. Electricity Using low-level microcurrents to tone the muscles in the face is not new. Computer-aided cosmetology instrument (CACI) facials do a decent job if you have enough of them, continuously. What is very new is a face-reshaping device called EMface, which launched a few weeks ago and is reputed to hoick up the face in a noticeable and lasting way. Treatment takes 20 minutes, and you need four sessions of it, five to ten days apart. Pain None — I’m told it tingles rather than hurts (I haven’t tried it yet). Cost £2,000 for a course of four treatments; £600 for a one-off session. Heat Most of the devices above use different energy sources to generate collagen-damaging heat in the skin. You could just go for the simple option with one called Tixel that one doctor memorably described to me as “a waffle iron for your face”. This one has a handpiece holding 81 tiny metal rods heated to 400C that are touched lightly on to your skin to create a controlled burn. Treatment takes Up to an hour. You may need a series for a full result. I’ve tried I had this around my eyes; it left me pink and swollen for a couple of days. Pain Scorching, even with strong numbing cream, but you can always yelp for the practitioner to dial down the intensity. Cost From £500 per treatment. Alice Hart-Davis is founder of thetweakmentsguide.com, where you can find information about all these procedures. You can see the procedures she is trying on Instagram at @alicehartdavis praised the effects of the Sofwave treatment she tried. Treatment takes About an hour, and it’s usually a one-off. I’ve tried All of these. I find Ultherapy has helped to slow down the loosening and general descent of my skin over the past ten years, and the Sofwave treatment I had last year made a visible difference to my midface and jawline. Pain Ultherapy has a reputation for being uncomfortable but it’s manageable; other types of HIFU you can barely feel. Sofwave ought to be pretty well pain-free but I found my treatment nipped. Cost About £3,000. Verdict Gives a subtle, slow-growing skin-tightening and lifting effect that takes at least three months to show. Plasma Not the blood plasma sort. This is plasma that’s more like superheated gas. In the NeoGen device the plasma is created from nitrogen using intense radio frequency and which penetrates the skin easily without needles. Treatment takes About an hour — you could have an intense one-off treatment, but then you need a week or two of hidden indoors downtime while your face recovers and the treated skin flakes off. Spread out the treatment, as Ballas did, in five low-intensity sessions over six months — there’s no Shirley Ballas, above, has undergone the NeoGen Plasma treatment. Below: Judy Murray and Tess Daly, who have used Morpheus8 and Ultherapy respectively C lever Judy Todd has done it again. Two years ago the doctor transformed Judy Murray’s face with a high-tech radio-frequency “tweakment” called Morpheus8; now she has overhauled the gorgeous, feisty Shirley Ballas using a different, state-of-the-art procedure called NeoGen Plasma. Just look at that neck and jawline! They’re surely ten years younger! Plasma? Radio frequency? If you’re thinking “what?”, brace yourself — this is the future of non-surgical facelifting, using “energy-based devices”, machines that zap the skin with light or heat, causing a judicious amount of damage to the collagen within it, because that damage, that trauma, makes the skin grow back fresher, smoother, tighter and stronger, and that’s what lifts a sagging jawline and makes it look like its younger self. Many people scoff and say you can’t get this kind of result without going under the knife — but if you’re a good candidate for a particular treatment, and if you have the budget to do quite a lot of it (these things are not cheap) and a skilful practitioner, the results can be dramatic. Ballas, 62, had five 30-minute NeoGen Plasma treatments over ten months for £5,000. It’s a lot of money, but cheaper than surgery and much less invasive. Facelifts still have their place and the best surgeons are as busy as ever, but for people who would never contemplate a surgical facelift these treatments are hugely attractive. The unkind truth is that all these procedures work on, and boost, your own collagen supplies, so the younger you are and the more collagen you have in your skin before you start, the more of a result you’ll get. Which is the best? It all depends — on your face, your age, your budget and whether you’re prepared to put up with discomfort and downtime. One key thing to remember: find a practitioner who is well trained and really experienced to advise you. How do they work? Do they hurt? What sort of results can you get? What do they cost? I’ve tried most of them, so here goes. Lasers These have been about for decades and use specific wavelengths of light energy to hit specific targets in the skin to, for example, clear pigmentation marks and thread veins. That’s the lightweight end of it; heavy-duty skin-resurfacing lasers that “ablate”, ie burn off, the surface of the skin are regarded by many as the gold standard for getting a radical improvement to skin that is heavily wrinkled, pigmented or pitted with acne scars, but they will leave you looking like a peeled tomato for weeks or months as the new skin grows. The newest “pico” lasers use a pulse so fast that they bypass the skin’s surface and create the collagenstimulating, pigment-clearing damage without upsetting your skin. Treatment takes About an hour, depending on how much you’re having done. If you opt for a heavy-duty treatment, it may be a one-off, or you can go for a series of more lightweight, more tolerable treatments that mean less downtime. I’ve tried A fractional resurfacing laser (the Sciton Halo) that left me red for a day or two and peeling for a few more, but six weeks later my skin was smoother and firmer and my sun damage was reduced. Pain Lasers burn their way through the skin from the top, and range from a few sharp nips to (in my case) feeling scalded for an hour after treatment. Cost From a few hundred pounds for thread veins to a thousand or more for full-face resurfacing. Verdict Brilliant for clearing pigment and creating smoother, tighter skin. Ultrasound Not the gentle sort of ultrasound that is used for imaging, treatments such as Ultherapy or Ultracel use high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) where the energy is focused on a collagen-rich layer below the skin’s surface. There’s a newcomer in this category, Sofwave, that uses ultrasound differently but with the same aim of lifting and tightening the skin. It’s celeb-friendly too: Tess Daly has talked about why she’s so fond of Ultherapy, while Karren Brady has The rise of the NSF non-surgical facelift * * Shirley Ballas has just had a £5,000 facial ‘tweakment’. She’s not alone, says Alice Hart-Davis
the times | Wednesday January 18 2023 7 fashion Uma Thurman labels such as The Row, Celine and Studio Nicholson for Tár, the shirts hail from the same masculine-cut, smart-but-loose formulation as Blanchett’s red carpet look. This sort of utility-style overshirt still dominates in the shops postpandemic, when many of us began to wear the same light layer to work at home, walk the dog and hop on another Zoom. I’d recommend Sézane, Arket and Whistles if you’re in the market for similar. Yet the other shirt shape that has come to the fore recently, a classic and pale-blue City style in a deliberately oversized fit, nods more to working patterns pre-Covid as we reassimilate into our offices with comfort higher up the list of priorities than it used to be. Out with the frilly frothy frippery of more feminine blouse styles (pack away your pussy-bows and sheeny satins for now) and in with something knowingly corporate that has segued into cool. My favourites in this vein come from Raey (with a rather A-list price tag at £345, matchesfashion.com) and Cos (£79, cos.com), with Baukjen’s Caitly style now in the sale (£49, baukjen.com). With Nothing Underneath’s Boyfriend cut in steel-blue poplin does similar (£95, withnothing underneath.com), but if your home is as chilly as mine right now I’d also recommend it in the snuggly brushed wool Alaska blue (£115). The slightly roomy cut is more modern than anything too nipped-in, but choose an extra size up for a fashion pack look. As for styling, that’s the beauty of it: do whatever you like, from open and loose to French tucked (into the waistband at the front only) to create drape and flatter your waist. If you do happen to have a red carpet in the future, consider yourself forewarned — though you may also want to forearm yourself with every stylist’s favourite hand-steamer (£150, steamery.co.uk), thereby cutting out the final barrier to truly enjoying wearing shirts: the ironing. Twitter: @harrywalker1 Cate Blanchett Effortless and easy, it’s a favourite of Cate Blanchett for a reason, says Harriet Walker T he latest status move on the red carpet isn’t to do with how high your heels are or how many people you require to help to carry your skirt. It isn’t even about finding a previously overlooked area of your anatomy to expose. Instead it’s rather more applicable to your own wardrobe — and, if you’ll forgive me for talking about parties during dry January, should mean you’ll never have to worry about what ranks as “dressy enough” ever again. Say hello to the power shirt, an item that isn’t just more comfortable than your average A-list fashion craze but more adaptable to real life too. What Sharon Stone did with a white Gap shirt at the Oscars in 1998, Cate Blanchett re-upped in Max Mara safari beige at the Critics’ Choice awards on Sunday. The Gen Z poster girl Zendaya gave the power shirt a cropped spin in Valentino at last year’s Oscars, while Uma Thurman’s Bottega Veneta shirt and black satin maxiskirt was a (slightly) more relatable, absfree version at the same event. All well and good, you may well be thinking, but some of us don’t have any awards ceremonies to attend or red carpets to grace — so what of it? Fair enough, but the rise of the shirt on even the red carpet (usually wallto-wall corsets and halternecks, remember) mirrors its everyday failsafe status of late in less grandiose wardrobes too. It may seem counterintuitive that, as dress codes have shifted almost universally away from buttoned-up and starchy, the shirt should have taken off so universally, but this once-smart piece of clothing is actually more like casualwear hiding in plain sight. It’s a top, it’s a cardi, it’s a jacket. It can be an extra layer, an underlayer or the only one you need, and now it can even be your black-tie saviour should your social calendar require. The power shirt has come about thanks to this garment’s ninja qualities of looking formal while feeling comfortable, presenting its wearer as someone who has made an effort while really being one of the easiest things to sling on without having to think about it. “It’s effortless but exudes such confidence, and I think that is the coolest look,” says Pip Durell, the former Tatler fashion editor who founded a brand dedicated only to shirts. Its name is a styling note in itself: With Nothing Underneath. “A shirt is the most democratic piece of clothing. Everyone can wear one and a good one is always an asset to your wardrobe — probably the hardest-working item in there.” Back to Blanchett and the film she is repping right now, Tár, the tale of a power-tripping orchestral conductor that features even more delectable power shirts as part of the action. I haven’t yet seen it, thanks to two small maestros at home who are more demanding of my spare time than even the most fragile creative ego, but a fashion friend has described it as a “triumph of tailoring”. Perhaps its star, thus beshirted, was loath to return to the usual strictures of zips and Spanx at the step and repeat once filming had wrapped. Sourced by the costume designer Bina Daigeler, who bought from Zendaya Sharon Stone and Phil Bronstein in 1998 It exudes such confidence — I think that is the coolest look It’s the red carpet power shirt
