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BBC Film, Lionsgate and BBC Studios have given Monumental Television, part of ITV Studios, the greenlight to bring the beloved and award-winning BBC comedy Ghosts to the big screen in Ghosts: The Possession of Button House.

The creators/writers say: “We thought we had said goodbye to Button House at the end of the final series. We never planned to come back. But when we had the idea for this story, we all got so excited that we couldn’t resist returning to our haunted home for one more adventure. We can’t wait to be together and to welcome some brilliant new faces, to tell this soul-stirring tale of life and death.”

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched a review into whether RAF bases were used by Jeffrey Epstein.

It is expected the review will look into records and emails, while Defence Secretary John Healey was said to have ordered officials to turn over every stone to establish whether the late sex offender landed his private jet at military sites when visiting the UK.

An MoD source said it would "ruthlessly pursue any information that can shed light on this scandal".

It comes after former Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded a police investigation into whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had used RAF bases to meet Epstein.

Brown said he had submitted a five-page dossier to several UK police forces – including the Met, Sussex and Thames Valley Police – providing new and additional information from Epstein-related documents published in the US.

Last Sunday, the Sunday Telegraph reported that the former prime minister was understood to be concerned about a flight Epstein took on a Gulfstream jet that landed at RAF Marham air base in Norfolk in December 2000.

The base is around 20 miles (32 km) from the Sandringham Estate.

Retailer John Lewis is closing down its housebuilding business, scrapping plans to build 1,000 homes across three sites.

It cited higher borrowing and building costs than when it first started expanding into residential development in 2020.

It is also pulling out of property management, and will close that business when its contracts with four residential buildings end.

The employee-owned firm said it is instead focusing on its retail brands, John Lewis and Waitrose, to simplify its business and strengthen its balance sheet.

Chocolate bars are being locked in plastic boxes in some UK shops as retailers and police forces warn thieves are stealing them to order.

Sainsbury's said it had begun using "boxes on products which are regularly targeted", with £2.60 bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk locked up in one London branch.

Chocolate was more recently being "sold on by criminals and is now being targeted more frequently by prolific offenders," according to the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).

Prior to last year, it had long been accepted that Christianity was declining in Britain - from the days when most people were Christian, to an increasingly atheist and multi-faith society where derelict church buildings were being sold off and turned into cocktail bars and luxury flats.

But in 2025, a new report from the Bible Society called The Quiet Revival started to challenge the idea that Christian faith was waning. Based on an online YouGov survey it commissioned, it suggested the number of Gen Zs attending church in England and Wales had skyrocketed in the past six years, to the surprise and delight of Christian communities.

A university student has been crowned UK pun champion after serving up gags about King Henry VIII and takeaway pizza at the Leicester Comedy Festival.

Adam Ernest Pickard beat seven other comedians in the jokey battle royale at De Montfort Hall on Monday to claim the 2026 title.

Pickard got the audience laughing with his wisecrack: "The song Greensleeves was composed by Henry VIII. I'd play some of it here, but it's not royalty-free."

He also quipped: "I've compiled everyone who works at my local takeaway pizza place into a book. It's my Domino's Who's Who."

Another gag went: "Only women can use the herbal dumbbells. Thyme weights for no man."

A theatre has agreed to remove bacon and sausages from its café menu during a production featuring Peppa Pig.

Grimsby Auditorium said it made the decision "as a considerate gesture" following a request from an animal rights charity.

The theatre said it was committed to continually reviewing and enhancing its menu offerings, and would be removing all pork products during performances of Peppa Pig's Big Family Show on 3 and 4 March.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/bmoviebonanza/p/1795272/dr-who-and-the-daleks-1965-mastodon-watch-party-this-sunday-evening

Starring Peter Cushing, "the guy who blew up Princess Leia's planet!" Yes, Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) is the movie for this Sunday's "monsterdon" watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!

• Just start watching that movie this Sunday, Feb 22 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT which is 2am Monday UTC
• and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live text commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
• I usually open two web browser windows side-by-side on a computer. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something.

How to watch the movie:

• tubi (availability varies by country): https://tubitv.com/movies/547338/dr-who-and-the-daleks
• uBlock Origin adblocker on Firefox should work for that tubi link
• archive (3 minutes shorter?): https://archive.org/details/dr-who-and-the-daleks_202505
• it's usually streamed on https://miru.miyaku.media/ at that time
• if you want to pay and/or watch ads, look here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/dr-who-and-the-daleks or here: https://nobraincellsleft.github.io/JustWatch-Search/title/tm83604
• apparently it's free on Pluto TV but idk wtf that is. I guess you could give it a try here https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/movies/685972fd2339944cec974634 but idk if adblockers work or they make you sign in or some bs like that

The story is based on the Doctor Who television serial The Daleks, produced by the BBC. Filmed in Technicolor, it is the first Doctor Who story to be made in colour and in a widescreen format. The film was not intended to form part of the ongoing story-lines of the television series. Elements from the programme are used, however, such as various characters, the Daleks and a police box time machine, albeit in re-imagined forms.