8 Wednesday January 18 2023 | the times times2 W ith my unpaid tax bill looming, I was beginning to feel a bit queasy about my Christmas spending and the boozy dinner party that I threw on New Year’s Eve. But new data has proven that it’s not actually my fault that I’m broke — it’s just because I’m single. Which is, OK, admittedly also down to me. And if anything could tempt me to date, it might be the £860 a month that being single is apparently costing me. Hargreaves Lansdown (an investment platform I had to google because I don’t have investments, probably also because I’m single) tallied up the average cost of living. For single people it’s £1,851 a month. For couples it’s £1,982, so £991 each. That £131 difference in total household spend was based on two “savings” for singles: food and council tax. But neither feels like a saving in reality. First, the single pringles were still spending more than half of the I’m paying the price for being single The cost of living crisis is worse if you live alone, writes Charlie Gowans-Eglinton couple’s food budget. I might eat less than two (arguable, but let’s go with it for the sake of this article), but buying in bulk is invariably cheaper; discounted supermarkets give the best value on big bags of fruit and veg, eggs by the dozen and family packs of meat and fish. I don’t have the cupboard or freezer space to stockpile, so I schlep around doing my shopping at local greengrocers and butchers, where I can buy just enough for one person to eat before it goes off. When I do order food online, there’s not just a delivery fee, there’s a small order surcharge too. I pay 25 per cent less council tax than a couple, but anything less than a 50 per cent discount actually leaves me paying more each month. Other things that are cheaper shared: subscriptions, wi-fi, the TV licence (this one really winds me up as the cost is per household, not per person or device — I’d pay the same if I lived in a Footballer’s McMansion with TVs popping out of every crevice). I sponge off my sister’s Disney+ and my parents’ Netflix, but those are small savings compared with paying energy bills alone — heating costs the same no matter who’s home, although it’s colder to start with when there’s only one person in the room. For some of my friends who are cohabiting or married (even better — tax breaks), the savings just mean a slightly less fraught financial juggle at the end of the month. For others it means luxuries like a cleaner, whose fee is also split between two, or more holidays, where they can split the cost of a hotel room and rental car. When Charlie GowansEglinton it comes to hobbies I can’t even split discounted shared memberships with similarly inclined single friends — you have to live at the same address to qualify for the discount at Kew Gardens, the National Gallery, the National Trust, my local leisure centre. Most things cost less if you pay annually rather than monthly, but single people are also less likely to have “sufficient emergency savings” — just 53 per cent of singles do, compared with 79 per cent of couples — which in my case means always having to pay the smaller amount, even though it will cost me more in the long run. Which, really, is the same thing I’m doing as a private renter. The (already very steep) figures were based on rents “outside London”, which I am not. I’m spending just more than half of the mortgage that a couple I know pay on a much larger flat a few streets away, the value of which has just gone up again. Meanwhile I’m struggling to save a buyer’s deposit alone, and single-salary mortgages don’t just mean I need the same income as a couple — I need to make more than them, as most mortgage brokers will only lend lower salary multiples to single people, knowing that once they’ve bought a home they’ll have no one to split household costs with. Then there are the little things. The never-being-able-to-order-twodifferent-curries-to-share tax. The having-to-carry-all-the-shopping-bags tax. The not-being-able-to-book-thecomfy-sofa-for-two-at-my-local-poshcinema tax. I’d ask someone to pass the violin, but there is no one here, remember? It’s almost enough to make me want a boyfriend. But then I remember that he would have to live in my flat, and I would have to share the sofa with him rather than stretch the length of it, and that I might have to let him have the first shower or the last bagel occasionally. And then I remember what it was like to share a bathroom with a man (the lavatory seat and the fact that baths are not self-cleaning aside, they should be paying for more than half of the bathroom if they’re going to spend that long on the loo). That’s the couple tax, and pretty taxing it is too — but at least they can afford a holiday. I’d ask someone to pass the violin, but there’s no one here, remember
the times | Wednesday January 18 2023 9 arts T he name Gina Lollobrigida may not have resonated much in the modern world when word broke yesterday that the Italian actress/artist/ tabloid star had died this week at the age of 95. But that concatenation of syllables — Gee-na Lo-low-bridge-eeda, a miniature aria or barcarolle — once echoed around the globe as the embodiment of Italian womanhood, culture, sensuality and national identity. Sure, there was lust attached: La Lollo, as she was known in the Italian media, had risen to fame in the late 1940s principally on the strength of her remarkable beauty — her fine features, her fiery eyes and, maybe most of all, her hourglass figure. She was a fetching and sexy comic actress, especially good at playing peasant and working-class girls of high spirits and rascally energy as she did in 1952’s Fanfan la Tulipe, her first international hit. But none of her films was as attractive as she was; her pulchritude was her passport. The truth of this dismayed her. She reckoned herself a serious actress, with intellectual interests in drama and fine art. She held social and political views that aligned her with the Catholic church and the centrist Christian Democratic political party. She eventually pursued careers as a sculptor and a photojournalist, and she even ran for political office. But it was as a beauty that she became an emblem of Italian pride when the country rose from the ashes of the Second World War to become, barely a decade after the death of Mussolini, the font of Europe’s most alluring trends in fashion, cinema and lifestyle. Italy may have produced better actresses before (Anna Magnani) and after her (Sophia Loren), but when she rose to fame, Gina Lollobrigida, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, might as well have been Italy’s only actress, a living advertisement for a way of life that would soon come to be known as La Dolce Vita. Growing up in a culturally ItalianAmerican household in New York in the 1960s and 1970s, I was aware of Lollobrigida chiefly as my grandmother’s favourite actress, which made her seem dowdy and safe. Her Hollywood movies — the only ones then available on TV — were of Sophia Loren, left, and Gina Lollobrigida with Michael Jackson in Rome in 1988. Top: Lollobrigida on the set of Solomon and Sheba (1959) and, above right, with Telly Savalas in 1968’s Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell dubious quality. Her manner seemed stagy and old-fashioned. (In contrast, Loren, seven years younger, not only made better films of more modern sensibilities but caused my father’s eyeballs to pop out of his skull like those of a Tex Avery wolf, which a boy couldn’t help but notice.) What I didn’t learn until I began researching my 2016 book Dolce Vita Confidential, which tells the story of the Italian cultural revival of the 1950s and 1960s, was that Lollobrigida and Loren respectively embodied aspects of Italian society that modernity had forced into a clash. In the mid-1950s, the most heated rivalry chronicled by Italy’s newspapers and magazines wasn’t the chaos of the nation’s politics or the football derbies of Rome and Milan. Rather, it was the war between La Lollo and Loren: the star v the upstart; the Roman v the Neapolitan; the happy wife who had famously rebuffed the advances of Howard Hughes and Errol Flynn v the scrappy girl who had appeared nude on screen as a teenager and was involved in a romance with a Why La Lollo was Loren’s rival and my grandmother’s favourite Shawn Levy looks at the impact of Gina Lollobrigida in post-Mussolini Italy — and in his own household film producer 22 years older than her who was married with two children. The two were compared on the basis of their film performances and ticket sales, yes. But more frequently they were compared for their body measurements, wardrobes, beauty regimens and love lives. They were the two most celebrated of the maggiorate (the “curvy” girls), a species of actress that had arisen in the years after the war, when cinema was one of the quickest of Italy’s industries to rebound and spread into the wider world, fuelled largely by the spectacle of voluptuous women dressed in melodramatic, and revealing, tatters. At the time, Lollobrigida was easily the more popular and influential. She had been in movies since the end of the war and she had worked with some of Italy’s most commercially successful directors. Her resumé included a highly popular series of romantic comedies and she had appeared as Humphrey Bogart’s wife in John Huston’s filmed-in-Italy shaggy dog story Beat the Devil. She was known for her beauty, yes, but also for her thoughtful sensibility. Her career was a model for any young Italian starlet. Loren was flattered by the competition, but La Lollo wanted nothing to do with the girl she saw as a headline-grabbing wannabe. Indeed, there seemed to be real tension. In 1954, when they met for the first time, at a reception at the Berlin Film Festival, Lollobrigida refused to be photographed alongside Loren until the Hollywood actress Yvonne De Carlo thrust herself between them and forced the matter. A few months later, Lollobrigida stormed out of a London event promoting Italian film when reporters tried to engage her in a bosom-measuring contest with Loren, who stood by smiling, happy to compete. Eventually, Lollobrigida groused to a reporter who asked her about Loren that “we are as different as a fine racehorse and a goat!” In time, of course, the goat outpaced the racehorse. Loren became one of the most iconic actresses (and, yes, beauties) in cinema history. And the rivalry, while never entirely thawed, lost most of its impetus; La Lollo and Loren were photographed together in 1988 at a party in Rome, with Michael Jackson standing between them this time and less strain on all faces. By then, Lollobrigida’s years as a movie star and maggiorata seemed to have happened to another woman entirely. She had stopped acting, for the most part, in the early 1970s, appearing only sporadically, in small parts, for the next decade, and thereafter barely at all. Instead, she travelled the world as a photographer and sometime journalist, scoring a coup by interviewing Fidel Castro at some length. And she led bizarre romantic and political lives. She leaves behind a filmography that isn’t exactly studded with great art. She never worked with any of the globally celebrated Italian directors of her day, not Fellini or Rossellini or Visconti (though she did make a single film, the very lightweight Anna of Brooklyn, with Loren’s great collaborator Vittorio De Sica). But you can see her to good effect in Carol Reed’s Trapeze, John Sturges’ Never So Few, Robert Mulligan’s Come September and, especially, Jules Dassin’s The Law, an allegory of rural cruelty and passion that captures some of the raw energies that made her a star. I, though, shall remember her best for the terrible 1968 “romantic” “comedy” Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell, in which she plays a rural Italian woman who isn’t sure which of three American soldiers (Phil Silvers, Telly Savalas, Peter Lawford) fathered her now-grown daughter. I can’t recommend a minute of it, but the sight of my grandmother smiling dreamily at the spectacle of an Italian beauty putting dumb Yanks through merry hell remains a gift to me that only Gina Lollobrigida might have evoked. Shawn Levy is the author of Dolce Vita Confidential, The Castle on Sunset and In on the Joke: The Original Queens of Stand-Up Comedy
10 Wednesday January 18 2023 | the times times2 Codeword Every letter in the crossword-style grid, right, has been substituted for a number from 1 to 26. Each letter of the alphabet appears in the grid at least once. Use the letters already provided to work out the identity of further letters. Enter letters in the main grid and the smaller reference grid until all 26 letters of the alphabet have been accounted for. Proper nouns are excluded. Every day, Monday to Thursday, a page of extra puzzles to give your brain an extended workout Samurai difficult Fill each grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Where the puzzles overlap, the rows and columns do not go beyond their usual length. Sudoku easy Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Each set of cells joined by dotted lines must add up to the target number in its top-left corner. Within each set of cells joined by dotted lines, a digit cannot be repeated. Killer gentle Train Tracks Lay tracks to enable the train to travel from village A to village B. The numbers indicate how many sections of rail go in each row and column. There are only straight rails and curved rails. The track cannot cross itself. Futoshiki Fill the blank squares so that every row and column contains each of the numbers 1 to 5 once only. The symbols between the squares indicate whether a number is larger (>) or smaller (<) than the number next to it. SUDOKU FUTOSHIKI CODEWORD KILLER Suko Place the numbers 1 to 9 in the spaces so that the number in each circle is equal to the sum of the four surrounding spaces, and each colour total is correct A A A A B C D E E F I I I M M N N N N O O P P R R S S S T U Y Y 1 Agreement put in case one overhears? (4) 2 Cartoon dog so confused with pony (6) 3 Long hair Romeo has initially not in fashion (6) 4 Severe shortage of renown around home (6) 5 Less important payments I log (10) Solve all five cryptic clues using each letter underneath once only - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Quintagram® Solve all five cryptic clues using each letter underneath once only Solutions in tomorrow’s Times2 Yesterday’s solutions SAMURAI TRAIN TRACKS SUKO QUINTAGRAM 1 Civic 2 Hayes 3 Allied 4 Reveal 5 Dead centre Your weekday brain boost More puzzles Pages 14-16
the times | Wednesday January 18 2023 11 television & radio Times Radio Digital, web, smart speaker, app 5.00am Anna Cunningham with Early Breakfast 6.00 Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell with Times Radio Breakfast 10.00 Matt Chorley 1.00pm Mariella Frostrup 3.00 Jane Garvey and Fi Glover. Live discussion of the day’s news 5.00 John Pienaar with Times Radio Drive. A full round-up of today’s developments 7.00 Pienaar and Friends. Informed debate with leading figures 8.00 The Evening Edition with Kait Borsay. Engaging evening conversation 10.00 Carole Walker. The main stories of the day 1.00am Stories of Our Times 1.30 Red Box 2.00 Highlights from Times Radio Radio 2 FM: 88-90.2 MHz 6.30am The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show 9.30 Ken Bruce. Craig Revel Horwood chooses his Tracks of My Years 12.00 Jeremy Vine 2.00pm Scott Mills 4.00 Sara Cox 6.30 Sara Cox’s Half Wower 7.00 Jo Whiley’s Shiny Happy Playlist 7.30 Jo Whiley. Gabrielle Aplin plays a Sofa Session for Jo, including tracks from her latest album 9.00 The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe. Traditional and contemporary folk and acoustic music with interviews and live sessions 10.00 Trevor Nelson’s Magnificent 7. Seven of Rhythm Nation’s biggest hits, uplifting tunes and essential throwbacks 10.30 Trevor Nelson’s Rhythm Nation. The DJ introduces a mix of R’n’B and soulful tunes 12.00 OJ Borg 3.00am Sounds of the 90s with Fearne Cotton (r) 4.00 Early Breakfast Show Radio 3 FM: 90.2-92.4 MHz 6.30am Breakfast Presented by Kate Molleson. Including 7.00, 8.00 News. 7.30, 8.30 News headlines 9.00 Essential Classics Featuring new discoveries, musical surprises and plenty of familiar favourites 12.00 Composer of the Week: Shostakovich (1906-1975) How Stalin offered Shostakovich an opportunity to rescue his reputation. Presented by Donald Macleod. Shostakovich (Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op 47: II. Allegretto; Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op 47: IV. Allegro non troppo; Violin Concerto No. 1 In A Minor, Op. 99: I. Nocturne. Moderato; From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: III. Lullaby, IV. Before A Long Separation, V. A Warning; and Song of the Forests) 1.00pm Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert Simon Trpceski plays Mozart and the Nash Ensemble perform Schubert’s most famous quintet in Bath’s Assembly Rooms at the 2022 annual Mozartfest. Presented by Sarah Walker. Mozart (8 Variations in A major on Come un agnello, K 460); and Schubert (Piano Quintet in A major D 667 The Trout) 2.00 Afternoon Concert Penny Gore with music by BBC ensembles and also ensembles from across Europe. Including, Ella Macens (The Lake); JS Bach (Prelude and Sarabande, from Cello Suite No. 3 in C, BWV 1009); Beethoven (Musik zu einem Ritterballett); Amanda Maier-Röntgen (Allegro, from String Quartet in A); Haydn (6 Original canzonettas, Set 2 — No 2, The Wanderer); CPE Bach (Symphony No. 1 in D, Wq. 183/1); Sibelius (Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47); Byrd (Quomodo cantabimus); and Wagner (Prelude, Act 1 “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg”) 4.00 Live Choral Evensong Live from the Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge. Introit: O gracious light (Austin Echolls). Responses: Sarah MacDonald. Psalms 93, 94 (Slater, MacPherson). First Lesson: 1 Kings 19 vv.9b-18. Canticles: Evening Service in B flat (Howard Helvey). Second Lesson: Lesson: Mark 9 vv.2-13. Anthem: Brightest and best (Sarah Rimkus). Voluntary: Missa di Gloria (Gloria) (Leighton). Sarah MacDonald (Director of Music), Adam Field (Organ Scholar) 5.00 In Tune A selection of music, arts news and guests. Including 5.00, 6.00 News 7.00 In Tune Mixtape An eclectic non-stop mix of music, featuring pieces by Mussorgsky, Pachelbel, Monteverdi, Bridge and Chopin (r) 7.30 Radio 3 in Concert The BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Ryan Bancroft perform. Beethoven (Overture to Coriolan, Op 62); Ligeti (Violin Concerto); R Schumann (Toccata, Op 7; and Symphony No 4 in D minor, Op 120 — original version, 1841); Schulhoff (String Sextet, 1st mvt); and C Schumann (Piano Trio Op 17, 4th mvt) 10.00 Free Thinking A conversation about higher education and the history of its expansion 10.45 The Essay: From Biltong to Bobotie — Journeys in South African Cuisine Lindsay Johns introduces listeners to the South African food he knows the best 11.00 Night Tracks Presented by Hannah Peel 12.30am Through the Night (r) Radio 4 FM: 92.4-94.6 MHz LW: 198kHz MW: 720 kHz 5.30am News Briefing 5.43 Prayer for the Day 5.45 Farming Today 5.58 Tweet of the Day 6.00 Today With Nick Robinson and Mishal Husain 8.31 (LW) Yesterday in Parliament 9.00 More or Less Explaining the numbers and statistics that are used in everyday life (2/8) 9.30 Just One Thing with Michael Mosley How social relationships can lower stress and boost the immune system (2/10) 9.45 (LW) Daily Service 9.45 Book of the Week: On Savage Shores — How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe By Caroline Dodds Pennock (3/5) 10.00 Woman’s Hour Magazine show presented by Emma Barnett 11.00 I’m Not a Monster: The Shamima Begum Story Retracing Shamima’s route reveals a smuggling network (2/10) 11.30 Oti Mabuse’s Dancing Legends Wayne Sleep tells Oti about his dancing legend, Jerome Robbins (7/8) 12.01pm (LW) Shipping Forecast 12.04 You and Yours 1.00 The World at One 1.45 Inside Pages Ian Wylie visits Stone in Staffordshire (3/5) 2.00 The Archers (r) 2.15 Drama: Eat and Run By Paolo Chianta. A family become unlikely criminals as serial “dine and dashers” but after having their bill taken out of her wages, a waitress vows to track them down 3.00 Money Box Live Financial questions 3.30 Inside Health Weekly quest to demystify health issues 4.00 Thinking Allowed Thought-provoking issues (5/7) 4.30 The Media Show Ros Atkins presents the latest news from the fast-changing media world 5.00 PM 5.54 (LW) Shipping Forecast 6.00 Six O’Clock News 6.30 Conversations from a Long Marriage Joanna and Roger reminisce about their wedding, 40 years ago (3/6) 7.00 The Archers Lee has a worrying phone call 7.15 Front Row 8.00 The Moral Maze (2/12) 8.45 Four Thought Sarah Williams explains how she will not have children due to the climate crisis (3) 9.00 A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand: Can I Change? The twins speak to a social worker who supports people making change (7/8) (r) 9.30 The Media Show (r) 10.00 The World Tonight 10.45 Book at Bedtime: Act of Oblivion By Robert Harris (3/10) 11.00 What’s the Story, Ashley Storrie? Ashley is sworn to secrecy as the family move home to avoid any repercussions (3/4) 11.15 Darren Harriott: Black Label Darren looks back at his time as a bouncer working at nightclubs and shops (3/4) (r) 11.30 Today in Parliament Analysis of the day’s developments 12.00 News and Weather 12.30am Book of the Week: On Savage Shores — How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe (r) 12.48 Shipping Forecast 1.00 As BBC World Service Radio 4 Extra Digital only 8.00am Hancock’s Half Hour 8.30 Flying the Flag 9.00 The Write Stuff 9.30 Tales from the Tower 10.00 Rob Roy 11.00 Bitter Medicine 11.30 Find the Lady 12.00 Unsheltered 12.15pm Unsuitable Men with Familiar Smiles 12.30 Women Talking About Cars 1.00 Hancock’s Half Hour 1.30 Flying the Flag 2.00 The Write Stuff 2.30 Tales from the Tower 3.00 Rob Roy 4.00 Bitter Medicine 4.30 Find the Lady 5.00 Unsheltered 5.15 Unsuitable Men with Familiar Smiles 5.30 Women Talking About Cars 6.00 Hancock’s Half Hour 6.30 Flying the Flag. Toxic waste is a challenge for Ambassador Mackenzie 7.00 Jake Yapp’s Unwinding. The comedian and broadcaster presents a new live show for January evenings 10.00 Comedy Club: Conversations from a Long Marriage. Joanna gets distracted by a work project 10.30 Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better. Sketches 11.00 Prince Ivor. The BBC commissions Ivor Cutler to write an opera, but nothing goes smoothly. See Radio Choice 11.20 Ivor Meets Craig. Ivor Cutler talks neighbours and art 11.30 Cutler on Education. Ivor Cutler tries to put his finger on the button of the education debate 11.45 Cutler the Lax. More surreal comedy Radio 5 Live MW: 693, 909 5.00am Wake Up to Money 6.00 5 Live Breakfast 9.00 Nicky Campbell 11.00 Naga Munchetty 1.00pm Nihal Arthanayake 4.00 5 Live Drive. With Tony Livesey and Clare McDonnell 7.00 5 Live Sport 10.00 Colin Murray 1.00am Dotun Adebayo talkSPORT MW: 1053, 1089 kHz 5.00am Early Breakfast 6.00 talkSPORT Breakfast with Laura Woods 10.00 Jim White and Simon Jordan 1.00pm Hawksbee and Jacobs 4.00 talkSPORT Drive with Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent 7.00 Kick Off 10.00 Sports Bar 1.00am Extra Time TalkRadio Digital only 5.00am James Max 6.30 The Julia Hartley-Brewer Breakfast Show 10.00 The Independent Republic of Mike Graham 1.00pm Ian Collins. Monologues and debates 4.00 Vanessa Feltz 7.00 Jeremy Kyle 8.00 Piers Morgan Uncensored 9.00 The Talk 10.00 Tom Newton Dunn 11.00 Live: Petrie Hosken 1.00am Paul Ross 6 Music Digital only 5.00am Chris Hawkins 7.30 Lauren Laverne 10.30 Mary Anne Hobbs 1.00pm Craig Charles 4.00 Steve Lamacq 7.00 Marc Riley 9.00 Gideon Coe 12.00 Freak Zone Playlist 1.00am The First Time with Karen O 2.00 The First Time with James Murphy 3.00 6 Music Live Hour 4.00 6 Music Goes Back to the 00s — The Playlist Virgin Radio Digital only 6.30am The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky 10.00 Eddy Temple-Morris 1.00pm Jayne Middlemiss 4.00 Ricky Wilson 7.00 Bam 10.00 Amy Voce 1.00am Sean Goldsmith 4.00 Steve Denyer Classic FM FM: 100-102 MHz 6.00am More Music Breakfast 9.00 Alexander Armstrong 12.00 Anne-Marie Minhall 4.00pm John Brunning 7.00 Smooth Classics at Seven. Presented by Zeb Soanes 10.00 Smooth Classics 1.00am Bill Overton 4.00 Early Breakfast Radio choice Ben Dowell Ivor Cutler Day Radio 4 Extra, 11pm Cult artist, poet, singer of quirkily surreal songs and master of the harmonium, Ivor Cutler, above, counted Paul McCartney among his fans. The Beatle loved his voice and recruited him to play the bus conductor Buster Bloodvessel on the 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour. This programme celebrates the centenary of Cutler’s birth with repeats of four short programmes including Prince Ivor from 1983 about the time he was commissioned to write an opera. It is followed by Ivor Meets Craig from a decade later in which he shares his thoughts about being an artist with the New Zealand-born sculptor Craig Murray-Orr. our tv newsletter N o sooner have we caught our breath after the final episode of The Traitors than the US version comes along to hit us with the power of a forcefully thrown Highland caber. The whole series is on BBC iPlayer, but I’d recommend savouring it in nightly morsels (it comes to BBC3 and BBC1 next week) because this is such a clever, adaptable format. As you probably know, it distils those essential ingredients of the best reality contests — scheming and lying — as secretly planted “traitors” spread discord among the “faithful” in a fight for a six-figure prize pot. While the UK version had the deliciously Machiavellian “traitor” Wilf, who (spoiler, if you haven’t yet caught up) fell almost elegiacally at the final hurdle, these viciously competitive Americans make him look like a choirboy. The format, the castle, the gothic cosplay and the challenges are identical, but with people shouting, “Which one of y’all are lying to me?” and, “Oh my God, this is a castle!” as the host Alan Cumming hams it up in a tartan drape that nearly puts Claudia Winkleman’s tweed in the shade. The big change is the casting, with contestants from various US reality shows mixed in with that breed sometimes patronisingly known to insta-fame celebrities as “civilians”. To this British eye it’s hard to tell them apart. Everyone seems brash, loud and possessed of perfect fangs that they were more than prepared to use. Civilian Andie Vanacore barely blinked when boasting about how “perceptive” she was and saying that “celebrities . . . are people too”. “I definitely was born for this game,” said the celebrity real estate agent Reza Farahan, before hilariously coming a cropper. “I’m kind of an icon,” chipped in Big Brother US alumnus Rachel Reilly, with an impressively straight face. While the Brits were more diffident, this lot are notable for the way they play the game hard and fast from the outset, and with what feels like an allconsuming dislike for each other. It gives the series a different, if less subtle, dramatic power, full of rehearsed reality show bitchiness, such as the delicious moment when Kate Chastain (from Below Deck) suggested that Reilly’s clothes looked like “community theatre” costumes. Ouch. We can laugh at Kyle Cooke from the reality show Summer House saying, “I’m very calculated,” but it would be wise to regard any apparent artlessness from any of these people with suspicion. Even the ingenuousseeming Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, who spent his first day looking for a secret door in the castle walls, clearly had hidden shallows. The normies have watched these people in these shows, too, and they perhaps know the rules better than anyone. “I’m going to stab and murder and destroy so many people,” bellowed the army veteran Christian de la Torre, a traitor who looked and often behaved like TJ Miller’s obnoxious character Erlich Bachman from the comedy Silicon Valley. In some ways it’s a fair approach in a game that uses the language of “murdering” and “banishing” people. But at least our lot did their backstabbing with slightly more remorse and charm. You can smile and be a villain, as Hamlet said. Still, gloves off can be fun too. Ruthless American traitors put ours in the shade The Traitors US BBC iPlayer {{{{( Ben Dowell TV review Alan Cumming hams it up as the host in the Highlands this time