...

Halliwell's Film Guide described the film as "limply put together, and only for indulgent children".[12] John Clute, in the book Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia, gives the film one star out of three, stating: "Many people would like to see the [Doctor Who] television series back; few mourn the long-gone films".[13] Radio Times was more favourable, awarding the film three stars out of five, commenting: "this spin-off lacks the bite and inventiveness that set the landmark series apart, unwisely injecting humour into the sparse scenario, and the cheap art direction is strictly '101 Uses for Pink Plastic Sheeting'. However, despite the many faults, it's still a fun ride for both the uninitiated and die-hard fans alike".[14]

In The Guardian in 2013, Stuart Heritage stated: "Cushing does his best, but he's not exactly given a lot to work with." He described the Daleks as "so pointlessly toothless here" and also criticised the "incredibly tedious" amount of Dalek dialogue to explain their motives, the portrayal of the Thals, and Roy Castle's performance, saying "to call him hammy would be to provide the greatest disservice to pigs."[15] Andrew Nette of the British Film Institute stated the film was "widely derided by many fans and critics", adding it is "certainly an uneven affair. Some scenes [...] still have the capacity to thrill. Others, like the final victory over the Daleks, feel rushed and flat. The Doctor's granddaughters are largely one-dimensional... The aspect of the movie that most antagonises purists is Cushing's Doctor." Nette described the film as having a "wonderfully pulpy sci-fi atmosphere", saying: "The highlight of the movie is its look... Many of the sets [...] are impressive" and "the movie Daleks are more impressive than their small screen counterparts".[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Who_and_the_Daleks

In 1996, Paul McGann debuted as the Eighth Doctor in Doctor Who, a feature length co-production between the BBC and the American Fox network, more commonly known as The TV Movie.

This 90-minute feature was shot on film, and now, for the first time, all 219 reels of original film (totalling almost 200,000 feet!) have been pulled from deep storage in the US and meticulously scanned over 21 days, then restored by Paul Vanezis to provide a definitive 4K experience.

This new release is available on 4K in a limited edition steelbook with exclusive artwork, as well as standard Blu-ray, and includes a host of special features including:

• The ‘uncensored’ UK version
• The USA broadcast version
• Soundtrack in Dolby Atmos, 5.1 and stereo
• In Conversation with director Geoffrey Sax
• Sylvester McCoy and Janet Fielding featurette
• 3 New Featurettes with Daphne Ashbrook, Eric Roberts and Yee Jee Tso
• Two audio commentaries
• Isolated music score
• Production info text
• The Seven Year Hitch making-of documentary
• Paul McGann’s audition tape
• Alternate takes
• Electronic press kit and behind the scenes footage
• TARDIS tour
• BBC Trails

The BBC has commissioned a slate of new shows to mark Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, on Friday 8 May, and will be showcasing some of the finest programmes from his extraordinary seven-decade career in a week-long celebration of his work and legacy.

New programmes

• Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure - featuring new interviews with David and the original production team as they reflect on the making of the ground-breaking series Life on Earth for BBC One and iPlayer

• Secret Garden - a new primetime series for BBC One and iPlayer, in which Attenborough reveals the hidden worlds and remarkable wildlife thriving within Britain’s gardens

• David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth - a celebratory live event for BBC One and iPlayer from the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra and special guests.

From the archive

• Special episodes from some of Attenborough’s most beloved landmark series, airing on BBC One in the week leading up to his birthday

• A dedicated BBC iPlayer collection showcasing more than 40 series presented by David, celebrating one of the most remarkable bodies of work in broadcasting history.

Female manikins are being used during CPR lessons to dispel myths and taboos about giving women life-saving treatment.

In the past, flat-chested manikins were typically used in training, but Beccles Women's Institute and East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) ran sessions with models that were representative of the female body to help eliminate hesitations when giving aid.

Josh Lawrence, of the EAAA, said women were 27% less likely to receive CPR from a passerby, and the main problem was when a defibrillator was needed.

Carol Wood from the Beccles Women's Institute, said: "I think it's really important that men, under certain circumstances, know it's OK to lose a bra to save a life."

Zai Bennet is the CEO and Chief Creative Officer for BBC Studios

No decision more neatly demonstrates the nasty headwinds facing scripted than Disney pulling out of the Doctor Who deal with the BBC, BBC Studios and Bad Wolf after just two seasons. For the show to continue long beyond its 2026 Christmas special, which is being penned by showrunner Russell T. Davies, the BBC now needs to replace some of that lost budget, which totals millions of pounds per hour.

Bennett avoids directly answering the question of whether BBC Studios will stump up some of the lost cash to give the show a long-term future – noting that he “won’t speak for the BBC” – but says “we’re all in it together” when it comes to keeping the Time Lord on the small screen for years to come.

“We’re a big important part of Doctor Who and are all motivated to make sure Doctor Who has a long and flourishing life,” he says. “We’ve got the Christmas special coming. After that, it’s time for us all to work on it.”