12 Wednesday January 18 2023 | the times television & radio live a mundane life in Delaware. However, Chrissy is the antichrist and coming into her demon powers leads her to finally meet her father: Satan (DeVito). He yearns for custody of his daughter’s soul and for her to join the family business. DeVito describes the series as “bold . . . it doesn’t sneak up on you, it comes at you”. Little Demon Disney+ This absurdist adult animation from the co-creators of Rick and Morty features the vocal talents of Aubrey Plaza, Danny DeVito and his daughter Lucy. It follows Plaza’s Laura, a “badass” single mum, and her sheltered teenage daughter, Chrissy, as they try to left the road at 70mph. She has no movement or sensation below the waist and Dr Sam Todd must perform complex surgery to preserve any movement and sensation she still has. “We’re not robots, we’re human beings,” Rallan says. Their work under extreme pressure is skilled and precise, but it’s their empathy that is most striking. issue is a collapsed lung, which is fixed by a chest drain. The next challenge for the consultant orthopaedic surgeon Lee Van Rensburg is to repair Ben’s badly fractured femur, completing the operation before the patient’s lungs stop working. Back in the ER, Jasvinder, a single mother of four, is brought in after her car consultant emergency physician Rishi Rallan. In this episode specialists work against the clock to treat patients who are suffering from life and limb-threatening injuries. First in is 33- year-old Ben, who has crashed his motorcycle into a fixed metal gate. He is in significant pain and groaning like a bear. The immediate trauma centre. Most operations in the UK are planned weeks in advance, but this unit treats some of the country’s most seriously injured patients and carries out more than 210 emergency operations every week. “With trauma you’re making really challenging decisions, really, really fast,” says the Viewing Guide Joe Clay Surgeons: At the Edge of Life BBC2, 9pm A fifth series following the scalpelwielding miracle workers at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge begins with a visit to the major Top pick 7PM Early 8PM 9PM 10PM 11PM Late BBC1 BBC2 ITV1 Channel 4 Channel 5 7.00 The One Show Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas present 7.30 EastEnders Whitney goes for her first baby scan, and Alfie’s plan to reopen the Vic goes south when Denise finds out (AD) 8.00 Waterloo Road The Walters family find themselves in a crisis with nowhere to turn for help, pushing Preston to the edge. Val uncovers a truth about Kai, causing problems for him and Danny and leaving Val with a big decision (3/7) (AD) 9.00 Silent Witness Nikki manages to get behind the mask of the lead suspect while Jack has a breakthrough at the festival site. A surprise event at the Lyell brings some hope (6/10) (AD) 10.00 BBC News at Ten 10.30 BBC Regional News and Weather 10.40 King of Thieves (15, 2018) A thief pulls together a band of misfits to plot the biggest bank heist in British history. They escape with around £200million worth of stolen jewels and money, but when police are called to the scene and the investigation starts, the cracks between the eccentric gang members begin to show. Crime drama based on the Hatton Garden heist starring Michael Caine and Michael Gambon. See Viewing Guide 12.25am The Apprentice For week two, the candidates are summoned to Hutong at the Shard in Central London, where Lord Sugar reveals that they will be manufacturing bao buns to punt to the public and a bespoke sweet one to sell to a corporate client, with the team who secures the biggest overall profit winning (r) 1.30-6.00 BBC News 7.00 This Farming Life When Emma misses not one but two ferries with her livestock, it serves as a harsh reminder that the couple are not used to island living just yet. Meanwhile, Joanna and Donald press ahead with plans for their farm shop, and young farmer Sean returns home (6/12) (r) 8.00 Winterwatch Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan present wildlife stories from Wild Ken Hill in Norfolk. Elsewhere, in Edinburgh, Gillian Burke and Iolo Williams head into a cemetery to see the wildlife that uses these city habitats as a haven, before a check-in with the live wild badger cameras 9.00 Surgeons: At the Edge of Life New series. The specialists at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge treat a man who has serious injuries after crashing his motorbike and a motorist who has damaged her spine. See Viewing Guide (1/6) (AD) 10.00 Our Flag Means Death Stede’s men take a trip in the hope of ransoming the remaining hostage, and Blackbeard takes an interest in Stede (3/10) (AD) 10.30 Newsnight Analysis of the day’s events presented by Kirsty Wark 11.15 India: The Modi Question Documentary focusing on Indian PM Narendra Modi and the persistent allegations about his attitude towards India’s Muslim population that have plagued his premiership (1/2) (r) 12.15am Sign Zone: See Hear Julian Peedle-Calloo explores deaf representation on the silver screen (r) (SL) 12.45 The Traitors. Claudia Winkleman hosts as another Faithful does not make it to breakfast (r) (AD, SL) 1.45 The Travelling Auctioneers. Downsizing a home (r) (SL) 2.30-3.30 The Love Box in Your Living Room (r) (AD, SL) 7.30 Emmerdale Gabby is mortified, and Nicola encourages Bernice to make a huge investment. Meanwhile, Will comforts an upset Dawn (AD) 8.00 Coronation Street Paul seeks revenge for Mike’s treatment of Summer, Ryan gives Nick an insight into the real Damon, and Daniel plots a thoughtful surprise. Meanwhile, Stephen confides in Gail that he is worried Elaine might be reading too much into their friendship (AD) 9.00 Next Level Chef Gordon Ramsay hosts the culinary challenge, which sees the contestants go Italian — but the kitchen in which each of them works, from the swanky top floor to the dingy basement, depends on how well they did last week (2/8) (AD) 10.00 ITV News at Ten; Weather 10.30 Regional News; Weather 10.45 Peston Political magazine show hosted by Robert Peston, featuring interviews with MPs, topical guests and cultural figures. Including updates from social media taking in perspectives from viewers, experts and key players throughout the programme 11.40 The Family Pile Comedy about four bereaved sisters who clash over the sale of the family home (1/6) (r) (AD) 12.10am Teleshopping 3.00 When Can I See My GP? Tonight. Dr Amir Khan investigates how to fix primary care (r) (SL) 3.25 James Martin’s French Adventure. The chef visits locations that inspired his culinary career, beginning in Saint-Émilion (r) (AD, SL) 3.50 Unwind with ITV 5.05-6.00 Dickinson’s Real Deal (r) (AD, SL) 7.00 Channel 4 News 8.00 Kirstie and Phil’s Love It or List It A couple from Lothianburn enlist the help of the hosts to see if they can improve the seven-acre property they live in or if they should start afresh somewhere new (AD) 9.00 The Light in the Hall Things go from bad to worse for Sharon and Joe. Shelley and Cat try to help Joe remember what happened the night he went to prison, but Sharon is left conflicted when a pivotal piece of evidence surfaces (5/6) (AD) 10.00 The Caribbean: Billionaires’ Paradise Neysha Soodeen celebrates with family and friends in style. In Barbados, Shana Hinds and Faith Callender collaborate on a new track and the photographer Junior Sealy completes an interior design project on a millionaire’s villa (3/4) (AD) 11.05 Billion Pound Cruise Daily life on the mammoth cruise ship the Symphony of the Seas, revealing how some of the 6,680 guests occupy themselves on board this billion-pound vessel that is full of surprises (AD) 12.10am 24 Hours in A&E (r) (AD, SL) 1.05 Belfast Midwives (r) (AD, SL) 2.00 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (r) (SL) 2.50 FILM: Mistress America (15, 2015) Comedy with Lola Kirke, Greta Gerwig and Kathryn Erbe 4.20 Building the Dream (r) (AD, SL) 5.15-6.10 Sarah Beeny’s New Life in the Country (r) (AD, SL) 7.00 You Are What You Eat Trisha Goddard and Dr Amir Khan help a busy mum and an entrepreneur, both in desperate need of a life-changing intervention (3/6) (r) 7.55 5 News Update 8.00 My Cornwall with Fern Britton The last leg of the presenter’s road trip takes her to an industrious corner of Cornwall, the ancient Hundreds of Kerrier and Penwith. Fern views one of the best preserved ancient farming villages in the South West, which are among the oldest structures (3/3) 9.00 No Place Like Home Ben Miller returns to his hometown of Nantwich in Cheshire, where he embarks on a surprising and moving journey of discovery. The actor and author boards a narrow boat on the Nantwich Canal to relive his favourite boyhood pastime — fishing. See Viewing Guide (3/6) 10.00 A&E After Dark When a motorcyclist is rushed in after colliding with a deer, a consultant must establish why the woman is having trouble feeling her legs, and a man is devastated when an accident in the gym means he may not be able to compete in Hull’s strongest man contest (3/12) (r) 11.05 Skin A&E Four dermatologists treat patients for skin conditions such as cysts, lipomas and skin tags that the NHS views as cosmetic, but that can hugely affect the sufferers (10/12) (r) (AD) 12.05am Ambulance: Code Red Paramedics are called out when a child is run over on the way to school (r) 1.00 LeoVegas Live Casino Show 3.00 Holiday Homes in the Sun (r) 3.50 My Mum’s Hotter Than Me! (r) 4.40 House Busters (r) (SL) 5.05 House Doctor (r) (SL) 5.35 Peppa Pig (r) 5.40 Paw Patrol (r) 5.50-6.00 Pip and Posy (r) 6.00am Breakfast 9.15 Morning Live: Cost of Living Special. Magazine 10.00 Rip Off Britain Live: Cost of Living Special. Consumer show 10.45 For Love or Money. A widow whose life savings were targeted by a man she met online (r) 11.15 Homes Under the Hammer. The progress of properties in Crewe, Derby and Paddington (r) (AD) 12.15pm Bargain Hunt. Natasha Raskin Sharp hosts from Heanor Antiques Centre in Derbyshire (r) (AD) 1.00 BBC News at One; Weather 1.30 BBC Regional News; Weather 1.45 Doctors. Luca has a crush on Jamie, and Scarlett and Kirsty rub each other the wrong way (AD) 2.15 The Farmers’ Country Showdown. Two sheep farmers compete in Lambeth Country Show 3.00 Escape to the Country. Steve Brown helps a potential buyer looking for a property in Cornwall (r) (AD) 3.45 The Repair Shop. The experts restore a coil purse, a Flamenco guitar and a taxi meter (AD) 4.30 Make It at Market. Dom Chinea helps an artist and a potter make their passions a business (AD) 5.15 Pointless. Quiz hosted by Alexander Armstrong, with Richard Osman (r) 6.00 BBC News at Six; Weather 6.30 BBC Regional News; Weather 6.55 Party Political Broadcast. By the Labour Party 6.30am The Farmers’ Country Showdown. Cattle and goat farmers compete at the Moreton-in-Marsh Show (r) 7.15 Make It at Market. Dom Chinea helps a glass-blower and a potter make their hobbies into businesses (r) (AD) 8.00 Sign Zone: See Hear. Julian Peedle-Calloo explores deaf representation on the silver screen (SL) 8.30 A Countryside Winter. Nigel Slater shares his lamb hotpot recipe (r) (AD, SL) 9.00 BBC News 10.00 BBC News 11.15 Politics Live 1.00pm Live Bowls: World Indoor Championships. Live coverage from Potters Resort at Hopton-on-Sea, Norfolk, featuring an open singles match and the first ladies’ singles semi-final. Alison Merrien came from a set down to defeat Carla Banks at this stage of the 2022 tournament 5.15 Flog It! At the University of Nottingham, experts Caroline Hawley and Charles Hanson find a huge Shakespearean-themed quilt and an 18th-century handwritten Valentine (r) 6.00 Richard Osman’s House of Games. Kriss Akabusi, Grace Dent, Tim Lovejoy and Lauren Steadman test their skills 6.30 Take a Hike. A police officer from Rhyl takes the group on a stunning walk in Snowdonia, leading them around the picturesque lakes of Llyn Tern, Llyn Llydaw and Glaslyn 6.00am Good Morning Britain. News and current affairs 9.00 Lorraine. Entertainment, current affairs and fashion news, as well as showbiz stories and gossip. Presented by Lorraine Kelly 10.00 This Morning. A mix of chat, lifestyle features, advice and competitions. Including Local Weather 12.30pm Loose Women. Another helping of topical studio discussion from a female perspective, featuring interviews 1.30 ITV News; Weather 1.55 Regional News; Weather 2.00 Dickinson’s Real Deal. David Dickinson is in London at the RAF Museum with his dealers Alison Chapman, Karen Dalmeny, Henry Nicholls and Mark Stevens (AD) 3.00 Lingo. Two friends from Gloucestershire and Buckinghamshire compete against two sets of sisters — from Bradford and Manchester 4.00 Tipping Point. Ben Shephard hosts the arcade-themed quiz in which contestants drop tokens down a choice of four chutes in the hope of winning a £10,000 jackpot 5.00 The Chase. Bradley Walsh presents as contestants from Devon, Cumbria, Powys and Dufftown take on one of the ruthless Chasers in a bid to secure a cash prize 6.00 Regional News; Weather 6.25 Party Political Broadcast. By the Labour Party 6.30 ITV News; Weather 6.10am Countdown. Rick Edwards is in Dictionary Corner (r) 6.50 3rd Rock from the Sun (r) (AD) 7.40 Everybody Loves Raymond (r) (AD) 9.00 Frasier (r) (AD) 10.25 Undercover Boss USA. Randy DeWitt, the CEO and co-founder of bar and grill chain Twin Peaks, goes undercover to find out whether the company’s culture is keeping up with its rapid growth (r) 11.25 Channel 4 News Summary 11.30 Come Dine with Me: The Professionals. In and around Newcastle, a husband-andwife duo kick the week off in their “cricket club restaurant” Savoury Fix, at Hetton Lyons Cricket Club (r) 12.30pm Steph’s Packed Lunch. Weekday magazine show hosted by Steph McGovern 2.10 Countdown. Rick Edwards is in Dictionary Corner 3.00 A Place in the Sun. A couple are looking for a holiday home in Fuerteventura 4.00 A New Life in the Sun. Owners attempt to renovate a 16th-century château 5.00 Junior Bake Off. It is Bread Day for the junior bakers (AD) 6.00 The Simpsons. The cost of repairing the home forces Marge to make a big decision (r) (AD) 6.30 Hollyoaks. Lacey arrives to the village for a job interview with James at Dee Valley Law (r) (AD) 6.00am Milkshake! 9.15 Jeremy Vine. The broadcaster and guests discuss the issues of the day with co-host Storm Huntley joining him for phone-ins and reading out viewers’ correspondence 12.45pm Traffic Cops. A team of officers on the M1 pursue a stolen HGV, but only after its tyres are punctured with a stinger does the lorry come to a halt (r) 1.40 5 News at Lunchtime 1.45 Home and Away. Despite his dating game being rusty, Xander manages to charm Stacey, but a sudden emergency in the restaurant interrupts things (r) (AD) 2.15 FILM: Death, Disappearance and Deceit — Mystery 101 (PG, TVM, 2019) A professor joins forces with a detective to assist in a police investigation surrounding the murder of a student. Crime drama starring Jill Wagner 4.00 Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun. A woman has built a successful chain of tattoo studios in Benalmadena. Now she plans to expand her portfolio by going into tea production — but not traditional tea 5.00 5 News at 5 6.00 Holiday Homes in the Sun. Amanda Lamb, JB Gill and Sam Pinkham are in Sorrento, on the bay of Naples in Italy, competing to find the best holiday home with a truly mind-blowing view (r) 6.55 5 News Update
the times | Wednesday January 18 2023 13 television & radio Film King of Thieves BBC1, 10.40pm James Marsh dramatises the 2015 Hatton Garden burglary with sweaty urgency. Michael Caine plays the gang leader, with Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Ray Winstone and Paul Whitehouse costarring. (15, 2018) The interview is followed at 10.30pm by a screening of Loach’s 1965 production of Nell Dunn’s working-class drama Up the Junction, in which one of the trio of female protagonists nearly dies of a kitchen-table abortion while, in voiceover, a GP recites the number of deaths attributable to the law prohibiting terminations. Ken Loach: This Cultural Life BBC4, 10pm A filmed version of the Radio 4 interview from last year in which the film-maker Ken Loach talks to John Wilson about his most important cultural inspirations. They include end-of-pier variety acts and Czech cinema of the 1960s. Tudor buildings. “It’s a bit like living in a theme park,” Miller says of the town he left at the age of 18. As well as revisiting his family home, his “journey” takes in the moving story of Second World War evacuees, a secret bunker and the bizarre tale of bears running amok in Nantwich during a 1583 blaze that razed the town. No Place Like Home Channel 5, 9pm The actor and children’s author Ben Miller is the latest celebrity to revisit their childhood home town in this effective riff on Who Do You Think You Are?. Miller grew up in Nantwich, Cheshire, the ancient town renowned for its Live FA Cup Football ITV4, 7pm Leeds United take on Cardiff City at Elland Road in a replay of the third-round match (kick-off 7.45pm). Hopefully it will have as much drama as the original game at the Cardiff City Stadium. That was a thriller, with Cardiff taking a 2-0 lead thanks to strikes by Jaden Philogene and Sheyi Ojo. Rodrigo pulled one back for Leeds, but then missed a penalty, before the teenage substitute Sonny Perkins’s late equaliser earned the Premier League outfit the replay. The winners will face Boreham Wood or Accrington Stanley in the fourth round. 7PM Early 8PM 9PM 10PM 11PM Late BBC1 BBC2 ITV1 Channel 4 Channel 5 7.00 The One Show Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas present 7.30 EastEnders Whitney goes for her first baby scan, and Alfie’s plan to reopen the Vic goes south when Denise finds out (AD) 8.00 Waterloo Road The Walters family find themselves in a crisis with nowhere to turn for help, pushing Preston to the edge. Val uncovers a truth about Kai, causing problems for him and Danny and leaving Val with a big decision (3/7) (AD) 9.00 Silent Witness Nikki manages to get behind the mask of the lead suspect while Jack has a breakthrough at the festival site. A surprise event at the Lyell brings some hope (6/10) (AD) 10.00 BBC News at Ten 10.30 BBC Regional News and Weather 10.40 King of Thieves (15, 2018) A thief pulls together a band of misfits to plot the biggest bank heist in British history. They escape with around £200million worth of stolen jewels and money, but when police are called to the scene and the investigation starts, the cracks between the eccentric gang members begin to show. Crime drama based on the Hatton Garden heist starring Michael Caine and Michael Gambon. See Viewing Guide 12.25am The Apprentice For week two, the candidates are summoned to Hutong at the Shard in Central London, where Lord Sugar reveals that they will be manufacturing bao buns to punt to the public and a bespoke sweet one to sell to a corporate client, with the team who secures the biggest overall profit winning (r) 1.30-6.00 BBC News 7.00 This Farming Life When Emma misses not one but two ferries with her livestock, it serves as a harsh reminder that the couple are not used to island living just yet. Meanwhile, Joanna and Donald press ahead with plans for their farm shop, and young farmer Sean returns home (6/12) (r) 8.00 Winterwatch Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan present wildlife stories from Wild Ken Hill in Norfolk. Elsewhere, in Edinburgh, Gillian Burke and Iolo Williams head into a cemetery to see the wildlife that uses these city habitats as a haven, before a check-in with the live wild badger cameras 9.00 Surgeons: At the Edge of Life New series. The specialists at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge treat a man who has serious injuries after crashing his motorbike and a motorist who has damaged her spine. See Viewing Guide (1/6) (AD) 10.00 Our Flag Means Death Stede’s men take a trip in the hope of ransoming the remaining hostage, and Blackbeard takes an interest in Stede (3/10) (AD) 10.30 Newsnight Analysis of the day’s events presented by Kirsty Wark 11.15 India: The Modi Question Documentary focusing on Indian PM Narendra Modi and the persistent allegations about his attitude towards India’s Muslim population that have plagued his premiership (1/2) (r) 12.15am Sign Zone: See Hear Julian Peedle-Calloo explores deaf representation on the silver screen (r) (SL) 12.45 The Traitors. Claudia Winkleman hosts as another Faithful does not make it to breakfast (r) (AD, SL) 1.45 The Travelling Auctioneers. Downsizing a home (r) (SL) 2.30-3.30 The Love Box in Your Living Room (r) (AD, SL) 7.30 Emmerdale Gabby is mortified, and Nicola encourages Bernice to make a huge investment. Meanwhile, Will comforts an upset Dawn (AD) 8.00 Coronation Street Paul seeks revenge for Mike’s treatment of Summer, Ryan gives Nick an insight into the real Damon, and Daniel plots a thoughtful surprise. Meanwhile, Stephen confides in Gail that he is worried Elaine might be reading too much into their friendship (AD) 9.00 Next Level Chef Gordon Ramsay hosts the culinary challenge, which sees the contestants go Italian — but the kitchen in which each of them works, from the swanky top floor to the dingy basement, depends on how well they did last week (2/8) (AD) 10.00 ITV News at Ten; Weather 10.30 Regional News; Weather 10.45 Peston Political magazine show hosted by Robert Peston, featuring interviews with MPs, topical guests and cultural figures. Including updates from social media taking in perspectives from viewers, experts and key players throughout the programme 11.40 The Family Pile Comedy about four bereaved sisters who clash over the sale of the family home (1/6) (r) (AD) 12.10am Teleshopping 3.00 When Can I See My GP? Tonight. Dr Amir Khan investigates how to fix primary care (r) (SL) 3.25 James Martin’s French Adventure. The chef visits locations that inspired his culinary career, beginning in Saint-Émilion (r) (AD, SL) 3.50 Unwind with ITV 5.05-6.00 Dickinson’s Real Deal (r) (AD, SL) 7.00 Channel 4 News 8.00 Kirstie and Phil’s Love It or List It A couple from Lothianburn enlist the help of the hosts to see if they can improve the seven-acre property they live in or if they should start afresh somewhere new (AD) 9.00 The Light in the Hall Things go from bad to worse for Sharon and Joe. Shelley and Cat try to help Joe remember what happened the night he went to prison, but Sharon is left conflicted when a pivotal piece of evidence surfaces (5/6) (AD) 10.00 The Caribbean: Billionaires’ Paradise Neysha Soodeen celebrates with family and friends in style. In Barbados, Shana Hinds and Faith Callender collaborate on a new track and the photographer Junior Sealy completes an interior design project on a millionaire’s villa (3/4) (AD) 11.05 Billion Pound Cruise Daily life on the mammoth cruise ship the Symphony of the Seas, revealing how some of the 6,680 guests occupy themselves on board this billion-pound vessel that is full of surprises (AD) 12.10am 24 Hours in A&E (r) (AD, SL) 1.05 Belfast Midwives (r) (AD, SL) 2.00 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (r) (SL) 2.50 FILM: Mistress America (15, 2015) Comedy with Lola Kirke, Greta Gerwig and Kathryn Erbe 4.20 Building the Dream (r) (AD, SL) 5.15-6.10 Sarah Beeny’s New Life in the Country (r) (AD, SL) 7.00 You Are What You Eat Trisha Goddard and Dr Amir Khan help a busy mum and an entrepreneur, both in desperate need of a life-changing intervention (3/6) (r) 7.55 5 News Update 8.00 My Cornwall with Fern Britton The last leg of the presenter’s road trip takes her to an industrious corner of Cornwall, the ancient Hundreds of Kerrier and Penwith. Fern views one of the best preserved ancient farming villages in the South West, which are among the oldest structures (3/3) 9.00 No Place Like Home Ben Miller returns to his hometown of Nantwich in Cheshire, where he embarks on a surprising and moving journey of discovery. The actor and author boards a narrow boat on the Nantwich Canal to relive his favourite boyhood pastime — fishing. See Viewing Guide (3/6) 10.00 A&E After Dark When a motorcyclist is rushed in after colliding with a deer, a consultant must establish why the woman is having trouble feeling her legs, and a man is devastated when an accident in the gym means he may not be able to compete in Hull’s strongest man contest (3/12) (r) 11.05 Skin A&E Four dermatologists treat patients for skin conditions such as cysts, lipomas and skin tags that the NHS views as cosmetic, but that can hugely affect the sufferers (10/12) (r) (AD) 12.05am Ambulance: Code Red Paramedics are called out when a child is run over on the way to school (r) 1.00 LeoVegas Live Casino Show 3.00 Holiday Homes in the Sun (r) 3.50 My Mum’s Hotter Than Me! (r) 4.40 House Busters (r) (SL) 5.05 House Doctor (r) (SL) 5.35 Peppa Pig (r) 5.40 Paw Patrol (r) 5.50-6.00 Pip and Posy (r) 6.00am Breakfast 9.15 Morning Live: Cost of Living Special. Magazine 10.00 Rip Off Britain Live: Cost of Living Special. Consumer show 10.45 For Love or Money. A widow whose life savings were targeted by a man she met online (r) 11.15 Homes Under the Hammer. The progress of properties in Crewe, Derby and Paddington (r) (AD) 12.15pm Bargain Hunt. Natasha Raskin Sharp hosts from Heanor Antiques Centre in Derbyshire (r) (AD) 1.00 BBC News at One; Weather 1.30 BBC Regional News; Weather 1.45 Doctors. Luca has a crush on Jamie, and Scarlett and Kirsty rub each other the wrong way (AD) 2.15 The Farmers’ Country Showdown. Two sheep farmers compete in Lambeth Country Show 3.00 Escape to the Country. Steve Brown helps a potential buyer looking for a property in Cornwall (r) (AD) 3.45 The Repair Shop. The experts restore a coil purse, a Flamenco guitar and a taxi meter (AD) 4.30 Make It at Market. Dom Chinea helps an artist and a potter make their passions a business (AD) 5.15 Pointless. Quiz hosted by Alexander Armstrong, with Richard Osman (r) 6.00 BBC News at Six; Weather 6.30 BBC Regional News; Weather 6.55 Party Political Broadcast. By the Labour Party 6.30am The Farmers’ Country Showdown. Cattle and goat farmers compete at the Moreton-in-Marsh Show (r) 7.15 Make It at Market. Dom Chinea helps a glass-blower and a potter make their hobbies into businesses (r) (AD) 8.00 Sign Zone: See Hear. Julian Peedle-Calloo explores deaf representation on the silver screen (SL) 8.30 A Countryside Winter. Nigel Slater shares his lamb hotpot recipe (r) (AD, SL) 9.00 BBC News 10.00 BBC News 11.15 Politics Live 1.00pm Live Bowls: World Indoor Championships. Live coverage from Potters Resort at Hopton-on-Sea, Norfolk, featuring an open singles match and the first ladies’ singles semi-final. Alison Merrien came from a set down to defeat Carla Banks at this stage of the 2022 tournament 5.15 Flog It! At the University of Nottingham, experts Caroline Hawley and Charles Hanson find a huge Shakespearean-themed quilt and an 18th-century handwritten Valentine (r) 6.00 Richard Osman’s House of Games. Kriss Akabusi, Grace Dent, Tim Lovejoy and Lauren Steadman test their skills 6.30 Take a Hike. A police officer from Rhyl takes the group on a stunning walk in Snowdonia, leading them around the picturesque lakes of Llyn Tern, Llyn Llydaw and Glaslyn 6.00am Good Morning Britain. News and current affairs 9.00 Lorraine. Entertainment, current affairs and fashion news, as well as showbiz stories and gossip. Presented by Lorraine Kelly 10.00 This Morning. A mix of chat, lifestyle features, advice and competitions. Including Local Weather 12.30pm Loose Women. Another helping of topical studio discussion from a female perspective, featuring interviews 1.30 ITV News; Weather 1.55 Regional News; Weather 2.00 Dickinson’s Real Deal. David Dickinson is in London at the RAF Museum with his dealers Alison Chapman, Karen Dalmeny, Henry Nicholls and Mark Stevens (AD) 3.00 Lingo. Two friends from Gloucestershire and Buckinghamshire compete against two sets of sisters — from Bradford and Manchester 4.00 Tipping Point. Ben Shephard hosts the arcade-themed quiz in which contestants drop tokens down a choice of four chutes in the hope of winning a £10,000 jackpot 5.00 The Chase. Bradley Walsh presents as contestants from Devon, Cumbria, Powys and Dufftown take on one of the ruthless Chasers in a bid to secure a cash prize 6.00 Regional News; Weather 6.25 Party Political Broadcast. By the Labour Party 6.30 ITV News; Weather 6.10am Countdown. Rick Edwards is in Dictionary Corner (r) 6.50 3rd Rock from the Sun (r) (AD) 7.40 Everybody Loves Raymond (r) (AD) 9.00 Frasier (r) (AD) 10.25 Undercover Boss USA. Randy DeWitt, the CEO and co-founder of bar and grill chain Twin Peaks, goes undercover to find out whether the company’s culture is keeping up with its rapid growth (r) 11.25 Channel 4 News Summary 11.30 Come Dine with Me: The Professionals. In and around Newcastle, a husband-andwife duo kick the week off in their “cricket club restaurant” Savoury Fix, at Hetton Lyons Cricket Club (r) 12.30pm Steph’s Packed Lunch. Weekday magazine show hosted by Steph McGovern 2.10 Countdown. Rick Edwards is in Dictionary Corner 3.00 A Place in the Sun. A couple are looking for a holiday home in Fuerteventura 4.00 A New Life in the Sun. Owners attempt to renovate a 16th-century château 5.00 Junior Bake Off. It is Bread Day for the junior bakers (AD) 6.00 The Simpsons. The cost of repairing the home forces Marge to make a big decision (r) (AD) 6.30 Hollyoaks. Lacey arrives to the village for a job interview with James at Dee Valley Law (r) (AD) 6.00am Milkshake! 9.15 Jeremy Vine. The broadcaster and guests discuss the issues of the day with co-host Storm Huntley joining him for phone-ins and reading out viewers’ correspondence 12.45pm Traffic Cops. A team of officers on the M1 pursue a stolen HGV, but only after its tyres are punctured with a stinger does the lorry come to a halt (r) 1.40 5 News at Lunchtime 1.45 Home and Away. Despite his dating game being rusty, Xander manages to charm Stacey, but a sudden emergency in the restaurant interrupts things (r) (AD) 2.15 FILM: Death, Disappearance and Deceit — Mystery 101 (PG, TVM, 2019) A professor joins forces with a detective to assist in a police investigation surrounding the murder of a student. Crime drama starring Jill Wagner 4.00 Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun. A woman has built a successful chain of tattoo studios in Benalmadena. Now she plans to expand her portfolio by going into tea production — but not traditional tea 5.00 5 News at 5 6.00 Holiday Homes in the Sun. Amanda Lamb, JB Gill and Sam Pinkham are in Sorrento, on the bay of Naples in Italy, competing to find the best holiday home with a truly mind-blowing view (r) 6.55 5 News Update BBC1 N Ireland As BBC1 except: 10.40pm True North 11.10 FILM: King of Thieves (2018) Fact-based crime drama 12.55am-1.25 Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin 1.40-6.00 BBC News BBC1 Scotland As BBC1 except: 2.15pm Politics Scotland 3.00-3.45 The Farmers’ Country Showdown 6.55-7.00 Party Political Broadcast. By the Scottish Labour Party 12.25am The Edit (r) 12.40 The Apprentice (r) 1.40 Weather for the Week Ahead 1.45-6.00 BBC News BBC1 Wales As BBC1 except: 6.55pm-7.00 Party Political Broadcast. By the Welsh Labour Party BBC2 N Ireland As BBC2 except: 11.15pm The Irish League Show 11.45-12.45am India: The Modi Question. Documentary (1/2) (r) BBC2 Wales As BBC2 except: 7.00pm-8.00 This Farming Life. Near Loch Ness, Barbara gets her pumpkin plan off to a strong start (r) ITV1 Wales As ITV1 except: 6.25pm-6.30 Party Political Broadcast. By the Welsh Labour Party STV As ITV1 except: 6.25pm-6.30 Party Political Broadcast. By the Scottish Labour Party 10.30 STV News 10.40 Scotland Tonight 11.05 Peston. Political magazine show 12.05am3.00 Teleshopping 3.50-5.05 Night Vision BBC Scotland 7.00pm My Kind of Town: Wick (r) (AD) 7.30 Fish Town (r) 8.00 Bump Birth Baby (r) 8.30 Screen Grab. Georgie Powell is in Dunoon, helping a family with their tech dependency (r) 9.00 The Nine 10.00 River City. Lydia’s night takes a monstrous turn (AD) 10.30 Sky High Club: Scotland and Beyond (r) (AD) 11.00- 12.00 Sportscene: Premiership Highlights BBC Alba 6.00am Alba Today 5.00pm Su Pic (Peek Zoo) (r) 5.10 Bing (r) 5.15 Nannag a’ Noo/ Huggleboo (r) 5.25 Lon le Linda (r) 5.40 Peataichean/Pets (r) 5.45 Pip & Posy (r) 5.55 Stòiridh (r) 6.00 Kung Fu Panda (r) 6.25 @12 (r) 6.35 Saidheans Sporsail (Backyard Science) (r) 7.00 Fuine (Home Baking) (r) 7.30 SpeakGaelic (r) 8.00 An Là 8.30 An TaighFuine/The Bakery (r) 9.00 Na Gleidheadairean (The Animal Keepers) (r) 10.00 Belladrum 10.30 An t-Uisge/Rain Stories (r) 11.30 OMC! (r) 12.00-6.00am Alba Today S4C 6.00am Cyw: Blociau Rhif (r) 6.05 Jamborî (r) 6.15 Octonots (r) 6.30 Gwdihw (r) 6.45 Guto Gwningen (r) 7.00 Odo (r) 7.10 Pablo (r) 7.20 Anifeiliaid Bach y Byd (r) 7.30 Patrôl Pawennau (r) 7.45 Cacamwnci (r) 8.00 Peppa (r) 8.05 Sblij a Sbloj (r) 8.15 Rapsgaliwn (r) 8.30 Abadas (r) 8.45 Hafod Haul (r) 9.00 Caru Canu a Stori (r) 9.10 Y Diwrnod Mawr (r) 9.25 Sion y Chef (r) 9.35 Nico Nôg (r) 9.45 Yr Ysgol 10.00 Odo (r) 10.10 Pablo (r) 10.20 Anifeiliaid Bach y Byd (r) 10.30 Patrôl Pawennau (r) 10.45 Cacamwnci (r) 11.00 Dysgu Gyda Cyw: Timpo (r) 11.10 Dwylo’r Enfys (r) 11.25 Caru Canu a Stori (r) 11.35 Dathlu ’Da Dona (r) 11.50 Teulu Ni (r) 12.00 News; Weather 12.05pm Pysgod i Bawb (r) 12.30 Heno (r) 1.00 Ffasiwn Drefn (r) (AD) 1.30 Sgwrs Dan y Lloer (r) 2.00 News; Weather 2.05 Prynhawn Da 3.00 News; Weather 3.05 Canu gyda Fy Arwr (r) 4.00 Awr Fawr: Odo (r) 4.10 Abadas (r) 4.20 Anifeiliaid Bach y Byd (r) 4.30 Sion y Chef (r) 4.45 Cacamwnci (r) 5.00 Stwnsh: Arthur a Chriw y Ford Gron (r) 5.10 Potsh (r) 5.30 Dreigiau — Marchogion Berc (r) 5.55 Ffeil 6.00 Cerys Matthews a’r Goeden Faled (r) 6.30 Rownd a Rownd (r) (AD) 6.57 News; Weather 7.00 Heno 7.30 News; Weather 8.00 Pobol y Cwm. Garry worries that Colin is being overworked when he has an accident at Penrhewl (AD) 8.25 Colleen Ramsey: Bywyd a Bwyd. Homemade pizza 8.55 News; Weather 9.00 Gogglebocs Cymru 10.00 Hywel Gwynfryn yn 80 (r) 11.05-11.40 Straeon y Ffin (r) Variations 6.00am Stop, Search, Seize (r) (AD) 8.00 DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (r) (AD) 9.00 The Blacklist (r) (AD) 10.00 Supergirl (r) 11.00 NCIS: New Orleans (r) 1.00pm Hawaii Five-0 (r) 2.00 S.W.A.T (r) (AD) 3.00 The Blacklist (r) (AD) 4.00 DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (r) (AD) 5.00 Supergirl. Reign strikes National City (r) 6.00 Stargate SG-1. Daniel is presumed dead (r) 7.00 Stargate SG-1. The team is unable to help O’Neill when he begins to age rapidly (r) 8.00 Flintoff: From Lord’s to the Ring. Andrew Flintoff meets Mike Tyson for advice (r) (AD) 9.00 Hold the Front Page. Nish Kumar and Josh Widdicombe work at The Yorkshire Post 10.00 Strike Back: Vengeance. The group struggles to reach an evacuation point (r) (AD) 11.00 Brassic. Ash is drugged during a bare-knuckle bout against a fighter (r) (AD) 12.00 An Idiot Abroad (r) (AD) 1.00am The Force: North East (r) 2.00 Brit Cops: Rapid Response (r) 3.00 Hawaii Five-0 (r) 4.00 S.W.A.T (r) (AD) 5.00 Highway Patrol (r) 6.00am Richard E Grant’s Hotel Secrets (r) (AD) 7.55 The Sopranos (r) 10.05 Ray Donovan (r) (AD) 12.15pm Game of Thrones (r) (AD) 1.20 Six Feet Under (r) 3.30 The Sopranos (r) 5.45 Ray Donovan. Mickey manipulates an A-list star into working with him on a project (r) (AD) 6.50 Ray Donovan. Terry, Bunchy and Ray mark the anniversary of their sister’s death (r) (AD) 7.55 Game of Thrones. Theon is reunited with his father on the Iron Islands (r) (AD) 9.00 Big Little Lies. Madeline gets under Renata’s skin in retaliation for snubbing Ziggy, and Celeste and Perry see a counsellor (r) (AD) 10.05 The Last of Us. Drama series that takes place 20 years after modern civilisation has been destroyed. Starring Pedro Pascal (1/9) (r) 11.40 Devils. Massimo tries to determine if Dominic is secretly handling business for Gaddafi (3/10) (r) (AD) 12.45am Britannia (r) (AD) 1.50 Boardwalk Empire (r) (AD) 2.55 Game of Thrones (r) (AD) 4.05 Richard E Grant’s Hotel Secrets (r) (AD) 6.00am Fish Town (r) 7.00 Discovering: Judy Garland (r) (AD) 8.00 The Directors (r) (AD) 9.00 The Sixties (r) (AD) 10.00 JFK: Destiny Betrayed (r) 11.05 Urban Secrets (r) 12.00 Between the World and Me (r) 1.40pm My Icon: Solomon Wilcots (r) (AD) 2.00 FILM: 89 (PG, 2017) The incredible story of one of football’s most dramatic triumphs 3.50 My Icon: Kadeen Corbin (r) (AD) 4.00 The Directors (r) (AD) 5.00 Discovering: Judy Garland (r) (AD) 6.00 The Sixties (r) (AD) 7.00 JFK: Destiny Betrayed (r) 8.05 Urban Secrets (1/8) (r) 9.00 Spector. A look at how Phil Spector gained a sinister reputation (2/4) (r) (AD) 10.00 Deadline Day: Football’s Transfer Window. A look at the transfer market (r) (AD) 11.00 The United Way. Telling the story of Manchester United Football Club (r) (AD) 12.50am Music Box. The rapper Juice Wrld (r) (AD) 2.55 The Forever Prisoner (r) (AD) 5.10 Discovering: Judy Garland (r) (AD) 6.00am LA Philharmonic Centennial Birthday Gala 7.45 Queen & Bejart: Ballet for Life 9.00 Tales of the Unexpected (AD) 10.00 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 11.00 Discovering: Morgan Freeman 12.00 World War II & Cinema 1.00pm Tales of the Unexpected (AD) 2.00 Manet from the Royal Academy of Arts, London 3.00 Landscape Artist of the Year 2015 4.00 Discovering Tommy Lee Jones 5.00 Tales of the Unexpected. Double bill (AD) 6.00 Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Double bill 7.00 Portrait Artist of the Year 2014 8.00 Landscape Artist of the Year 2023 9.00 Jealous Guy: The Assassination of John Lennon. The life of the Beatles superstar 10.50 Lennon’s Last Weekend 12.20am Discovering: John Lennon. Television interviews 1.20 Matt Damon: Off Camera 2.35 John Wayne: America at All Costs 3.35 Julie Andrews Forever 4.35 Diana Ross & the Supremes: Music Icons 5.00 Music Icons: The Motown Sound 5.30 Video Killed the Radio Star 6.00am Sky Sports News 7.00 Good Morning Sports Fans. News and views on today’s early stories 8.00 Ashes Greats (AD) 8.10 Live Big Bash League: Perth Scorchers v Hobart Hurricanes. Coverage of the T20 match from Optus Stadium 12.00 Live SA20: MI Cape Town v Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Coverage of the T20 match from Six Gun Grill Newlands, Cape Town 3.00pm Live SA20: Pretoria Capitals v Joburg Super Kings. Coverage of the T20 match from SuperSport Park, Centurion 7.30 Live Premier League: Crystal Palace v Manchester United (Kick-off 8.00). Coverage of the top-flight match at Selhurst Park 10.30 Behind the Ropes. The training camps of Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith 11.30 The Gloves Are Off. Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith talk about their upcoming bout (AD) 12.00 Sky Sports News 3.30am Live DP World Tour Golf: The Abu Dhabi Championship. Coverage of the featured groups on day one at Yas Links in the United Arab Emirates Sky Max Sky Atlantic Sky Documentaries Sky Arts Sky Main Event 6.00am World’s Funniest Videos 6.35 Totally Bonkers Guinness World Records (SL) 7.00 Secret Crush (SL) 8.00 Dress to Impress 9.00 Chuck 10.00 One Tree Hill 11.00 The O.C 12.00 Secret Crush 1.00pm Dress to Impress 2.00 Family Fortunes 3.05 Chuck 4.00 One Tree Hill 5.00 The O.C. A secret indiscretion is exposed 6.00 Celebrity Catchphrase (AD) 7.00 Ninja Warrior UK: Race for Glory. More competitors take on the obstacle course (AD) 8.00 Superstore. Cheyenne enlists Bo’s help to make her birthday memorable (AD) 8.30 Superstore. It is March 2020 and the pandemic is beginning to hit (AD) 9.00 Love Island. The relationship-based reality show continues. Maya Jama presents 10.05 The Stand Up Sketch Show 10.35 Family Guy (AD) 11.05 Family Guy (AD) 11.35 American Dad! (AD) 12.05am American Dad! (AD) 12.30 Superstore (AD) 1.25 CelebAbility 2.10 Totally Bonkers Guinness World Records 2.40 Unwind with ITV. Daily escape 3.00 Teleshopping 6.00am Classic Emmerdale 7.00 Classic Coronation Street (AD) 7.55 George and Mildred 8.25 Agatha Christie’s Marple (AD) 10.25 Heartbeat (AD) 12.25pm Classic Emmerdale 1.30 Classic Coronation Street (AD) 2.30 Inspector Morse. A scientist is murdered (AD) 4.45 Heartbeat. The surgery is raided (AD) 5.45 Heartbeat. Nick awaits the arrival in Aidensfield of a violent criminal (2/10) (AD) 6.45 Live Snooker: World Grand Prix. The evening session on day three of the first of three events in the Players Series, in Cheltenham, featuring the opening four last-16 matches 10.30 DCI Banks. Part one of two. The search for a missing devoted husband and father soon escalates into a kidnap and ransom case, but the perpetrators stay one step ahead (3/6) (AD) 11.30 DCI Banks. The team is thrown when a recently rescued kidnap victim is found murdered with evidence suggesting a local protection gang is to blame (4/6) (AD) 12.30am Agatha Christie’s Marple. A body is found (AD) 1.50 George and Mildred 2.20 Unwind with ITV 2.30 Teleshopping 6.00am The Saint 6.55 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (AD) 8.00 Magnum, PI 9.05 The Sweeney 10.05 Minder (AD) 11.15 The Saint 12.15pm Made in Britain (AD) 12.45 Live Snooker: World Grand Prix. Coverage of the afternoon session on day three 5.30 The Best of the 70s 5.45 The Motorbike Show 6.45 Football League Legends 7.00 Live FA Cup Football: Leeds United v Cardiff City (Kick-off 7.45). The third-round replay at Elland Road. See Viewing Guide 10.00 FILM: The Blues Brothers (15, 1980) Two criminal brothers cause mayhem when they re-form their blues band to raise the funds to save their old orphanage from closure. Comedy starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd (AD) 12.45am Made in Britain. A look behind the scenes at British brands (AD) 1.15 Heathrow: Britain’s Busiest Airport. Storm Eunice wreaks havoc at Heathrow airport, as staff deal with a deluge of delays and unhappy passengers (AD) 2.15 The Protectors. Harry masquerades as an explosives expert 2.50 Unwind with ITV 3.00 Teleshopping 6.00am Teleshopping 7.15 All Creatures Great and Small 8.10 The Bill 9.10 Classic Holby City 10.30 Classic Casualty 11.40 The Bill 12.40pm Classic EastEnders 2.00 Howards’ Way 3.10 Pie in the Sky 4.10 All Creatures Great and Small 5.25 As Time Goes By 6.00 Are You Being Served? 6.40 Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em. The Spencers travel to the seaside for a second honeymoon 7.20 Last of the Summer Wine. Foggy decides Compo and Clegg need to get fit 8.00 Sherlock. The sleuth and Watson face their greatest challenge, as long-buried secrets catch up with them and a threat from the past seems to have returned from the dead (3/3) (AD) 10.00 New Tricks. Sasha is asked to prove a crime boss was convicted on false evidence, even though she is certain the same man killed her CID partner eight years before (10/10) (AD) 11.20 Hustle. The con artists target an unscrupulous gold dealer (1/6) 12.40am Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em 1.20 As Time Goes By 2.00 Pie in the Sky. Light-hearted drama 2.50 Howards’ Way 4.00 Teleshopping 6.00am Murder Maps 8.00 Abandoned Engineering (AD) 9.00 Secret Nazi Bases 10.00 Warbird Workshop 11.00 Fred Dibnah’s Made in Britain 12.00 Great British Railway Journeys 2.00pm Bangers and Cash 4.00 Secret Nazi Bases 5.00 Warbird Workshop 6.00 Great British Railway Journeys 6.30 Great British Railway Journeys 7.00 Fred Dibnah’s Made in Britain 7.30 Fred Dibnah’s Made in Britain. The former steeplejack visits a forge in Sheffield 8.00 Great Continental Railway Journeys. Michael Portillo travels from Hungary to Austria 9.00 Australia with Julia Bradbury. Julia visits the Great Barrier Reef 9.30 Australia with Julia Bradbury. Julia meets millionaire boat-builders and surfers in Perth 10.00 Bangers and Cash. A widow parts with a collection of Rolls-Royces and Bentleys (10/10) 11.00 Abandoned Engineering. A secretive underground base that concealed the power to destroy nations (4/8) (AD) 12.00 Great British Railway Journeys 1.00am Murder Maps 3.00 Teleshopping ITV2 ITV3 Yesterday 6.00am James Max 6.30 The Julia HartleyBrewer Breakfast Show. All the stories you need to know to start your day 10.00 The Independent Republic of Mike Graham. The host takes a look at the morning newspapers 1.00pm Ian Collins 4.00 Vanessa Feltz. The host guides you through the big stories of the day from the world of politics, current affairs and showbiz 7.00 Jeremy Kyle Live. Jeremy Kyle takes on the issues that really matter 8.00 Piers Morgan Uncensored. The host presents his verdict on the day’s global events with debate, straight-talking interviews with the world’s leading figures, and plenty of fun 9.00 The Talk. A panel of opinionated famous faces from the worlds of politics, showbiz, business and current affairs debate the latest topics that everybody is talking about 10.00 First Edition. Taking an energetic look at tomorrow’s news, tonight, through the lens of the newspaper first editions 11.00 Piers Morgan Uncensored 12.00 James Whale 1.00am Vanessa Feltz 2.00 Jeremy Kyle Live 3.00 Piers Morgan Uncensored 4.00 The Talk 5.00 James Max 7.00pm Great British Railway Journeys. Michael Portillo reaches Birmingham and discovers how a radical reformer would make his mark on the “city of a thousand trades” (AD) 7.30 The Joy of Painting. A scene depicting a cloudy sky above crashing waves 8.00 Michael Palin’s New Europe. Travels in Bulgaria and Turkey (2/7) (AD) 9.00 The Beginning and End of the Universe. Professor Jim Al-Khalili unravels the cosmic mystery of science’s creation story 10.00 Ken Loach: This Cultural Life. The film director discusses his influences and inspirations. See Viewing Guide 10.30 Up the Junction: The Wednesday Play. A well-to-do girl gets a culture shock on leaving home to sample life in working-class Battersea. Drama directed by Ken Loach and starring Carol White and Geraldine Sherman (b/w) 11.40 Michael Palin’s New Europe. Travels in Bulgaria and Turkey (2/7) 12.40am The Beginning and End of the Universe (AD) 1.40 Great British Railway Journeys (AD) 2.10 The Joy of Painting 2.40-3.40 Britain’s Lost Masterpieces (AD, SL) 6.00am The Detectives (b/w) 6.30 FILM: Woman Hater (U, 1948) (b/w) 8.35 FILM: Operation Diplomat (U, 1953) (b/w) 10.00 The Onedin Line 11.00 FILM: Born Of The Sea (U, 1949) Drama starring Dorothea Paul (b/w) 12.00 FILM: The Last Days of Dolwyn (U, 1948) Melodrama starring Richard Burton (b/w) 1.55pm Glimpses: Rollercoaster 2.00 Upstairs, Downstairs 3.00 Saddle Up 3.10 FILM: Lust for Gold (PG, 1949) Western starring Ida Lupino (b/w) 5.00 Saddle Up 5.05 FILM: The Parson and the Outlaw (U, 1957) Western starring Anthony Dexter (b/w) 6.30 Saddle Up. Revealing next week’s Westerns 6.35 The Westerner. Drama series (b/w) 7.05 Any Man’s Kingdom 1956 7.30 Time to Remember 8.00 Gideon’s Way (b/w) 9.00 FILM: Vanishing Point (18, 1971) Thriller starring Barry Newman 10.55 Friday On My Mind 1.20am FILM: Woman Times Seven (12, 1967) Comedy anthology 3.25 FILM: Omen III — The Final Conflict (18, 1981) Horror 5.30 Welcome to North Wales 5.50 Look at Life 11.00am Went the Day Well? (PG, 1942) Second World War drama starring Leslie Banks (b/w) 12.50pm The Black Arrow (U, 1948) Swashbuckling adventure starring Louis Hayward (b/w) (AD) 2.25 Fire Down Below (PG, 1957) Romantic drama starring Rita Hayworth and Robert Mitchum 4.40 The Colditz Story (U, 1954) Second World War drama starring John Mills (b/w) (AD) 6.40 Goodbye Christopher Robin (PG, 2017) Biopic of AA Milne, focusing on how his relationship with his son influenced the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories. Starring Domhnall Gleeson and Margot Robbie (AD) 9.00 Alien: Covenant (15, 2017) A crew of colonists sent to populate an alien planet have their mission diverted by a mysterious signal. Sci-fi thriller starring Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender and Danny McBride (AD) 11.20 Croupier (15, 1998) A mysterious woman draws a casino croupier into a dangerous plot to rob his employer. Crime drama starring Clive Owen, Alex Kingston and Kate Hardie 1.10am-3.30 Shadow (15, 2018) Drama with Chao Deng. In Mandarin with English subtitles 8.55am Kirstie’s Handmade Treasures 9.15 A Place in the Sun: Home or Away 10.05 A New Life in the Sun 11.05 Find It, Fix It, Flog It 1.10pm Heir Hunters 3.10 Four in a Bed 5.55 Kirstie and Phil’s Love It or List It (AD) 6.55 Escape to the Château (AD) 7.55 Grand Designs. Kevin McCloud follows a couple knocking down an old Thames boathouse and building a cutting-edge home in its place — in the middle of a community dominated by traditional houses (4/12) (AD) 9.00 Hamza: Escape to the Wilderness. Hamza Yassin is joined by Sayeeda Warsi in Cairngorms National Park for a digital detox. The pair try the ancient practice of forest bathing 10.00 The Floods That Foiled New Year: Caught on Camera. A look back on the winter of 2013/2014, the wettest since records began. With a continuing stream of heavy storms England appeared to be slowly drowning (2/2) 11.05 24 Hours in A&E. A 16-year-old is airlifted in with suspected spinal injuries (AD) 12.05am Shocking Emergency Calls 1.15 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown 2.15 24 Hours in A&E (AD) 3.25-3.50 Food Unwrapped (AD) TalkTV BBC4 Talking Pictures Film4 More4 ITV4 Drama
14 Wednesday January 18 2023 | the times MindGames Fill the grid using the numbers 1 to 9 only. The numbers in each horizontal or vertical run of white squares add up to the total in the triangle to its left or above it. The same number may occur more than once in a row or column, but not within the same run of white squares. Kakuro No 3352 Fill the blank squares so that every row and column contains each of the numbers 1 to 5 once only. The symbols between the squares indicate whether a number is larger (>) or smaller (<) than the number next to it. All the digits 1 to 6 must appear in every row and column. In each thick-line “block”, the target number in the top left-hand corner is calculated from the digits in all the cells in the block, using the operation indicated by the symbol. KenKen Medium No 5793 Futoshiki No 4393 Exploitation High-level poker has a quite different feel from the game played between recreational players. A big difference is that elite players are very exploitative, thinking constantly about quirks in their opponents’ play. If they sense exploitation is possible they will happily adopt highly unorthodox lines. The combatants in the following hand were Michael Addamo and Markus Leikkonen, who were playing with huge stacks of around $35K. This hand was analysed in depth at upswingpoker.com. Addamo raises with A -9 , Leikkonen three-bets from the small blind with Q♣-J♣. Addamo calls, which is borderline as A-9 plays badly against a strong range. However, Addamo has positives: he is in position (Leikkonen has to bet first), his hand is suited and stacks are very deep, so if he does hit well he can win a very big pot. The flop is J -9♥-5♦ and the mental jousting begins. The pot is already $7,600 and Leikkonen is ahead with a pair of jacks to Addamo’s nines. Leikkonen has flopped well and also has a range advantage in that his range is uncapped (meaning he potentially holds the strongest pre-flop hands A-A, K-K and Q-Q). Addamo’s range is what is known as condensed, as he doesn’t hold these top hands (he would/should four-bet pre-flop if he did). Leikkonen bets 30 per cent pot, which feels small. With a strong range advantage he should probably apply more pressure with a bigger sizing. Addamo calls and the turn brings J -9♥-5♦-2 . The arrival of a second spade means Addamo has picked up a flush draw. Leikkonen checks. This may seem odd but is reasonable. He would want to check if he held a much weaker hand such as A-K, A-Q, K-10 etc, so he also needs to check some strong hands here. Otherwise the check will act as a green light for Addamo to attack him. The pot is $11,600. Addamo bets about one third pot and Leikkonen calls. The river is J -9♥-5♦-2 -3♥, the pot is $19,256 and now all hell breaks loose. Leikkonen checks, Addamo bets $12,708 and Leikkonen check-raises to $26,000. Addamo calls and Leikkonen picks up a massive pot. Addamo’s river bet is mysterious as it is difficult to see Leikkonen calling with a weaker hand. Leikkonen’s checkraise is extraordinary as his Q-J feels way too weak and calling is fine. Finally, Addamo’s call of this raise is also mysterious as he must realise he is beaten at this point. Almost all the post-flop play in this hand was what might be termed “non-standard” – a poker coach would never teach a student to play like this. Both players must have been trying to exploit tendencies they had detected in their opponent and Leikkonen emerged victorious in the mental tussle. And what were these tendencies? Who knows? Perhaps not even the players themselves. Slide the letters either horizontally or vertically back into the grid to produce a completed crossword. Letters are allowed to slide over other letters Every letter in this crossword-style grid has been substituted for a number from 1 to 26. Each letter of the alphabet appears in the grid at least once. Use the letters already provided to work out the identity of further letters. Enter letters in the main grid and the smaller reference grid until all 26 letters of the alphabet have been accounted for. Proper nouns are excluded. Yesterday’s solution, right Cluelines Stuck on Codeword? To receive 4 random clues call 0901 293 6262 or text TIMECODE to 64343. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company’s network access charge. Texts cost £1 plus your standard network charge. For the full solution call 0905 757 0142. Calls cost £1 per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5.30pm). Winners will receive a Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus Solve the puzzle and text in the numbers in the three shaded boxes. Text TIMES followed by a space, then your three numbers, eg, TIMES 123, plus your name, address and postcode to 64343 (UK only), by midnight. Or enter by phone. Call 09012 925274 (ROI 1516 303 501) by midnight. Leave your three answer numbers (in any order) and your contact details. Calls cost £1 (ROI €1.50) plus your telephone company’s network access charge. Texts cost £1 plus your standard network charge. Winners will be picked at random from all correct answers received. One draw per week. Lines close at midnight tonight. If you call or text after this time you will not be entered but will still be charged. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5.30pm). Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x2 box contains the digits 1 to 6 What are your favourite puzzles in MindGames? Email: puzzles@thetimes.co.uk Lay tracks to enable the train to travel from village A to village B. The numbers indicate how many sections of rail go in each row and column. There are only straight rails and curved rails. The track cannot cross itself. Win a Dictionary & Thesaurus Train Tracks No 1839 Lexica No 6705 No 6706 A C O D S M K B I T T L A E R O S L E I E N P O N J E U T E R E W Y R A I R N A B K Codeword No 4801 Winning Move Poker Byron Jacobs Black to play. This position is from TologonMaze, World Blitz, Almaty 2022. This is a position that has (in my database at least) occurred 32 times. At first sight it appears very good for White, who is a piece up and maintains this in the variations 1 ... dxc6 2 Nxe4, 1 ... Nxd2 2 Nxa5 and 1 ... Bxc3 2 Nxa5. However, in those 32 games, White has actually scored a mere 8 per cent. Can you spot what all those players overlooked? For more puzzles, including an extra Codeword, Train Tracks and Futoshiki go to page 10
the times | Wednesday January 18 2023 15 MindGames Divide the grid into square or rectangular blocks, each containing one digit only. Every block must contain the number of cells indicated by the digit inside it. Enter each of the numbers from 1 to 9 in the grid, so that the six sums work. We’ve placed two numbers to get you started. Each sum should be calculated left to right or top to bottom. From these letters, make words of four or more letters, always including the central letter. Answers must be in the Concise Oxford Dictionary, excluding capitalised words, plurals, conjugated verbs (past tense etc), adverbs ending in LY, comparatives and superlatives. How you rate 12 words, average; 16, good; 21, very good; 27, excellent O D C O O K T A G G A M B O L N L A D E F E N D H O R N L A C L I M P A V P U T D E F Y C H 1 Four. One in each back corner of the mouth 2 Vesuvius 3 Berlin Wall. It depicts Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker having a socialist fraternal kiss 4 Harry Styles 5 Kim Philby 6 St Thomas Becket 7 Blue 8 Booker prize 9 The Man Who Was Thursday 10 Guru Nanak 11 The Young Bull or The Bull 12 Gaumont (Film Company) 13 Viagra Boys 14 Pickleball 15 Ned Kelly Pagurian (c) A hermit crab (Chambers) Shabrack (b) A cavalry horse’s saddlecloth (Collins) Stilb (c) A unit of luminance (OED) Kakuro 3351 Futoshiki 4392 Lexica 6704 Cell Blocks 4683 Set Square 3354 Lexica 6703 Suko 3702 Train Tracks 1838 Word watch Chess — Winning Move 1 Legs 2 Lucky 3 Steps 4 Cup of tea 5 Danny La Rue Quintagram Quiz Easy 4; Medium 2,000; Harder 540 Brain Trainer Yesterday’s answers acme, amen, arm, cam, came, cram, cream, crema, crewman, cwm, mac, mace, macer, man, mane, mar, marc, mare, maw, mean, mew, name, ram, ramen, ream, rem, warm times2 Crossword No 9117 Brain Trainer Just follow the instructions from left to right, starting with the number given to reach an answer at the end. ANSWER EASY 18 + 6 TREBLE IT + 16 – 8 ANSWER MEDIUM 36 x 15 ANSWER HARDER 310 ÷ 8 x 9 ÷ 4 ÷ 9 ÷ 5 CUBE IT DOUBLE IT ÷ 2 x 3 x 6 + 68 – 46 x 4 16 9/ OF IT – – 100 ÷ 8 31/ OF IT + DOUBLE IT 43/ OF IT + HALF OF IT 16 7/ OF IT + – 124 Across 1 Leisurely walks (6) 5 Apply to a higher court (6) 8 Online journal (4) 9 Witty conversation (8) 10 End (8) 12 County; stopper (4) 13 Common garden plant (6) 15 Fire-breather (6) 17 Dutch cheese (4) 19 Wife of Orpheus (8) 21 Chinese system of environmental energies (4,4) 23 Notable exploit (4) 24 Horrible, revolting (6) 25 Avaricious (6) Down 2 Country of SE Europe (7) 3 Sound reasoning (5) 4 Enslave (9) 5 Help, assist (3) 6 Universal remedy (7) 7 Hot displeasure (5) 11 Publicly approving (9) 14 French porcelain city (7) 16 Field of fruit trees (7) 18 Bleak, depressing (5) 20 Daniel —, author (5) 22 Dried grass as fodder (3) Solution to Crossword 9116 T2 CROSSWORD No 9117 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 P R A T E S U P P O R T E D N H R P R C R U I S E R U R A T E T L U I S L K O R A T E M I S U S E R T P I D A G E N D A G A M B L E L E S R L E D I S O N I R A T E I R C A C V G C R A T E P R I M U L A O I N U N R T N O N S T O P G R A T E Cell Blocks No 4684 Polygon Set Square No 3355 Please note, BODMAS does not apply Killer Tricky No 8692 Solutions Killer Deadly No 8693 As with standard Sudoku, fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Each set of cells joined by dotted lines must add up to the target number in its top-left corner. Within each set of cells joined by dotted lines, a digit cannot be repeated. Need help with today’s puzzle? Call 0905 757 0143 to check the answers. Calls cost £1 per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm). Cluelines Stuck on Sudoku, Killer or KenKen? Call 0901 293 6263 before midnight to receive four clues for any of today’s puzzles. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company’s network access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm). Top Tens A. Bidding 3. When and when not to overcall (iii) Bidding for the lead Overcalling tactics should vary a lot depending on whose opening lead you think it will be. If you think it will be partner’s lead, stick your neck right out when you have a suit you want led. Exercise: Your left-hand opponent (LHO) has opened 1♠, partner has passed, and right-hand opponent (RHO) has raised to 2♠. Neither side is vulnerable. The general point to make is LHO is likely to declare a spade contract, leaving your partner on lead. With the first, chance 3♦. It is a risk and you could “go for a number”. However, the risks are smaller than you may think. The opponents probably have eight spades, leaving your partner with only one; your partner rates to have some diamond support. The main risk is not so much 3♦ doubled, it’s LHO bouncing partner into 5♦ after she jumps to 4♠ (although partner will hopefully realise you’re in a bidding-for-the-lead position and not take you too seriously). The idea of declaring 5♦ doubled hardly thrills you, but the gain of the 3♦ bid — attracting the diamond lead — is so great it justifies the risk. With the second, bid 3♣. Clubs, not diamonds, is the suit you want led — to promote your secondary high cards. If 3♣ is doubled in the proverbial voice of thunder, you can judge to remove to 3♦. With the third, pass. You don’t want a diamond lead — simple. If East had not bid 3♦, I reckon West would have led ♣10 (clear choice for me) — fatally (♣10, ♣3, ♣A, ♣5 — promoting ♣K). An opening heart lead would also be fatal. When West led ♦6, declarer had to play well to escape with one down. Trick one went ♦6, ♦7, ♦9, ♦A, at trick two declarer trying ♣5 to ♣K. East won ♣A, cashed ♦K and led ♦J. Declarer necessarily ruffed high (♠10) then crossed to ♠K to lead ♣3 to ♣J. West won ♣Q and exited with ♣10. Ruffing with dummy’s ♠3, declarer cashed ♠J, West discarding. Declarer could now count East for four spades, five diamonds and (at least) three clubs. She had at most one heart, so there was no point in leading to ♥8. Declarer crossed to ♥A, cashed ♠AQ and ♥K, and conceded ♥8 to ♥Q. One down. andrew.robson@thetimes.co.uk Dealer: South, Vulnerability: Neither N W E S 1♠ Pass 2♠(1) 3♦ 4♠ End (1) More helpful than 1NT. S W N E ♠9872 ♥2 ♦KQJ95 ♣A64 ♠QJ 3 ♥J 10 9 4 ♦10 8 7 2 ♣K 3 ♠AK1054 ♥AK8 ♦A4 ♣J75 ♠6 ♥Q7653 ♦63 ♣Q10982 ♠9872 ♥2 ♦KQJ95 ♣A64 ♠3 ♥42 ♦A7432 ♣KQ1092 ♠Q2 ♥AKJ ♦J965432 ♣6 Bridge Andrew Robson Sudoku 13,772 Killer 8690 Sudoku 13,773 Killer 8691 Sudoku 13,774 Quick Cryptic 2311 KenKen 5792 Codeword 4800 The unintuitive 1 ... Qxc3! is decisive. After 2 bxc3 (there is nothing better) 2 ... Nxd2 3 Bxd2 dxc6 Black is a clear pawn up with a good position 14 x 6 34 + 4 4 x 34 14 + 11 4 + 25 4 x 31 3 + 21 14 x 11 4 x 25 14 + 6 10 x 18 36 + 3 18 + 10 3 x 36 4 + 31 21 x 3 3 3 4 4 4 6 10 11 14 14 18 21 25 31 34 36 180 39 28 108 35 63 100 20 136 25 29 124 24 154 84 38 Tetonor 327
18.01.23 Word watch Sudoku Difficult No 13,775 Fiendish No 13,776 Super fiendish No 13,777 David Parfitt Pagurian a Someone who only eats raw food b A language of Papua New Guinea c A hermit crab Shabrack a A dilapidated dwelling b A cavalry horse’s saddlecloth c An abrasive material made from sharkskin Stilb a A plant of the saxifrage family b A priestly vestment c A unit of luminance Answers on page 15 The Times Quick Cryptic No 2312 by Pedro Across 1 Urban area: it’s found within country’s borders (4) 3 Doctor attending one in a game finishing early? That’s exciting (8) 8 50 per cent off? I’ll take that! (3,4) 10 Quick assault seizing power (5) 11 A group of Titanic’s musicians, possibly, and call to them? (7,4) 13 Be against attitude presented by musical work (6) 15 Soldier laid back in beret for a quick snooze (6) 17 Fail to stay upright, being voluble in ocean, swimming (11) 20 A local name for European city displaying a certain atmosphere (5) 21 Revise legal document in Early English, putting King foremost (7) 22 The favourable slant is overwhelming a stage performer (8) 23 Risk taken with article still being tested? (4) Down 1 Never frantic, when upset about new spice (8) 2 Some late trading will get you fish (5) 4 Match official in tie finally to improve (6) 5 Spoils question about shops offering confectionery (11) 6 Pinch place after elevating skill in bowling? (7) 7 Creation of Morse concerns Oxford detective Endeavour, primarily (4) 9 Military advisors run off after ideas misfiring (5-2-4) 12 Transient matters that man initially managed in record time (8) 14 Advertise seaside attraction, observe, not the first (7) 16 Area of Russia, not Southern European region (6) 18 Refusal is beginning to elicit uproar (5) 19 Power supplied by piece of legislation and treaty (4) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Yesterday’s solution on page 15 15 Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Place the numbers 1 to 9 in the spaces so that the number in each circle is equal to the sum of the four surrounding spaces, and each colour total is correct The Times Daily Quiz Olav Bjortomt Answers on page 15 1 Most people have how many wisdom teeth? 2 Which of Italy’s active volcanoes is closest to the city of Naples? 3 A remnant of which wall features Dmitri Vrubel’s mural My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love? 4 Pleasing is a beauty brand by which former One Direction member? 5 Which real-life traitor does Guy Pearce play in the ITVX drama A Spy Among Friends? 6 Which 12th-century Archbishop of Canterbury became a patron saint of secular clergy? 7 What primary colour does litmus paper turn in alkaline solutions? 8 In 1968, Tom Maschler asked Jan Pie kowski to design the original trophy for which literary prize? 9 Gabriel Syme is the protagonist of which 1908 novel by GK Chesterton? 10 Which Sikh guru is said to have founded Kartarpur (now in Pakistan) on the bank of the Ravi river in 1504? 11 A cow stands in front of which Paulus Potter work in Mark Tansey’s painting The Innocent Eye Test? 12 Founded in 1895, what is the oldest surviving film company in the world? 13 Street Worms (2018), Welfare Jazz (2021) and Cave World (2022) are albums by which Swedish postpunk band? 14 Which racquet sport is the fastestgrowing sporting activity in the US? 15 Which Australian bushranger’s armour is pictured? Suko No 3702 For interactive puzzles visit thetimes.co.uk For extra puzzles See page 10
January 18 | 2023 Your regular section is inside